Early Learning

[mrs tornsocks]

Hi all

Not sure whether to post here or obedience but thought I'd try here first ..

8 wko lab pup Archie has been with us 2 days now, starting to teach him to sit, and he's going quite well but I have a few questions ...

1. when we're training, he often seems to prefer to sit anyway (even when he's very fresh and alert) .... should I try and teach him to stand right now ? Or one thing at a time ? Or just give him the stand command if he's sitting and vice versa ?

2. When he does sit nicely, he's sometimes sits then immediately jumps up on his hind linds, towards the treat. I have told him 'no' waited until he's sitting nicely, then given him a mark ('yes') and food goes in the gob. But just as I'm bringing the food to his mouth, he jumps up. Want to be sure I'm not rewarding him for the jump but the mark is telling him the right thing to do.

Also, do you recommend alternating a food treat with lots of praise ? He seems to still do the sit thing when I don't give him food. (he IS a lab )

Realise it's very early days but appreciate your advice ! Thanks.

[huski]

I would get sit solid first and then move on to other commands like stand or down. Work on him sitting nicely and taking the treat without jumping up and even increase the time he can stay in the sit (i.e. a few seconds). Get him to do it on voice command only and/or hand signal only.

Once I have a command solid I decrease the amount of treats I give, but only when it's solid and the dog definitely understands what I'm asking them.

[Nekhbet]

your hand is too far away hold it in front of his face and release the food when his bum is on the ground THEN gradually move your hand away from him. He's still learning Try it without food as well but at the puppy stage its one of the few things that holds attention well

You only ever do one exercise at a time, dont link them together. If you want to teach the stand or drop dont be shy to get your other hand involved to guide him as well as a bit of luring.

Dont forget that you can introduce a release command down the track. At the moment he could think sit is more an advanced bum bump This way he knows he has to park his bum until the free word comes.

[mrs tornsocks]

your hand is too far away hold it in front of his face and release the food when his bum is on the ground THEN gradually move your hand away from him. He's still learning Try it without food as well but at the puppy stage its one of the few things that holds attention well

Just tried it with food closer, much better thanks Nekhbet ! Bit silly of me

What are your thoughts on him sitting before I tell him ? He just seems to walk toward me, then sit without being asked. Should I just stand him up (but not try to teach stand command just yet) - and then go through the sitting process again ?

[Nekhbet]

he knows that sitting = treat but he doesnt know it has to be on command before he gets it. Its basically pulling a stunt to see what he gets. I would move away a little, get him to follow, then tell him to sit - as soon as he does 'oh good boy!'

it wont ruin your sit

Edited June 1, 2009 by Nekhbet

[=SaNdY^BaBii=]

he knows that sitting = treat but he doesnt know it has to be on command before he gets it. Its basically pulling a stunt to see what he gets. I would move away a little, get him to follow, then tell him to sit - as soon as he does 'oh good boy!'

it wont ruin your sit

I just got my pup 2 days ago too! and I had the same questions when trying to teach sit!

she seems to be sitting already cuz she realised that sitting = treat but not actually understanding the command.

so whenever she was already sitting, i walked away a bit further so she had to stand and walk towards me.

but then she sits down again as soon as she is close to me again.

[mrs tornsocks]

he knows that sitting = treat but he doesnt know it has to be on command before he gets it. Its basically pulling a stunt to see what he gets. I would move away a little, get him to follow, then tell him to sit - as soon as he does 'oh good boy!'

it wont ruin your sit

I just got my pup 2 days ago too! and I had the same questions when trying to teach sit!

she seems to be sitting already cuz she realised that sitting = treat but not actually understanding the command.

so whenever she was already sitting, i walked away a bit further so she had to stand and walk towards me.

but then she sits down again as soon as she is close to me again.

Likewise ! Or he seems not too bothered to come to me when I take a few steps back and just stays sitting - even when I wave the treat under his nose first ! So much for a food-oriented labrador ! . This doesn't happen every time, but quite often.

[Nekhbet]

you have to say the command once, clearly and slooooowly so the dog associates it with the action THEN treat. Otherwise the puppy brain just goes 'food food food food huh you said something?'

[giraffez]

my pup understands the sit command nicely and does it unconditionally... but all the other commands eg drop, shake hands etc... he only does it when there is a treat. What wrong signal am I giving him?

[all that glitters]

my pup understands the sit command nicely and does it unconditionally... but all the other commands eg drop, shake hands etc... he only does it when there is a treat. What wrong signal am I giving him?

He will get better at associating your clear hand signals over time, try to have a clear signal for each command.

Being a pup = low attention span & still learning. He'll get beter in time - I've noticed an immense improvement in my pups attention span and performing without treats.. 2 weeks ago she wouldn't!