10 Essential Dog Training Commands Every Owner Should Teach
From 'sit' to 'leave it' - the 10 top commands that keep your dog safe, make daily life easier, and build a calm, well-mannered companion to take on relaxing walks. We discuss each with a quick how-to.
You don't need a big bag of tricks to have a well-trained dog - you need a short list of commands that work. These 10 commands cover safety, everyday life, and the good manners that make a dog a pleasure to live with. Teach them with positive reinforcement, and you'll have a dog who responds eagerly instead of reluctantly.
1. Sit
Why it matters - the foundation of everything really, it settles your dog, makes greetings polite, and gives you a moment of calm in any situation.
How to teach: hold a treat above their nose and move it slowly back over their head. As their bottom hits the floor, mark ("yes!") and offer the reward. Add the word once they're reliably doing it.
2. Stay
Why it matters - keeps your dog safe at open doors, on walks with cars coming, and when you need both hands free.
How to teach: ask for a sit, then take one small step back. If they stay, return and reward. Build up distance and duration gradually - a stay is only as strong as the easiest version you practise.
3. Come
Why it matters - the most important command your dog will ever learn. A reliable recall can save their lives.
How to teach: make coming to you the best thing ever - treats, praise, games. Practise with a long lead in a safe place, and never call your dog to something unpleasant. If coming means bath time, they'll stop coming.
4. Down
Why it matters - a calm-down command, useful at the vet, at meals, and when you're relaxing.
How to teach: from a sit, lower the treat straight down to the floor between their paws. Mark the moment their elbows touch, reward. Some dogs find this harder than sit - be patient and go at their pace.
5. Leave it
Why it matters - stops them eating things they shouldn't, such as dropped medication, chicken bones, something toxic on the pavement. It can literally save their life.
How to teach: show a treat in a closed fist. The moment they stop trying to get it, mark and reward with a different treat. Build up to items on the floor and on walks, always with a reward for choosing to leave it.
6. Drop it
Why it matters - gets dangerous or precious items out of their mouth safely - the other half of the safety pair with "leave it."
How to teach: trade with another object. Offer a high-value treat while saying "drop it" and, the instant they release the item, reward. Never wrestle things out of their mouth - trading teaches them releasing pays.
7. Wait
Why it matters - the polite pause at doors, car doors, and food bowls - different from "stay" because it's brief and automatic.
How to teach: ask for a sit at a doorway, open it a crack, and close it again if they move. Reward calm waiting, then release with a word like "okay!" when you're ready.
8. Loose-leash walking
Why it matters - pulls are difficult and uncomfortable for both of you, and a dog who walks nicely is a joy to take anywhere.
How to teach: the instant your dog pulls, stop and stand still. When the lead loosens - even by an inch - mark and reward, then move again. You'll walk slowly for a few weeks, then walk easily for years. (Note - "heel" is the formal version; loose-leash walking is the everyday skill most owners actually need.)
9. Off
Why it matters - gets the paws off people, furniture, and counters - politely and without drama.
How to teach: instead of pushing them off, lure them off with a treat ("off!" as they move), then reward when all four paws are on the floor. For counter-surfing, the answer is management (nothing reachable) plus "leave it."
10. Settle
Why it matters - the golden skill, a dog who can relax on cue fits into your life instead of bouncing through it.
How to teach: reward calm behaviour whenever it happens naturally - when they lie quietly beside you, quietly drop a treat. Add the word "settle" as they relax. Practice at home first, then in busier places.
How to teach them well
- Five-minute sessions a couple of times a day beat one long session.
- Use a marker word ("yes!") and high-value treats - see the positive reinforcement guide for the full method.
- Practise everywhere - inside, outside, at friends' houses. A command that only works in the kitchen isn't trained.
- Go back a step when it falls apart. If "stay" breaks at ten feet, practise at five. Progress in small, winnable steps.
The takeaway
10 commands sounds like a lot, but most take only a few minutes a day over a few weeks, and each one makes your dog safer, your life easier, and your walks more enjoyable. Start with "come" and "leave it" (the safety two), then work through the rest at your dog's pace.
A dog with these 10 commands is a dog you can trust in almost any situation - and that trust is what makes living with a dog so good.
New to training? Start with positive reinforcement, or if you have a puppy, the first 8 weeks at home.