Tuesday Dog Training Tip – Consistency

Consistency Is Key When Working With Animals

The easiest way to help our dogs learn and maintain behavior is by being consistent. We want to be consistent with our verbal and visual cues so that our dog doesn’t get confused. This also means that anyone else who interacts and works with the dog needs to be consistent as well. A sit cue should look the same from each family member that asks the dog to sit.

For those that have taken a foreign language class, you know how much easier it is to remember one word that goes with one meaning. Eventually you go on to learn how to say ‘hi’ in a bunch of different ways, but in the beginning, it’s easiest to learn one way. This is true for our dogs as well. More consistency = less confusion. And less confusion means the clearer you are understood.