How to Teach Your Dog Your Name

Believe it or not, many dogs know the names of the humans they live with. It’s only natural that they notice that certain words go with certain people.  When you think about it, we humans use each other’s names a lot — saying hello, getting each other’s attention, and calling out into the void to see if someone is around. We also tend to announce someone’s arrival, as in, “Josh is home!” So, it’s possible your dog already knows your name (and the names of your family members). But if not, here’s an easy way to teach your dog human names.

One of the easiest ways to teach a dog the names of everyone in the family is with a game called Family Circle. One person asks, “Where’s Karen?” (that’s me) and then I call the dog to come. If they come to me, they get a treat or other reinforcement, but if they go to someone else by mistake, they will be ignored.

Then, it’s my turn to cue the dog about where to go, and I might ask, “Where’s Josh?” Josh will call them, and if the dog goes to Josh, they get reinforced. This game works best with at least three people. With only two people, the dog may learn that the correct response is to go to the person who did not just say “Where’s . . .?” without necessarily learning names.

In the early stages of training your dog to play Family Circle, they should always be told the name of the person they must go find and hear that person call them to come. The person should also be within sight of your dog. Later as your dog becomes more competent, the cue “Come” can be dropped, and later still, the game can be played when the person they must find is out of sight.

There are many practical applications, including in the event of a lost person, or even when someone has just gone out of sight or earshot briefly. It also teaches dogs to find the person in response to the cue and gives them great practice with their recall. Among the other benefits are that the dog can get physical exercise without the people having to move, and it can help keep a dog occupied mentally when you’re too busy to engage in more active play. Win-win.