Serious problems training my BC

[Yuna]

Hi,

My BC is 6 months old and I am in the process of training. I have many problems.

 

What worries me is when it is free does not come when I call. I have worked with the clicker but do not get a quick response and I have to call several times.

The other big problem is that I do not get to stroll beside me without a leash. Distracted by anything.

From 3 months now, 6 ½ months I do not see much progress.

I know it's my fault but I need to correct this dog to enjoy, not like now.

Tips for working daily with my BC? maybe you can tell me where to find videos, good training videos for BC?

 

Sorry for my English, it's not very good.

Thank you very much,

regards,

[rufftie]

first, calm down and take a deep breath. you do not have a problem dog. you have a puppy,a baby. I believe you need to adjust YOUR expectations. a pup at that age IS easily distracted and has an incredibly short attention span. so, keep your training sessions short-10 to 15 mins. don't let your dog fail. keep a long line on him. when you call him, reel him in if he doesn't come immediately. don't ever call your dog in a mean voice or punish him when he does come to you-no matter how long it takes to get there. make yourself awesomely fun-happy voice, toys and treats. I do not expect my dogs to learn/work for nothing. they get treats for correct behavior. when babies, they are heavily treated with yummy foods. as they get older, the criteria is higher, so less treating and more verbal praise, but yeah, still lots of food. in fact I wear a handymans nail bag belt when training to hold lots of treats. it's very convenient and cheap. when the dogs see the bag, they know we're gonna have some real fun learning or practicing something.

[Sue R]

What Lisa said!

[gcv-border]

 

 

Tips for working daily with my BC? maybe you can tell me where to find videos, good training videos for BC?

 

Yes, advice given above is very good.

 

You can also search this site. Use the search function in the upper right of the page to look for specific topics. For example, you might type in "recall training" or "loose leash walking".

 

Also, look on Youtube and search for dog training tips there. One person who posts a lot of training videos is kikopup.

 

Good Luck,

[Camden's Mom]

I agree with what others have said about adjusting your expectations. All of the "problems" you mentioned are completely normal puppy behaviors. Don't get discouraged!!

 

With a pup that age, I would focus more on loose leash walking then a perfect "heel". Consider letting your puppy explore and enjoy the world while you are out on walks but don't let her drag you down the street. I like the "tree" method for training this: While you are walking your dog if there is ever any tension on the leash, stop dead in your tracks and stand still. Encourage the pup to come back to you and once the leash is loose move forward again. This approach takes patience and consistency, but the message is "You don't get to go anywhere if you pull on the leash". As gcv-bord suggested there are tons of different ways to train this and a search on this forum or online will give you lots of different ideas.

 

If you do want to have your pup walk nicely by your side, start working on it in your house. Once that's going well, move it into the backyard, then a quiet park, and keep building up from there. Remember to train in short sessions and to set her up for success!

 

Recall training is a fantastically fun game to play with your puppy! Always make coming back to you the best thing in the world. Rufftie had some great advice, I would only add one thing... If your pup is super distracted and you KNOW she's not going to listen to your recall then don't call her. You really don't want to be calling her multiple times. It just teaches her that the recall is optional. Only call her to you when you know she'll come or if you can reel her in on a long line. Just remember once she does get to you (even if it took longer then you'd like) it's still a great big happy party.

 

I don't think you have "serious training problems" at ALL. I think you have a puppy. Keep up the training, be supportive and consistent and don't expect more from her then is reasonable for her age. Have fun and we all love puppy pictures if you want to share a few of your little one!

[Sue R]

You know, I think there are many people who feel that with or without their efforts, a Border Collie (being "the world's smartest dog") is going to be either easy to train or will practically train itself. While they can learn very quickly, they can also be a challenge because they will learn "bad" or unwanted behaviors very easily, also. And sometimes you think you are training them the right thing, or think that you are not even training at all at that moment, when in reality, you could be training your pup a behavior you don't really want.

 

This is a puppy and is exhibiting normal puppy behaviors. In addition, in the latter part of her first year, she will be an adolescent - and that stage comes with all of its own challenges. The puppy that was so "perfect" and "adoring" when younger can then become rebellious and always pushing her boundaries, and watching to see just how much she can get away with.

 

Like an intelligent child, a smart puppy can take more effort and especially more intelligent training, than one with less intelligence might.

[Yuna]

First, thanks for your comments and advice.

 

I think my puppy doesn't come when I calling maybe later will not come While I agree that maybe if I come whenever and congratulate or use the clicker will gradually be more obedient.

I'm was concerned that the park i met one BC with 7 months ( my BC is 6 months and a half) and this BC yes walk together her without leash.

I seriously doubt if my "training method" are correct. Since there are many fields that attempt to correct . Intent it doesn't come in the kitchen ( correct again and again) and try to perform any activity with it (exercises, new tricks , it gets very nervous and barks and barks ...

 

I hope this is corrected in the future but I need to know I'm doing well training processes .

 

I will look more closely at the forum to see if I 'm finding good workouts !

 

regards and thanks .

[Sue R]

If your pup appears to get "nervous and barks", it may be a sign that your training is not real understandable to her. Have you raised a pup or pups before? Are you using a book or video to help you know how to train? Maybe you could post a video or a thorough description of how you try to teach her something so people might be able to advise.

 

Don't judge your pup by another. Every dog, even within a breed or even a litter, can be very different in how it learns, how fast it learns, how quickly it matures, and how it responds to different training approaches.

[Camden's Mom]

I agree it sound like there might be some confusion between you and your pup. If it's an option for you, it might be good to look for puppy classes or beginning obedience class where you live. Puppy classes are a good bonding experience as you work with your dog and better learn to communicate with each other. You'd want to find an instructor that uses primarily "positive reinforcement" methods and/or clicker training, since you've already started with the clicker.

 

I wish I had a good overall training video recommendation, but I tend to look online for training solutions to specific issues we're having at any one time. Perhaps other members will be more helpful pointing you towards a good foundation building training video...

[GentleLake]

You know, I think there are many people who feel that with or without their efforts, a Border Collie (being "the world's smartest dog") is going to be either easy to train or will practically train itself.

 

As I've said before, Stanley Coren's ranking of dog breeds by intelligence ultimately did no favors for border collies.

 

I can't tell you the number of people who've turned young, out-of-control dogs into rescue saying that they'd heard BCs were so smart and they, essentially, interpreted that as meaning they wouldn't have to train them. Most were purchased from breeders who didn't bother to inform them that their being smart meant they had to spend more time training them, not less.

 

The vast majority of them have turned out to be perfectly normal pups, and pretty much issue free if we got them in time.

[GentleLake]

If you're calling several times, you're teaching -- or have already taught -- the pup that coming is optional.

 

One thing you're going to have to do to get a reliable recall is to start over. You've already, quite accidentally, tainted the cue. This means that whatever word you're using ("come", "here", whatever) already doesn't mean to the dog what you want it to mean, because you haven't taught the dog properly what it does mean.

 

So, start over with a new word. If you're using "come", don't use that any more and start using "here". Or "potato". It doesn't matter what the word is so long as you and the dog will eventually both know what it means.

 

Now, and this is important, do.not.use the new recall word unless you're 100% sure the dog will come to you! That means during training that you won't be calling the pup to you unless you've got a leash or a long line on it so that if it doesn't come you can reel it in. If the pup learns that this word is also optional (in other words, if you allow the pup the opportunity to disregard the cue and not come to you), then you'll have succeeded in tainting that cue as well, and will have to start over yet again.

 

As others have said, there are several methods of teaching recalls and you should be able to find videos and other instructions on line.

 

But 2 key elements are to never punish or scold your pup for coming to you, no matter what naughty thing it was doing or how long it took the pup to come or how frustrated you are, and to always make it the best thing ever when the pup does come to you. You want to be the source of all things good for the pup, so have a party when she or he comes to you. Shower her with treats and praise, and then most of the time let her go to play again.

 

You don't want her to associate coming with the end of the fun, so don't only ask her to come only when you want to take her away from whatever fun things she's doing. In fact, until you've got a pretty reliable recall, I wouldn't try to call the dog to you when it's time to end the fun and go in. Use some other way to entice her to you and then scoop her up and carry her in. You can eventually call her to you to end play, but not yet. Make and keep "come" (or "here" or "potato") part of the fun and games for now.

 

And also don't use that recall word for bringing her to you for something that may be unpleasant, like baths or nail clipping.

 

Loose leash walking is similar in that you want to give your pup a reason to want to walk close to you. Lots of clicks, praise and treats when the leash is loose, and nothing -- including movement -- when it's not. If she pulls, you stop. She'll find out pretty quickly how boring that is and look back to you to see what's going on. When the tension on the leash goes away goes away, that's when you reward and move forward.

 

It would probably be useful to teach her to make eye contact with you early on. You want her to know it's a good thing to focus on you.

 

As others have said, if you can take her to a class, preferably a positive reinforcement class, all the better. A good trainer can not only teach you techniques, but can see what you're doing and offer suggestions and help with things like timing.

 

Good luck. Keep us posted about how things go.

[Sue R]

Lots of good information but what GentleLake said in Post #11 is excellent!

[Yuna]

Thanks to everyone for the interest shown and the advice. I'm going to relax and take the trainign as a fun challenge and enjoy.

 

I will put in practice all the advice in especially of GentleLake (thanks for the detailed explanation)

 

I'll comment more progress and requesting help with the new challange!

 

Greetings!