What's Your Name?

Puppies don’t come to you knowing their name. Playing the Name Game builds positive value in the puppy’s name. It teaches puppies to focus on you when they hear their name and that something wonderful is coming their way!

Why It’s Important
We want our pups to have a positive association to hearing their name so they eagerly anticipate something good (and come towards you!) instead of worrying that something bad is coming their way. This also provides an important foundation for teaching a prompt and reliable recall.

What You’ll Need

• Food rewards (don’t forget to measure out the amount you use and deduct it from their next meal).

Getting Started
Say the puppy’s name in a happy voice and follow that with a piece of food and some loving (praise and petting!). Rinse and repeat. It’s that simple! Do this in as many different places as possible: in the house, in the yard, in the car, anywhere! This helps the puppy generalize their understanding that their name predicts fun no matter where you are.

Once you have practiced this over a few days, you can try testing out the puppy’s response to their name when they are calmly doing their own thing (e.g. chewing on a toy or resting on a dog bed). Say the puppy’s name (once!) in a happy voice. Wait for their reaction, and:

• If the puppy has no reaction, no problem!
  • No need to scold or repeat their name louder to make them respond. Just know that the pup wasn’t quite ready for that yet. Go back to pairing their name with food in easier situations before trying it again.
• If the puppy looks at you, reward with a happy voice and food!
  • If the puppy responds to their name a few times in a row, you can start practicing in more challenging real-life settings, such as when the pup is more actively playing with a toy or exploring their environment!

Here’s a Tip!
Try not to scold the puppy with their name. It can be natural to use a pup’s name in a negative tone when we get frustrated, but this conflicts with our goal of using their name for check-ins and recall. Be aware of this temptation! Purposely pairing the pup’s name with fun things will help tip the scale towards puppies being optimistic and happily attentive when they hear their name, even if we occasionally slip up.