How to Train Your Dog to Count

So much of dog training has to do with necessary things which you need to train your dog to know. You need to potty train him, train him to regard you as his master, and train him to obey your every command. Such dog training is necessary to help him be happy, well behaved, and safe. Training your dog to do some things just for fun, though, is also important. It reinforces your necessary dog training, and also allows you both to relish your dog training sessions as "good times".

You can train your dog to do all sorts of things if you just spend some time with him, use positive rewards, and treat the dog training sessions like games. The dog loves this time spent together, and thoroughly enjoys the "game". You can train your dog to count with one of these fun ongoing dog training games.

My daughter has taught her dog to count up to eleven so far. Naturally, she started with one and two, and then little by little progressed upwards. She used the fact that he loves to bark as a springboard to train him to count. Now normally, her dog is used to hearing us telling him to stop barking. So when she started this game of letting him bark as long as he barked the right number of times, he absolutely loved it! She also holds up the correct number of fingers as she says the number to reinforce the spoken command with a "sign language" signal. Such nonverbal signs are also important when you train your dog. You give the command two ways -- spoken and nonverbal. This helps keep him alert to your every signal and command.

This dog training game has also given her dog an outlet for his need to bark. He now realizes that there are times he can bark and times he is not supposed to bark. So what seemed like a game turned out to be some important dog training which brought additional benefits to everyone!

Naturally, be sure to say his name when you want to train your dog, to get his attention onto whatever you want him to focus on. Keep the atmosphere light and lots of fun, and you both will see great rewards together.

Starting out, my daughter taught her dog to differentiate between one and two. She put up one finger, and said, "One." The moment he barked one time, she would lavish praise on him and give him a treat. She continued this technique until he got the idea to bark just once every time she said "One" and also held up one finger. When he could do this routine perfectly, she introduced the number two.

To train him to recognize the number two, she started the dog training game again by reviewing the number one. Then, while they were playing the game, she said "Two" and held up two fingers. He naturally barked once and then waited for his treat, because that was what he was used to doing in this game. When it did not come, he barked once more (I guess in case she didn't hear him the first time!) As soon as he barked the second time, she celebrated with him again with the praise and the treat. She continued repeating the number two until he was regularly barking twice, and then waiting for his reward. So he learned "two."

For a while, she would play this dog training game with him by sometimes saying "One" and sometimes saying "Two" during the same training session. As usual, she would give him immediate rewards every single time he got them right. It did not take long at all for him to learn the difference between one and two.

Once he was perfect on the one-two choice, she began training him to recognize the number three. As before, he looked perplexed when she held up three fingers and said, "Three." He recognized that it was a new command, and was not sure what he should do. But he knew it was still his barking game, so he barked twice and waited for his treat. When it did not come, he started in on some more barks, and she would stop him each time he got to three barks. Very soon, this training and repetition taught him the number three. They focused just on the number three for a while, and when he got that down, she brought back in the numbers one and two.

Because he had learned one and two so well, this number three was just a different trick. He had learned three tricks in this dog training game now. Each one had its own command (both verbal and nonverbal). He learned to focus intently on what she was giving as the command, and do it immediately. The praises were lavish, the treats were great, and it was a wonderfully fun game for both of them!

She used the same procedure to teach him the numbers four through eleven. First they would review, then she would bring in the next number. Then she would focus on that next number until he learned it.

When you train your dog, multiple short sessions work the best. During your dog training game, you will notice when he is getting tired. He will start to "give the wrong answers." It's best to stop at that point, and then play the game again later.

You can use this technique to train your dog to count. And you can also use these same dog training principles to train your dog to do lots of different tricks. Who knows, one day we may see you and your dog on Animal Planet or David Letterman!