Parlez-vous Doglish?

Have you ever watched the Charlie Brown cartoons where the teacher is talking to Peppermint Patty and you hear, "Wa whaa wa waa waa wha waa waa?"

With the exception of the vocabulary you teach your dog, that's pretty much what he hears. His name is the first thing he learns, plus basic commands like sit, down, stay, and the all-important NO. In time, your dog can also learn names like Mommy and Daddy, or however household members refer to each other.

They also eventually pick up, through association, things like out, bye-bye, ride, food, eat, and whatever is common usage around your home. Of course, sometimes we wish they didn't learn some of the things they know.

I don't mean to say that a dog is necessarily as intelligent as a child, but some of the learning processes are similar. Just as you teach a child how to speak and identify objects, you can achieve the same results with your dog. Some might see this as a novelty, but if you put it into the context of eventually teaching your dog to bring you specific items, such as your keys, the remote, or a cordless phone, it really makes sense.

Start with an object (I recommend just one object at a time to avoid confusion on the dog's part) and get a small handful of treats, like dog food kibble. (This is one of the most recommended training treats, and we'll cover why in a future column.) If you have already taught your dog a "get" or "touch" command, all the better.

Hold the object and, just as you would a child, tell the dog the name of the object and reward your dog. Do this a couple of times, keeping the session shorter than five minutes, and then lavishly praise your dog. After a few days, the dog will associate that item with that name and a treat.

The next step is to take that item, say a ball, and put it on the floor in front of your dog with a totally dissimilar item, such as a book. Ask your dog to get the ball, and lavishly praise if he does. Start short and try to end on a success. If your dog gets the ball the first time, praise, treat, and stop immediately. Repeat several times a day until your dog is consistently getting the object. Check your dog's reliability by switching the "wrong" object frequently so your dog associates the ball with the word. Then change items and start over. Once you have two items named, put them together and ask your dog to bring you one of them.

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