I think one of the reasons dog owners become frustrated with their pets behavior is they are trying to teach too many different commands. Often, the person has no clear idea about how to teach the dog a simple behavior or even where to begin. We then complicate the problem by using a variety of signals in an ineffective manner.

From my perspective, I think there are four things your dog needs to know right away. These can be taught from the moment you meet your dog. Remember, every interaction you have with your canine friend is teaching him something. I like to start by immediately helping the dog understand my cues.

My four doggie essentials are name recognition, sit, come and leave it. If you teach your dog those four simple commands, you have the tools to handle many of the issues we have with our pets.

Your dog needs to know his name. How else will he know you are requesting a response from him? When I call my dog, it simply means pay attention. He does not need to come, he just needs to orient to me. Every command I give my dog is preceded by his name. I always equate the necessity of the name first with this example. You are at a cocktail party. Some one is telling a long story. At the end, they say your name, asking for input. Oops, you were not listening until you heard your name. Too late, right? How often does that happen to our dogs? Spot is busy reading the local pee mail. You say come, but get no response. Spot is preoccupied and since he did not hear his name, he keeps on reading.

At this point, many of us become annoyed. We think Spot is deliberately ignoring us. Spot is waiting until he hears his pay attention cue, his name.

Consistency is vital to dog training. We are teaching a nonverbal species to understand spoken language. You need to be clear and consistent with your cues and their meaning.

If your dog is not as responsive as you would like, start with the "Name Game."

Begin with a hungry dog and many little treats your dog can eat in one bite. In a calm, quiet environment use a happy voice and say your dog's name. The very instant he begins to glance at you, give him praise and a treat. If you are clicker training, click and treat the glance. Practice this twenty times. Once Spot is responding reliably, try areas with more distractions. Remember to praise Spot as soon as he looks toward you. This lets him know he is on the right path.

Next week, we will demonstrate how sit can solve a variety of problems.

Cissy Sumner, CPDT-KA of Best Behavior Dog Training is Vero's first Certified Professional Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed. If you have a training or behavior question, email Cissy at www.bestbehaviordogtraining.org. Please include your hometown.