Stop/Finish/Enough??
 

Ok I don't know if there's a common command for this, but I saw two different (yet related) things that I think would be really cool to teach my dog.

The first was when I was at a horse barn and the owner had three medium to large dogs wrestling and playing in the yard. He told them "Finish" and they all quit playing and just kind of chilled.

The second was when I was watching a training video. The trainer was using a game of tug, so the dog remained extremely focused and active even when told to let go of the toy. When the trainer finished the session, he said "we're done" and the dog relaxed and just trotted off with him.

So is this stop-your-high-energy-behavior-and-just-chill-out command often taught? And how can you teach it to your dog?

Surely someone on this forum knows how to teach this?

I use "enough" to get my dogs to stop playing - when I think either my puppy is getting too riled up, or DH's dog is getting fed up. Dogs are very quick learners, so it's just a matter of us being consistent with when and how we use our words. I use the same phrases over and over again, and many times people have commented that my dogs seem to understand English, lol. But when I say, "Go in the house" at the end of every play session, my puppy knows that this is the end of the game and he'll carry his toy to the door. It's not so much a matter of teaching them to chill, because they'll relax on their own after a good game. You just pick the word you want to call it, and keep repeating it after every session, and they'll understand.

Awesome thanks! I thought it might be something like that for the chilling out after the training, but I was wondering if it was more difficult to get your dogs to stop rough housing? Did they automatically just stop playing when you would tell them "enough"? Or did you have to wait for them to stop playing on their own to say that command, so they would understand?

Teaching an "all done" command shouldn't be all that difficult. Work on engaging your dog with the tug (or throwing a ball, doesn't matter what the game is), having him release the toy on cue several times during the session, and then starting the game again. It would look like this: Tug, tug, tug, "out" (the dog drops the toy), "yes!" (the marker for the release - continuation of play is the reward), then tug, tug, tug some more. Rinse, repeat. :) When you're done, pick a cue to signal that the play session is over, then put the toy away and walk off, ignoring the dog if he pesters you to continue. Be consistent, work on it a few times a day, and eventually he'll learn that once you've used that cue and put the toy away there's no point in trying to get you to come back and play some more.

When my dogs were getting too rowdy in the house and I wanted them to stop, I'd cue them to come to me for some simple obedience exercises, such as a "down" with eye contact, and I'd reinforce that with treats for compliance. You could use going to a mat if you prefer, or even just a sit. Once your dogs will stop what they're doing to work with you, you can put it on cue.

My dogs have been very used to me breaking up their play for OB commands from the time Halo was a puppy (Keefer was over 3 years old by then). I separated them when I was training her so I'd have some one on one time, but I also want my dogs to not blow me off when they were together and having fun, so it's just a habit I got into.

In the evening while we were watching TV I wore my treat bag, and I'd reward the dogs for laying down and watching me. I could say "everybody - down!" and they'd drop to the floor. But whenever they got going so much that they wouldn't listen to me anymore I'd do brief timeouts in their crates - "that's it, timeout!" It actually got to the point where I could simply ask in my best mom voice :D "do you want a timeout?" and they'd both immediately stop what they were doing, lol!

My daughter has taught Nita all done when her exercise is finished. Not sure how she did it or if it will work at the end of play, but now I'm curious to see :)