What Happens When You Say the Same Command Multiple Times

For example, you ask your dog to sit. Your dog doesn’t sit, so you say “sit” again. Then you say it one more time, louder. And then your dog sits on the fourth request, and you reward her. That feels like a good thing from your perspective, but from your dog’s point of view, she’s not entirely sure what she did right. She may not have learned that saying “sit” once should mean sit; she may instead have learned that she needs to hear it three times before sitting. To avoid this issue, you want to make sure the cue is easy to hear and worth listening to the first time.

A cue is most effective when it consistently means the same thing. It can be a verbal cue, a visual cue, or both. Changing your cue from one repetition to the next creates confusion. If you say “sit,” then “come on, sit,” and then point at the ground while saying “sit,” the dog has more than one piece of information to process. During the early stages of training, say the cue once and give your dog some time to respond. If the behavior does not occur, do not repeat the cue more quickly. Instead, make the task easier.

For example, maybe your dog knows how to sit in the kitchen, but in the hallway, she forgets everything you’ve taught her. Perhaps she’s distracted by shoes shuffling around her feet, people talking in the hall, and the expectation of going for a walk. She has more things to think about than she does in the kitchen. So you step back from the doorway and wait for her to look at you. Give the cue once and reward her when she complies. You haven’t reinforced the cue by saying it repeatedly; you’ve just changed the context in which you’re using it.

You should also reward your dog at the appropriate time. After she performs the desired behavior, mark that moment with a consistent marker, such as “yes.” If you use a clicker, use it here. Then provide the reward immediately. You want the marker to tell your dog exactly which behavior you’re rewarding. If you don’t give the treat until your dog has stood up and moved on, or looks away, the timing isn’t quite as clear. Treat pouches can help with the process because they allow you to access the reward without needing to retrieve it after the behavior occurs.

When your dog doesn’t respond to your cue, ask yourself what went wrong before you try again. Was your dog paying attention to you? Did something suddenly become distracting in the environment? Did you use a different visual cue from the one you normally use? Has she heard the cue multiple times already and grown tired of the training? You can re-create the situation in an easier way by asking for a different behavior, waiting for your dog to re-engage with you, or using a previously learned lure to prompt her to move. Mark and reward your dog when she completes the behavior, and continue on from there. Don’t let the cue become background noise.

This process is much easier to manage when training sessions are short. Do a few repetitions in a very low-distraction environment and end the session while your dog is still engaged in the exercise. When your dog reliably responds to the cue in a low-distraction environment, gradually increase the difficulty level. Try asking your dog to sit from slightly further away, and then go back to asking her to sit closer to you, and then you can add duration or distractions. You can apply this method when teaching sit, down, stay, recall, bed, and any other routine behavior.

One indication that your training is working well is when you have to say the cue less. Notice when you give one clear cue and your dog responds automatically. Mark and reward that behavior. If you find that your dog responds to the cue inconsistently in a more challenging environment, you should reduce the difficulty level of the situation rather than asking for more repetitions of the cue. The clearer the cue is, the better the timing is for the reward, and the easier it is for your dog to perform the behavior, the more likely she is to learn what the cue means.