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What are the basic dog commands?

Training basics

What are the basic dog commands?

Ask ten trainers for the basic commands and you will get nearly the same list, sometimes in a different order. What matters more than the list is why each cue earns its place and which order makes each one easier to teach. This page covers both, with the force-free methods Dogtown uses and the Cape Ann places where the basics get tested.

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Last reviewed October 10, 2026 · by the Dogtown team · reviewed by Gabriella Pope, Director of Training & Canine Behaviorist

The short list

Six cues and a release word cover most of daily life with a dog

The AKC's training team lists five cues it calls the Basic 5: come when called, loose-leash walking, sit, down and stay, and says they set a puppy up for success in any future training. Most trainers add leave it, which the AKC frames as safety, since a dog needs to learn that everything on the ground is not up for grabs, from cooked bones that can choke it to dropped pills that could be toxic. Add a release word, the cue that ends a sit or a stay, and you have the working core.

Those same skills are what the AKC's Canine Good Citizen test checks in public: walking on a loose lead, sit and down on cue with a stay in place, and coming when called on a 20-foot line. They are not tricks. Each one gives you a way to ask for something useful at the moment it matters, at the curb, at the front door, at the dinner table or on a beach when another dog appears.

Cue	What it asks	Why it matters
Sit	Rear on the ground until released	A polite default at doors, curbs and greetings
Down	Lying down until released	A calmer position for cafés, waiting rooms and long waits
Release word	The behavior is over; you may move	Tells the dog when a sit, down or stay ends
Stay	Hold the position as time passes or you move away	Safety at open doors and car hatches
Come	Return to you when called	Off-leash freedom, and the cue you need in an emergency
Loose-leash walking	Walk near you without pulling	Comfortable walks for both ends of the leash
Leave it	Ignore that item	Keeps bones, pills and beach debris out of the mouth

Cue, not command

Trainers now say cue rather than command, and it changes how you teach

The word in the search box is commands, but most modern trainers use cue. A handout on positive reinforcement hosted by the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior explains why: the older word implies a threat, do it or else, while a cue is an opportunity for the dog to earn something good. The handout says a well-taught cue should be treated with care and never wasted, so it stays valuable and strong. Repeating sit five times at a distracted dog wastes it.

The practical difference is the order of teaching. In force-free training the dog learns the behavior first, by being guided into it or by offering it, and the word is attached once the dog does the behavior reliably; the same handout suggests waiting until the dog succeeds more than 90 percent of the time in a session. Nobody pushes a rear end down. The AKC's guide to the basics says never to physically put a puppy into a sit, because it can be confusing or upsetting, and never to force a down either.

Teach the behavior first, then attach the word
Say the cue once, then help the dog succeed
Never push, pull or press a dog into position
Pay for the right answer, especially in new places

A Dogtown trainer standing on the deck with her hands raised as three doodles hold a sit in front of her.

The order

Teach the positions first, then the release, stay, recall, leash and leave it

Sit and down come first because dogs already do them many times a day, so they can be captured or lured within a session, and an early win teaches a dog that training pays. The AKC describes both routes: wait for the sit and mark it, or move a treat from the nose up over the head; for the down, lead the treat from the nose to the floor and reward when the elbows touch. Then teach a release word, which the AKC puts before stay, so the dog always knows when a position ends.

Stay builds on that, adding time first and distance later, and the AKC's advice is not to expect too much too soon. Recall starts indoors in a quiet room, with a treat every time and, in the AKC's words, no reaching out to grab the puppy when it arrives. Loose-leash walking follows, with rewards at your knee or hip, and leave it starts with a treat covered by your hand and a better treat as the reward. Each cue then moves outdoors, one new place at a time, and our how-to pages walk through every one of them step by step.

01
Sit: capture it or lure it, then add the word
02
Down: lure the nose to the floor and pay when the elbows touch
03
Release word: teach the word that ends every position
04
Stay: build seconds first, then one step away, then more
05
Come: start indoors, pay every time, never grab on arrival
06
Loose leash: pay beside your leg as you walk
07
Leave it: cover a treat, reward with a better one, then add the cue

At Dogtown

How Dogtown teaches the basics, from Tiny Tails to Bright Beginnings

Dogtown's training is led by Gabriella Pope, Director of Training & Canine Behaviorist, and every program is relationship-based, fear- and force-free and built on positive reinforcement. Tiny Tails Puppy School is the starting point for pups aged 8 to 16 weeks. Bright Beginnings, for pups 4 months and up, is the basic obedience program: everyday manners, recall, focus, impulse control, leash skills and reliable foundation behaviors, in blocks of 4 weeks and 8 sessions, 6 weeks and 12, or 8 weeks and 16.

Adolescents, new rescues and adult dogs learn the same foundations in Calm & Connected. If you would rather a trainer installs the basics first, the one-week Foundation board and train covers basic obedience and leash skills, place, stay and recall, and ends with a go-home lesson. Sessions start from $94, and the training team answers the training form within one hour on business days. Dogtown Academy days, $89 full or $69 half, keep the cues in practice through your workweek.

Tested on Cape Ann

Where the basics get tested on Cape Ann

Recall earns its keep on the off-season beaches. At the time of writing, Gloucester allows dogs at Good Harbor on even-numbered days from October 1 to March 31 and at Wingaersheek on odd-numbered days from October 1 to April 30, and Rockport asks for a leash or direct voice control and keeps dogs off its public beaches from June 1 to September 15. A dog that comes when called on the sand gets those mornings; a dog that does not stays on a long line.

Loose-leash walking pays off at Halibut Point State Park, where leashes are required. Down and stay earn their place on the Rockport line, where the MBTA's rider rules let larger dogs ride only off-peak and on a leash, never on the seats. Sit and leave it get a workout on a summer sidewalk in Gloucester, where dropped food and other dogs are everywhere. Practice each cue in an easy version of a place before you need it there for real.

Recall: a long line on the beach until it is reliable
Loose leash: the leash-required paths at Halibut Point
Down and stay: the train, the café and the vet's waiting room
Leave it: the tide line and the sidewalk after a festival

At Dogtown

Where the basics are taught

Puppy school, Bright Beginnings and Calm & Connected teach the cues; Academy days keep them in practice.

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Asked and answered

Questions people ask about this

Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.

What is the first command to teach a puppy?

Sit, for most puppies, because they already do it and it can be captured or lured in a single short session. The AKC describes both: wait for a sit and mark it, or move a treat up over the puppy's head. A puppy that learns early that sitting pays will start offering it at doors and greetings, which is half the point.

How many commands should a dog know?

There is no set number. Sit, down, a release word, stay, come, loose-leash walking and leave it cover most daily situations, and the AKC Canine Good Citizen test checks several of them in public. Add cues that solve your own household's problems, such as place for the doorbell, rather than collecting tricks for their own sake.

At what age can a puppy start learning basic cues?

As soon as it comes home, usually around 8 weeks, in very short sessions. Dogtown's Tiny Tails Puppy School takes pups from 8 to 16 weeks, and AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy takes puppies from 8 weeks to 6 months over 6 weeks and 12 sessions. Bright Beginnings picks up basic obedience from 4 months.

Should I use hand signals or words?

Both work. The AKC's method for sit and down fades a food lure into an empty-hand signal before the spoken cue is added, so many dogs know the signal first. Teaching both gives you a quiet option across a room and a spoken one for when your dog is not looking at you.

Can an adult dog learn the basic commands?

Yes. Adult and rescue dogs learn the same cues in the same order, sometimes with old habits to replace along the way. At Dogtown they are placed in Calm & Connected, which covers the foundations plus impulse control and minor leash reactivity, in 4, 6 or 8 week blocks with sessions from $94.

Teach the basics once, properly

Tell us your dog's age and which cues fall apart outside. The training team replies within one hour on business days and books a short assessment with Gabby.

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