The following is an outline of sequential obedience commands used by the behavior department at the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary Hospital to help clients train their pets.

TOUCH

    * hold thumb out and say "touch", when dog touches thumb with nose, reward with treat
    * change to using the palm of your hand with "touch" command, reward with treat when dog touches your palm with its nose.
    * then use an inanimate object such as a plastic lid, can then place the lid and command the dog to "touch", dog needs to go to lid to receive reward

LOOK

    * tell dog to "look", when makes eye contact, give treat. May initially need to hold treat up by eyes to establish eye contact with command.

SIT

    * begin with using a treat, hold the treat over the top of the dog's nose to get the dog to naturally sit back and then reward the dog
    * don't physically push the dog into the sit position, it needs to learn on its own
    * don't use the "sit" command until dog successfully masters the behavior, otherwise may associate the command with behaviors it was doing before it learned to sit

STAY

    * praise correct response to "stay" command with a single finger scratch - don't overexcite dog with praise or will break response

HEAL

    * use "touch" command and hand held to your side to have dog touch palm with nose, reward with treat
    * dog will have to "heal" in order to obey "touch" command

PUNISHMENT

    * when dog behaves inappropriately, disassociate yourself from the dog, ignore the dog, do not yell or physically intimidate the dog
    * inappropriate punishment can lead to behavior disorders or worsening of current behavior disorders

TABLE SCRAPS AND TREATS

    * do not give a dog any sort of treat with out first instructing the dog to "sit" or do something else it knows how to do
    * only reward proper responses to commands
    * excessive treats and human food can lead to obesity and obesity-related health problems

DOGS THAT "JUMP UP"

    * attention seeking behavior
    * redirect the behavior à ask to sit before can exhibit behavior
    * ignore and step back when dog jumps up - disengage from dog
    * don't physically engage with dog to get it down
    * if you don't seem exciting to the dog, it will stop


CATS ON COUNTERS

    * leaving food on a counter that a cat has access to is like a reward for the cat to get on the counter
    * try placing an upside down carpet runner on your counters, cats tend to dislike the feel of it on their feet
    * be consistent with your discipline - if you are only their reprimanding the cat 30% of the time when it jumps up on the counter, it won't be enough to discourage the cat the 70% of the time you are not there.