Teaching Dogs A Group Name

When you are living with a group of dogs in your home, sometimes it’s the little things that can make the difference between a fun amount of craziness and too much of it.

 

One of the recommendations I always make to clients living with a multiple dog household is to use a group name to refer to all of the dogs at once. It just makes sense to be able to get the attention of all your dogs with a single word rather than having to say each of their names in turn. Sometimes speed is of the essence and the faster you can get everyone’s attention, the better.

The following is an excerpt from the book Feeling Outnumbered: How to Manage and Enjoy Your Multi-dog Household which I co-wrote with Patricia McConnell:

“If you have lots of dogs, it’s helpful to be able to get all of your dogs’ attention at once. Teach all of your dogs a group name such as “dogs” or “shepherds” or use the term “goof balls” or “bozos” if you want to (yet another reason why having lots of dogs can be fun!) Teach each dog to pay attention when you say “dogs” by saying it and then giving a treat to every dog who looks at you. Having a group designation for all your dogs is just as handy as it is to call your children for dinner by saying, Kids, Dinnertime!” rather than “Brian. . ., Evan. . ., Taylor. . .,Dinnertime!” You might even find it helpful to have group names for different categories of your dogs. You can decide what subcategories will be helpful in your household, but don’t underestimate your dogs’ abilities to understand group names.”

If you have some dogs who like to play ball outside, you can name that group “Ball Players” and use this name to get them, and only them, to come with you to go to the park. If the other canine members of your household prefer to get their exercise through walks or runs, you can use a name to get them ready when it’s time to leash up and go.

 

One of the most common situations in which people with multiple dogs use group names is to tell one group of dogs to kennel up before work. The dogs that are not in the group are those who can be trusted not to hurt the house or themselves when the people head off to work.

 

Another situation in which group names are useful is on a working farm. A person can say, “Border collies” to get the attention of the herding dogs who are going to go to work, while the dogs with other responsibilities don’t need to respond.

 

--Karen London

Comments

[sean]

I will have to start using this myself, by the way, I just ordered the book off amazon...look forward to reading it.

[Randall Johnson]

What a great idea! This time last year, my household included four dogs and having a group name would have simplified things. Sadly, as the year progressed, three of them died: two of them were hit-and-run victims and a third passed away while being treated for cancer. Now I just have one dog and a cat who adopted us a couple of months ago. But if I ever get back to having a multiple-dog household, I'll put the group name idea into practice.

[Kate]

This is a nice read! Thanks! I'll share this to my sister because she has 5 dogs in her household :)