Basic Obedience Commands Every Dog Should Know
Five commands, taught in the right order, will change your day-to-day life with your dog more than almost anything else on this site. And that order isn't arbitrary — each command quietly builds on a skill the one before it already started teaching.
1. Sit
The foundation almost everything else builds on. Lure with a treat held just above the nose, moving it slowly back over the head so the dog's rear naturally lowers to the ground — mark the instant they sit (a clicker, or the word "yes") and reward immediately. Most dogs pick this up within a handful of short sessions.
2. Stay
Trainers break this into three separate variables: duration, distance, and distraction — and the single most common mistake is increasing more than one at once. Build duration first with your dog right next to you (2 seconds, then 5, then 10), only adding distance once duration is solid, and only adding distraction once both of those hold up. Rushing this order is why "stay" falls apart the moment a squirrel runs by.
3. Come (recall)
The most important one, safety-wise, and the easiest to accidentally ruin. Never call your dog over for something they'll hate — bath time, nail trims, the end of park playtime. Go get them instead. And no matter what your dog just did off leash, when they come to you, that has to end in something good. Otherwise they learn that "come" sometimes means "the fun's over," and reliability falls apart fast.
4. Down
Useful well beyond a party trick — a reliable "down" is one of the fastest ways to help an overexcited dog settle. Taught most easily as a continuation of "sit": once sitting, lure the treat down and slightly away from the body in a diagonal line toward the floor, which naturally draws the front legs down into a lying position.
5. Leave it
Arguably the most important command for safety — dropped medication, spoiled food on a walk, another dog's toy. Start with something low-value (a piece of kibble under a covered hand) so the dog learns the pattern — looking away from the tempting object earns the reward, not pushing toward it — before working up to higher-value temptations.
What to reward with
Use something your dog is genuinely motivated by, especially early on — for most dogs that means real food, not just praise. See our guide to training treats for what makes a treat "high value" enough to compete with real-world distractions.
When to bring in a trainer
If there's been no real progress after 4-6 weeks of consistent, correctly structured practice, it's rarely about the dog being "stubborn" — it's usually a motivation issue (the reward isn't valuable enough) or a timing/clarity issue in how the command is being taught, and a certified professional trainer can often spot the specific gap faster than a dog owner working from general guides.
