Breana' Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Hi! Does anyone have experience with entering basic obedience classes with an "older" dog? I have a male BC who turned 4 this past September. He's enthusiastic and quick to learn, but I'm not entirely sure how to get his main focus on me without expecting some kind of reward. For example, if I have his toy in my hand, he'll listen to every word that comes out of my mouth, but he's more focused on the toy than he is on me. If I call out a command without the toy, most of the time it'll be ignored. He's also a bit...I wouldn't necessarily say dog aggressive, but dog reactive? I guess they could be used interchangeably in some instances. What I'm hoping to achieve with him would be better focus and the dog aggression problem. I feel that training may be a little easier once those are corrected. Does anyone have any advice or experience with this kind of situation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
painted_ponies Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Four is still pretty young, I think. Sounds like your dog is enthusiastic. I don't think willingness to work for a reward is a bad thing at all - you just have to set it up so that he knows he doesn't get the reward until he executes the command. I'm starting to clicker-train my horses - horses are greedy creatures and at first they're all about the treat bucket strapped to my hip, LOL. So our first week or so is spent teaching that there are.no.treats until horsie is standing calmly with his head out of my space. Then they are clicked and reinforced. The interesting thing I've noticed with this method is that the animal will increase his own criteria without prompting from me. In addition to being greedy, horses are born paranoiacs and will often spook at the slightest provocation. BUT - once they know they only get reinforced for standing calmly, they will cheerfully ignore the most ominous rustling in the underbrush. Since he's reactive to other dogs, could you find a trainer to work one-on-one with you until you get him sufficiently focused on the work so that he ignores distractions? If not, I bet there are some good videos out there that you could use to work on your own until your dog can handle being in class with other dogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnLloydJones Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Does anyone have experience with entering basic obedience classes with an "older" dog? I have a male BC who turned 4 this past September. "Older dog" and "age four (4)" years old do not belong together. Although we don't do formal classes, my 7 year old is still learning (or is it me who is still learning to teach her?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breana' Posted November 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Thanks for the replies! I don't think 4 is old, either (especially for this breed!), but I guess I'm getting caught up on that whole "old habits die hard" thing. And since a lot of dog owners seem to enter obedience classes with puppies... Still, I do believe that with the proper reinforcement and the dog's willingness to please, age doesn't play that big a factor in training. I won't know unless we give it a shot! I'd really love to do agility trials with him or something. I know he'd absolutely love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G. Festerling Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 I actually think that the "older" dogs sometimes have the advantage of already having skills like taking corrections, knowing how to get rewards and general stuff. And I am not talking major set bad habits. But normal. And if 4 in a dog is older....I just may have to quit taking lessons for me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligande Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 I just had a 7 year old foster dog who we were teaching leash manners and a recall to and were making great strides before she found a home. Last year I started to get a recall on a 13 year old foster who had no idea what come meant . My own 8 year old started agility at 4, and although he is no longer competing we had no problem learning together, and he made it into the top level classes before I let him quit ( his choice, he does not find agility with me fun) .... and I still teach him new tricks in winter to keep his mind occupied. I reckon it is never to late to learn if you are a Border Collie or a human. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Elle Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 I one time trained a 10 year old very spoiled and untrained labrador to have good manners and to go to her mat and several other things that made it possible for me to live with her. Didn't take long, either. Four is young. Dogs that actually are old can be trained. My male BC is going on 12 and still likes to learn new things. 'Course, he's not old, either. Not even starting to get old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arf2184 Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 Bear took his first (and only) agility class at age 9 1/2. We had no intention of going beyond the foundation class since he has hip issues, but he learned and enjoyed it and it gave us something to do. He is not and never has been an quick learner. It took him a bit longer to catch on to things and he hadn't learned anything new in quite a while so it was a bit of an adjustment at first. He had a lot of fun though. Just going to class and seeing a new place, new people, and a couple new dogs was exciting for him, especially once it became a weekly routine. He also took a beginning Treibball class at age 10 1/2. He didn't really take to Treibball at all but he still had fun and was a bit of a class clown. Find a class, talk to the trainer and make sure they can help you work with his dog reactive-ness, and go have fun. Don't worry about him being focused only with treats/toys. As long as you've got his focus, your doing good. Once he's confident in what he's doing, you can change the criteria a bit so that he isn't always getting rewarded or he has to do more before he gets rewarded. Sometimes there's no reward, sometimes there's a jackpot. That'll help you gain his focus at other times and eventually it will just be second nature to do what you say (most of the time ). But when you're starting out, just focus on him learning, you being consistent, and making things fun. Add-on: Forgot to say, Bear used to bounce, bark, whine, and growl when he saw another dog from about age 4 to age 8-ish. It was mostly because we didn't know how to handle his freak-out every time he saw another dog. Once we learned, he learned and now he can pass by other dogs with no problem. Bear still can't meet most new dogs because he has terrible manners (he tends to make other dogs nervous by charging up to them, head and tail erect) but we can go for a walk now without him barking at every dog we pass and we can enter a room full of dogs and he's fine. Old dogs can change...you just have to know how to help them (which means you have to change too). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breana' Posted November 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 Thanks for all the encouraging words! I definitely think one of the biggest problems is with me not knowing how to teach him what I want to because I don't know how to show it to him, know what I mean? I'm as consistent as I can be, but when it comes to a point where he isn't catching on at all because I'm not communicating it properly, I just stop altogether and play with him instead. It's hard to teach without having learned yourself But I really appreciate all your stories! Rook's a smart boy and he gets so excited when he learns something new. It's an awesome thing to experience Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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