Which Method Of Training To Use ?

[hazel]

We have a 9 week old puppy ( cav x poodle ) who has been with us for one week now . I have not started any training yet ( except for crate training which is going well ) as it is school holidays and she is getting soooo much attention from my 3 children that it is hard to find a quite moment for her to concentrated on anything I might want her to do !

We are starting puppy pre school next week where I expect they will teach us the " command and praise / treat " form of training . I have also read quite a lot about clicker training and have clicker sitting next to my bed but unused as yet .....

Then I read about the Triange of Temptation pinned at the top of this forum and it made a lot of sense too ....

So now I am very confused as all training methods sound great and I do not know where to start .

I really only want to achieve the basics sit , stay , mat , come and to walk on a leash . Oh and no jumping on people .

Any recommendations on where I should start ?

[reddog21]

Start anywhere but always be consistent. Sounds like you don't want to commit to a full training plan so I would start with the clicker ( it's called reward based training) and work up to the Triangle later if you want to learn about Drive.

The main thing to do is explain to all the family that you all have to be consistent with the training. No rushing through doors, no jumping or whatever you want to teach.

Hopefully you will find that it is exciting for you and you will join your local club and take the dog to it's full potential.

Remember it's probably more about training the owners in the beginning than training the dog.

[leopuppy04]

Hi Hazel

Personally - I don't think it is really down to 'what' method to use but rather what method suits you and your dog. I am sure those at your puppy school will be able to give you heaps of tips etc.

I'm a big fan of the clicker and love it for teaching all kinds of obedience, agility and tricks.... anybody can use it once you have the basics down pat. But if you use a clicker - don't forget to use your voice and not rely on just that 'click' . I have some great links on my web page for clicker training (link below) and also Ness has some clicker links that I haven't added to my webpage yet .

As for drive training - I really don't know much about although it seems to be more driven toward those who want to go further in their training - not to say it won't work in a pet dog, I am sure it will, but it may be something you want to start later once you have your head around the basics of training

Good luck with your training and glad to hear pup is settling in well

[Erny]

In the "teaching phase" it's all 'positive reward' based training anyway. A 'clicker' is simply a marker for the correct behaviour - a verbal marker word can also be used. As to whether you use clicker or not is a personal choice and should be one that works best for your dog and yourself. If you don't use clicker now, it's not to say that it can't be introduced later, and vice versa.

I am not shy of using a combination of training methods, depending on what I'm trying to achieve. I will use compulsion and although many people will aghast at the word "compulsion" thinking it's a matter of wrestling your dog into position, it can be as simple and gentle as this :

With the pup/dog still in teaching phase, there might be times when the puppy/dog offers the behaviour and whether or not I've been using another method to teach it, I might chose to reward the offered behaviour - whether it was intended by the pup or not. This is "shaping".

And there are times - even with the same pup/dog that I have used some compulsion work with, where I might use a lure to achieve the position I seek (being mindful not to get stuck on "lure" - this should only be used very briefly so as not to become "bribing").

One of the important things to be mindful of, regardless of which or any of the teaching methods you use, is your timing of the command. If you give a command, you want to know that the pup WILL follow with the appropriate behaviour, otherwise the command you use runs the risk of remaining meaningless to the pup.

Just as important is the timing and value of your reward and your overall consistency (as already mentioned by Reddog above).

If you seek to train your pup/dog in "drive", you would want to work towards building the drive in your pup and there are smallish exercises to do for a pup in the early teaching phases for this, although you do need to be disciplined on what you do and allow the pup to have in between training exercises. Check in on Steve (K9 Force) in this respect, as he has a knack far superior to mine as to explaining what and when to do in this respect than I do. I find it easier to demonstrate this than explain.

And really important is to have fun.

Edited July 5, 2007 by Erny

[hazel]

thanks very much for your replies ... exactly the help that I needed . I think I will go to Puppy pre school and then once the children are back at school I will start on some clicker training ( more so that I can have some quite so that I can play with the clicker before I start teaching my children )

Had a look at your web page Leopuppy and had great information on clicker training. Thank you