As we mentioned in our basic dog commands article, basic dog training commands aren’t just for tricks. They can be life savers when you or your dog encounters a dangerous situation. Your dog's ability to obey the sit or stay command for example, could prevent it from running out into a dangerous street or getting wrangled up in a dangerous fight with a strange aggressive dog. Obedience training also creates an amicable living environment. Here's a basic list of dog commands your dog need to learn - and learn now.

Start crate training, house training, and basic command training puppies when they reach nine weeks of age. Puppies won’t typically fully master all the dog commands at such an early age, but they’ll accept your efforts much easier than adult dogs will. You can start with the "sit, down, leave it, and drop it" commands. And set yourself to use positive reinforcement training. This type of training uses rewards – treats, praise, playtime or a combination of all three– to communicate proper behavior. This type of training has a high success rate since dogs respond to treats and praise really well and the end result is almost always a confident, enthusiastic trainee.

In addition, you’ll want to take plenty of breaks. You’ll only make things difficult if you attempt to teach your dog multiple tricks or difficult stunts. If you concentrate on mastering one trick before moving onto another instead, your dog will eventually figure out what it is that you want him to do, and then do it. Your dog won’t master a trick right away and it’s truly unrealistic to expect him to do so. They need repetition and they need patience. And above all, they need persistence. Here are a few dog training commands to practice.

The Release Command

The dog release command is the start and the end of every other command that you give your dog. If you tell your dog to sit for example, you must release it so that it can go on to do other things.

The Leave It Command

To teach your dog or puppy the leave it command is to teach it boundaries. A dog that can differentiate appropriate property from inappropriate property is a dog that’s safer since many of the things we interact with are just too dangerous for dogs.

The Sit Command

The dog sit command is by far, one of the easiest to teach, best accomplished with a luring treat.

The Come Command

It’s very important that your pet respond to the dog come command. Yes, life threatening circumstances may necessitate such obedience, but an additional perk of this obedience is some off-leash time (provided that the dog is in a safe area).

The Down Command

The dog down command comes in handy when you’re dealing with an anxious dog that refuses to relax when you’re trying to watch TV or have a conversation with company. And just like with the stay command, the sit command helps the dog learn the down command rather quickly.

The Heel Command

The heel command positions your dog to walk alongside your left leg. And it requires that the dog maintain that position no matter if you slow your pace, increase your page, run, or zigzag.