Questions about basic training

[Lizabeth]

Ok so Gidget is about 8 months old, she has had not learned much of anything from the family that abandon her. She is smart catching on pretty quick but their are some issues here that she "chooses" not to listen.

 

Come, and Stay are 2 things she will and can do when she wants This darn pup has to be on a leash all the time when we are outside or she will bolt out of the yard. Shes next to impossible to catch its more like after she realizes she is far from me that she turns around and runs rite back all happy to see me.

 

I am teaching her simple commands such as sit stay leave it no bark ( poor people who walk up the street get greeted by the beagle who sets off the other dogs! This is more my 15 year old beagles fault then Gidget and I can quiet Gidget much faster then Poppy

 

I had been given one of those cheap retractable leashes and wow that thing was working fantastic both in the yard and in the house! But as i said it was cheap it lasted 3 days lol.

 

Any suggestions on getting this pup to stay and to come when called? We can get her to do it when not distracted with no problem. But anything can distract her from a critter, human to a leaf blowing in the wind.

 

We go outside alone every morning water the gardens together, and then go for a nice walk after that we come home put the dogs out and about an hour or so later we go to the dog park and this is where my trouble begins! Gidget will not leave that park tell she is good and ready! If a new dog happens to come when we are about to leave off she goes and I cant catch her no one can! Not until she is ready This is really a problem for me as many times the reason why have to go home is because I need to go potty! no outhouses or anything at the park so yes this is a big issue for me

[Mom of Mya]

We are keeping Mya on a 15 to 20 foot leash at all times right now. She is 7 months old. She knows to come like you said but the puppy in her takes over and she is off sometimes. Took off after a bird one day and ran out in the street with my husband in the yard. I saw her out the window and about had heart failure. So no more freedom from her until we know she will not take off or at least stop and return immediately upon command. We are working with the long leash. Gives her room to be away from us but a line to grab if she does try to take off and is not listening to her command to come back.

[GentleLake]

Any suggestions on getting this pup to stay and to come when called? We can get her to do it when not distracted with no problem. But anything can distract her from a critter, human to a leaf blowing in the wind.

 

 

Both require practice. Lots and lots (and lots and lots more) of practice.

 

There's no way of getting around it. You have to put in the work if you want to get these down reliably. And since she doesn't have a history of learning to obey, it'll take a bit before she gets the idea.

 

One thing to remember to get a good recall is to never, under any circumstance and no matter how frustrated and/or angry you might be bout what she's just done or because she hasn't listened, scold her when she does come to you, whether it's n he own or if you have to reel her in. Coming to you should always be a great thing. For a sensitive border collie with a long memory (any dog really) one time when there are negative repercussions for coming to you can ruin it forever.

[rufftie]

here is my standard answer for training a recall:

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.

[Cass C]

I had a serious issue with my border mix Lyka ignoring the come command. I enrolled her in training and never regretted it for a second.

 

My trainer's fix was that you start off with your dog tied to a very long leash or even a rope tied to her collar would work. Then let them run and get distracted then call them back, but only use the word twice at the most and if you do not get a response pull the dog back to you and act like she did it all on her own. My trainer always says that there is no such thing as a bad "come", so get excited that she came to you and she should get a small high value treat for getting pulled back, like a hot dog or boiled chicken. If you do not have to pull the dog back give them a jackpot reward, which is a bunch of little high value treats. As the dog gets more reliable about returning you can cut back on the treats.

 

You should always start with little to no distraction, just to teach the dog what you are asking them to do. As much as people would like to believe it; dogs are not born speaking human, so we have to show them what it is we want from them. Slowly over time you will add distractions, but make sure that you are not adding way more then the dog can handle at one time. For example don't one day have one dog acting as a distraction and then suddenly add ten more. Right now whatever your dog sees\smells\etc is a million times more interesting then you, and it is up to YOU to change that. You want the dog to think coming to you will result in something awesome happening, such as getting their favorite treat or toy.

 

Also like others have said NEVER get upset with the dog for not coming when you call. That will just show the dog that they were right about coming to you not being as fun as whatever they are doing at the time. It took a couple of months of practicing every day at every chance that was presented, but I now trust Lyka off leash in any form of distraction. Because she now knows that I'm way more fun than anything else she finds.

 

Edit: As for stay remember that it is boring for the dog, so keep the stay very short in the beginning. I always start with getting the dog in a sit or down, say stay and reward as soon as the pup looks away from me or doesn't move for about 5 seconds. If the pup refuses to stay I stand on the leash or get someone to do it for me and wait until they are in either a sit or a down (depending on what I asked them to do) and then reward when they are sitting still for a few seconds. Slowly increase the time and distance between you and the dog, this may require getting someone else to stand on the leash until the dog understands that just because you move doesn't mean that they can. If they move I put them back where they were and start over.

 

Also for stay I don't use any of my normal praise words to release them, because I want to be able to talk to the dog or someone else without the dog thinking that they can get up and leave. I use the release word "OK", but I have heard many other things such as "Lets go" and "All Done". It is important that until they hear a release word, should you decide to use one that, they don't end the stay on their own. If you allow them to decide when it is or is not OK to get up then they will only do what they are told when they feel like it and for how long they want not how long or when you want. Jackpot rewards can also be used in the beginning here for when they stay until you give them the OK to get up.

Edited May 12, 2014 by Cass C

[Lizabeth]

Thank you a all for your help and advice, We are everyone who comes to our house that the screen doors must must be kept closed at all times this way when the door opens it is not out to that great big amazing world. Also I have her sit at the door when it is being open and have her wait for the beagle to go out so that she does not get trampled ( working pretty well)

 

to my joy she chewed through her leash while I had my eye off of her for a moment and as soon as she was free she came rite to me! She looked at me as if to say umm we have a problem I am loose. I gave her all the praise and a nice handful of treats. Daughter gave me this nice little draw string bag that goes over my neck and shoulder it holds treats and I can get at them with ease. That is now always to be filled and grabbed on our way out the door for now on

 

I totally see what you are all saying about keeping calm cool and collected and NOT to scold her if and when she gets out of the yard no matter how long it takes to get her back the fact of the matter is she does come back and that we will reward i like the "no such thing as a bad come"

 

When I tell her to stay when it is time for her to get up and move about I tell her ok Gidget only because if anyone says the word ok she has been known to try to bolt out of the autos in parking lots or where ever we are so I now always say Ok Gidget or Ok lets go Gidget We also have found that to have her stay in the back seat until the other dogs are out then slide the seat foward has really been working. Yesterday Kim could not get her out of the truck so I showed her what to do working very well actually no issues since I gave the neighbor a ride she got out and said ok and Gidget hop

out running loose in a parking lot. But she did come to me at last i carried her to the truck gave her a hug and told her we dont want a repeat of this one ever again lol

 

So yes i am starting to remember the days of having a puppy around and all the fun. Again I thank you I am putting all your advice to thought and finding a way to make things work for us. Longer leash is much better then that darn chain that wraps around my ankle leaving bloody poka dots ouch

 

Puppy classes are full tell September here but I am trying to get on a waiting list just in case a class opens sooner. And i have heard of a class that meets every Saturday that I am looking to find information on as well so we can get started

 

Shorter sessions also sound totally reasonable for her and I both after a about 10 minutes she is ready for some fun and I cant blame her When we are done i give her a few extra treats and tell her were done and praise her for the good job. I am seeing that this is all going to be a big help for us all. She has such a wonderful personality and a bit of clown I love that about her

[Bordercentrics]

Hi Lizabeth,

 

You have already gotten some good advice, so I won't reinvent the wheel here. Spokane Dog Training Club will have new classes beginning in July, with registration the week before. Next week will be the last classes of the current session. There is a month off between sessions. You would want one of the Home Companion classes, rather than a Puppy class. There are several each week.

 

Who is booked until September???

 

Kathy Robbins

[Lizabeth]

Lilac City Dog Training School is where I plan to bring her in September, But I have made contact with a trainer who specelizes in training service dogs, she is going to assist me in finding some one on one obedience with Gidget we will be starting very soon:)

 

I do have some awesome news on Gidget's progress! She is walking on a leash like a trooper! Every time we start out for our walk naturally she is excited and wants to pull, so we do the come sit stay over and over ( she loves turkey hotdogs that I cut into bite size for her). then after a few times shes like oh ok Ill stop pulling.. last few walks she has been so good about sitting when cars pass, not trying to greet every person and critter on our way, I tell her "leave it" and she just holds her pretty head up as we walk rite past. Today a bunch of people wanted to pet her so I told her to sit they all got to pet her she was just so sweet and adorable!!

 

We are both much more at ease on our walks now, I give her time here and there to be silly and have some fun she loves to jump over things and jump back to me over and over its funny!

 

Today I took a chance and we walked down to the river nice and slow she did not pull me at all she just stood at my side as we went down the trail. Once we got to the river she jumped on a big rock looked at the water then at me I told her it was ok and she jumped in the water oh she had a blast!! Then she came rite out when I said ok lets go. I could not be more proud of her! When we had to head up the hill she was awesome again not a problem at all! I think its the combination of having a longer leash where when possible I can give her more space but when needed to tighten it up that is fine too. She is learning I only shorten it when needed then she has more slack.

 

WE will keep up with this new routine! No stress No pressure its all about fun for us both now!! I thank you for your input the longer lead and bag of treats have helped and just giving her time to be a silly puppy here and there is a wonderful breakup from having to try to do everything rite all the time. I will get those pictures I keep forgetting to bring the camera with me when Im heading out the door lol