Overview

It's fairly simple to teach a dog his name, even if he's answered to something else for years. All it takes is a handful of tasty treats and a few minutes of your time.

Steps to teaching name recognition

• • Let your dog wander around a small room, or your yard if it's not too distracting to your dog.
  • Call your dog's name in a happy voice. As soon as he turns to look at you, reward him with a "Yes!" and a bit of food. Then send him off to investigate again.
  • Repeat several times.
  • Once your dog's got it, make it more challenging: train in different locations, or call his name and then add a distraction, such as a bouncing ball.

DogTime tip: Call your dog's name just once during each exercise; if you repeat it over and over, he'll eventually tune it out.

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Veterinarian and animal behaviorist Dr. Ian Dunbar and his wife, dog trainer Kelly Dunbar, collaborate on DogStarDaily.com, OpenPaw.org, and DogTime, where they serve as contributing editors. They're dedicated to strengthening the bond between people and their dogs through training in order to keep dogs in their original homes and out of shelters.

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