Basic Commands For Puppy

[jules1]

Hi

Apologies in advance for my total lack of puppy training knowhow - both of our previous 2 dobies were semi-mature dogs who already knew the basics when we got them so can someone give me a little help with basic obedience training for a 15 week old dobie pup? We have only had him for just over 2 weeks and took him to puppy class last weekend (not on this weekend due to easter) and as he had absolutely no idea/focus last weekend (not surprising, I guess..) I have been trying to do a bit of homework with him to start on the basics but I think I'm just confusing him. I only do our little sessions for about 5 minutes a couple of times a day as I know the attention span at this age is soooo short, but thought I would ask for some tips before I carry on probably doing everything all wrong.

He sits fairly well, just not always when I ask him.....if he wants something - either my attention or if he thinks he will get a treat, then his little bum hits the ground so fast that I often don't even get a chance to say the word! But then at other times when I ask him to sit, he just looks at me with his head cocked to one side like he has no idea what I'm talking about... He is so eager to please, but I'm not helping him.

The only other 2 things I have been working on are rewarding him for responding to his name - ie giving me his attention when I say his name, and the 'down' position which they showed us at puppy school last week. (He is actually doing really well with this one) From what I've read about that on here though, I think I should be using the word "drop" rather than "down" as I tend to use the word "down" when he jumps up...but then again, I say "drop it" when he has something I want him to give me.....(which he actually does most of the time) See why I need help?

Then we get onto hand signals.....as I am obviously confusing the poor thing with voice commands and I cringed when I read a post about people repeating themselves over and over "sit, sit, sit" - coz that's me at the moment!! Maybe I should try using hand signals more....only thing is - what do you use? And do they work better than the voice commands?

Sorry this is long - but wanted to give as much info as possible.

Jules

[PAX]

You just need to use words that you are confident you will remember.

I say down (to lay down), I say 'off' if I want them to get off something, I say out of give when I want what's in their mouth.

There a lots of words, just pick words that work for you and remember that dogs learn hand signals faster than words.

Where are the new puppy photos???

[piper]

Hi Jules,

There are no set hand signals and words that you HAVE to use. After all the dog does not understand English. You are going to teach it an association to go with each word.

Having said that it makes it much easier if words are distinct and have 1 meaning. So if you use down for get down off of somthing then you will probably not want to use it for lay down. Some ideas for you for alternatives are "off" instead of down or "give" instead of drop it. This then leaves drop or down as an available option when you want the dog to lay down.

If your pup is sitting well for a lure but not on command without then you need to fade the food lure. 1 way to do this is to use the food to lure the dog into a sit and reward. Do this a couple of times and then do 1 where you hold your hand the same way but have no food, as soon as the dog sits bring in some food from the other hand and reward so that he realises he does not have to see the food to get the food. The next step I used was if I had food in my hand I would ask for 3 or 4 sits before giving anything but if I did not then I would only ask for 1 sit before bringing out a reward (don't forget this can be a toy, pats or play as well as food) in this way they learn that there is a better chance of a reward when they can not see it than when they can.

A general rule that I use to prevent them becoming overly dependent on the food as a lure is as soon as they reliably follow it into position (and this can be as few as 5 or 6 repetitions depending on what you are asking them to do and the dog's attention span) then start doing it without the lure. Remember though if you go somewhere different or there are suddenly lots of distractions around you will probably need to go back to basics to remind your pup of what you want. Also I do not start saying the word when teaching something new until they will follow the lure into position that way the word gets paired with the action you want.

Hand signals - if oyu have taught the sit by luring then this same movement without the food in your hand becomes the signal. The same with lay down.

Hope that helps.

[jules1]

Thankyou for your responses.

OK, so if I want to use mainly voice commands - then whatever the word is, use the lure at the same time as the word and reward when he gets it, gradually reducing the actual lure (food etc) as he becomes more reliable. I was doing kinda most of that except hadn't reduced the lure yet.

As far as the sitting is concerned, he does that of his own accord without being asked to - in fact he does it all the time - if he wants a pat, a toy or even to counteract anything negative (if he knows I'm not happy with something he has done - mouthing too hard, jumping up etc - he sits straight away when I use the "not happy" tone of voice!) I just have to work on him doing it when I ask him to...

I have a feeling he will work much better with hand signals - I need to actually work out what I'm doing with my hands when I'm training him to sit/down etc! All my other dogs have always obeyed voice commands (like I said though - I can't take the credit for them unfortunately) so the hand signals is a completely new thing for me. Will give it a try later to see how he goes. I have a feeling I'm going to get a lot of those cocked head "what on earth are trying to do?" looks from him!!

This little guy is either going to be the best trained dobie around (well, at least in our street...:D ) or the most confused! At least we're trying, and having some fun too....