Clarity is Kind!
Having a clear understanding of the words you plan to use with your dog, and what they will mean is part of effective communication with your dog. Let's talk cues!
Donna Ashley, CPDT-KA, CBATI-KA
1/17/2025
Anyone who trains with us, knows all about CUES, right?!
Having a clear understanding of the words you plan to use with your dog, and what they will mean is part of effective communication with your dog. And that's a huge part of your training!
Dogs don't understand your full sentences! We almost always talk far too much to our dogs. Dogs are non-verbal communicators who don't have a spoken language. Dogs need clear words, or signals, that have consistent, clear meanings, if you expect the same consistent & clear behaviors!
And of course, we like the word CUES versus the old-school words "commands"...cuz, we just think we should be kind to our dogs with easy communication, and not just 'commanding' them to do what we want.
Write down your CUES and exactly what each cue will mean. If it's not clear to you, it won't be clear to your dog! It's a great place to start ...and we can help!
You can see the list of some of the CUES I use with my own dogs. You may not find you need these many 'words' to communicate behaviors to your dog, but it shows you how I lay out words I plan to use, and just what they mean.
'Clarity is kind', right?
