From the first day, we had conversations with Samson using "keywords" that we repeated.
Now,
he knows exactly what we say to him… and he answers us with a head nod,
jump jump or voice sound. He uses his voice and we know what he’s
saying.
My experience about teaching two-way communication. There is two parts to teaching puppy how to communicate:
1.
Don’t wait. Start saying “key words” to your ew baby in the car on the
way home. Try not to speak in sentences. That just prolongs the
learning time.
2. Follow each word with a touch. In other words, touch baby on his or her body to finish the “learning moment.”
From the first day puppy is home, help baby feel safe and secure… say, “Home” and give baby a soft touch on the head, shoulder or back.
Say, “Love” and touch puppy’s head. Say key words to baby often. Words baby will recognize as he or she grows a bit older. Hungry, drink, food, eat, mommy, daddy, bed, sleep, love, puppy, Sanson, potty, outside.
These teaching moments work spectacularly well with our new puppy.
From the car ride back home from the breeder to the first day at home, we had “single word” conversations with our new puppy followed by a touch.
Yes, we limited what we said to a few "keywords" that we repeated for weeks. Then, we added more keywords and so on.
Now, we speak in sentences. He knows exactly what we say to him… and he answers us with a head nod or bob, jump jump or voice sound. He uses his voice and we know what he’s saying, because we also learned. Yes, when we said a word, he reacted, and we learned as much as he did.
Today, we know when he wants something, and we know what it is he wants with great success. Pup shows his pleasure, too. He’s acts so happy when he knows we understood and he gets it.
Yes, responding to his wants and needs can’t be ignored or put off. We responded in voice and action right away.
Failing to respond would be unteaching him. Pups unlearn faster than they learn. So, when he “signals” he needs to “potty” --do not ignore him, not even for a second. That would be a huge waste of the time we invested in teaching him. Whew! That was a mouthful. ///