Is this OK, or a no-no? I keep catching myself saying "Kodee, no!" when giving a verbal correction. A couple of days ago I saw something on TV (forgot what show) that said not to say "No" with a dog's name. Is this correct, and if so, what's the reason? I always say Kodee's name when giving a command (i.e. "Kodee, down"), as soon as I say his name, of course he looks at me to see what I want. So why wouldn't I say his name to give the correction (i.e. shouldn't I get his attention first?) anyway, was wondering what the "real experts" think? Tee-hee - I trust the people on this board more than the TV, aren't you flattered? LOL!

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So why wouldn't I say his name to give the correction (i.e. shouldn't I get his attention first?)

I do not use NO with my dog's name. "NO" should get my dog's attention/ interupt unwanted behavior, name not needed.

If "NO" does not get my dog's attention, it is ineffective as a correction/behavior interupter. Adding a name in front of it will not make it an effective correction. You would not say the dog's name to get its attention and then correct with a prong...

I would like my dog's name to be associated with "doing something", preferably positive. His name is not needed when telling him "NOT to do something".

My opinion, no expert.

I agree with Jennifer. A dog should never associate anything negative with his name.


Lisa

OK, I'll stop doing this. Thanks!

If you come to think about it, the dog's name is a command itself. At least I taught my dog his name with markers and treats. You say your dog's name and expect him to make eye contact with you. Saying no right after his name is counterproductive, IMO.

Do I inadvertently do it sometimes? Probably, but not when I'm training.

Aside from this, I agree with everything Jennifer said.

I completely agree with Jennifer.

"No" alone should be enough to interrupt the dog's behaviour.
I never use name+no when working with a dog.

However, I have had to modify my approach when walking multiple dogs at once. All 3 of mine respond to NO! so if I were to yell that out in response to one dog being stupid (ie, Taro staring another male dog down and growling), the other two would inevitably get confused and would wonder what they did wrong.

In that case, I use dog's name + no. It works; only the dog whose name I called out will respond and the other two ignore it.

My dogs are used to being selectively addressed by name (I can recall one out of the three, even though they all know the same command) so this works for me.

Of course for every one time I say name+no, I'll use their name to call them over for something really positive 25 times.

In the dog's mind, when they hear their name, their first reaction is to brighten up and come running to me because something good is going to happen!

Again, if you just have one dog out with you, it's a non-issue. NO alone )

Richard makes an excellent point too.

When you say the dog's name, you expect them to pay attention to you.

In this instance, I think that what I'm doing isn't counterproductive to their training.

For example, I walked my 3 monsters earlier today and Taro was being stupid today. He got all growly and postured every time another male dog walked by.

I couldn't just say NO because Aja and Moka would've reacted too (and they were being angels ). When I said "Taro!" as a warning to him, he did NOT give me his attention. So in that case, following his name with NO was, I think, appropriate because he was not paying attention to me at the time I said it.

Had he broken off eye contact with the strange dog and looked at me when I called out his name (which he usually does), I would've praised him immediately and would certainly not have said No WHILE he was paying attention to me.

I hope that made sense

One other little thing: I don't use "no" or "OK" because so many people (including myself) use these words in and around our dogs during everyday conversation, I feel like dogs are desensitized to them. I prefer to use "phooey" (plus I like the 2 syllable sound) and "free dog".

Or you could just change the intonation enough that the every day "no" or "ok" doesn't get picked up by the dog

I can say "ok" (their release) to them while they're in a stay, but unless I say it in a particular way (excited, high-pitch and snappy) they won't recognize it and won't break position.

I have fun walking around them when they're in a long down saying Ooo-kayyy.... without them reacting

Along the lines of what Yuko is saying... sometimes (especially with pups) you may choose to use the Name more as a "redirection" from a bad thing vs. a verbal correction. With pups (and kids) you can find yourself "no no-ing a lot"

For non severe crimes, sometimes you could just elect to interupt unwanted behavior. Then you could use the Name for getting attention, and redirect to someithing more positive. Make sure to reward the dog for attention when it hears it's name. Verbally at a minimum.