dididog Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Hi all, my puppy's 5 months now and we've reached a point where we've finally covered to a satisfactory level all of the basics. Toilet trained, housetrained (unless there are tissues lying around), socialised/used to different types of dogs, people, places, catching trains, sitting outside cafes etc she's pretty unphased by most things. She's used to being by herself for extended periods and while not perfect her loose lead walking is better than most adult dogs I know, plus is good with manners like no jumping, waiting, and settling down after zoomies/in the car. Her basic commands are really good too and are done less often for treats, except down where she will still only do it with a lure (yet she can hold a down stay in a distracting environment for like a minute which I would not think she'd be capable of at this age??) Basically what I am getting at is the last 3 months I've spent all of our training getting to this stage and now other than keeping up all of the things we've already learnt I am a bit unsure where I should go from here! We joined an obedience club but because of the public holiday only have our first class next sunday which I'm sure will help us with polishing up what we already know and giving us new things to do but I guess I'm just kind of bored and uninspired especially since I just started uni. So again sorry for the rambling but does anybody have any suggestions of fun/new things I can do with my pup to build on the basics? She's food/toy/praise driven and I'm open to most suggestions, i don't know just small fun things we can do that don't really fall under the obedience umbrella but are still beneficial to her training or other aspects of dog life. At the moment I've lost that sort of joy for training and don't want to go into obedience with that mindset :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 :) You don't 'have' to do heaps of formal training . Think of what you would like her to do at home . pick up toys?carry things for you? find lost things? Think of 'tricks' which can be cute or useful ....like offering you her feet when asked ...lying still on one side......putting her head in her collar when asked.... turning around to present backside/or left & right sides when grooming .......there are so many little things which make life easier, and which can be done gently and as part of everyday ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Trick training! Tricks are fun and many are also useful for body awareness and/or lead on to further training. Eg: Retrieve an item walk backwards get onto/under/around objects crawl balance on unstable surface spin bow the list is endless! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Tricks, tricks & more tricks....there are hundreds & your dog will love learning them. Have you taught him to love the clicker...then you can play shaping games with him...a great way to tire him out :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agility Dogs Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 (edited) LAUGH!!! Just get out and play with your puppy. Then all of a sudden in the middle of mucking around do somthing formal, then go back to your play time. I'm finding the more I do that the more I get dogs that are super charged when we are training and just get switched on by doing what we do. :) ETA - along with what hte others have said. I helps to build in distraction as well because training becomes more exciting than whatever else might be out there. Edited March 9, 2014 by Agility Dogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Miss Emma Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 I have to say the longer I've been training dogs I've now learnt to train them less!! That is what keeps the excitement up for my dogs! I used to train them heaps and heaps and now I've been a bit slack in training and I've found that when we do train they are so motivated (as am I) and everything they do is so much more accurate and they work to a high standard!! It's the opposite of what I thought would happen! That being said I've also had to look at how each of them work. Kenzie loves this style of training and when we do have a training session is happy to work for almost a solid 45 min that way (she also loves her intermittant 5 minute training blocks that happen most days on something). Hamish however, he prefers to do things no more than 4-6 times, after that he gets bored (unless it is herding, in which case he would like to work for a minimum of an hour!!). So I also factor in my dogs learning and working preferences so that they really enjoy each session. I've figured out the longer I've had dogs the importance of play! Have fun! Then training is fun, because it's playing just a different sort of playing!! And get in to tricks! Everyone loves watching a dog do tricks. Dogs love learning tricks, usually because we have a different frame of mind when we teach tricks! we think tricks are fun so we have fun when we teach them! They then start to learn that training is heaps of fun because it's all about tricks! Oh and vary it up, no one likes to do anything a hundred times, I find doing something a couple of times but finishing on an improvement in the behaviour means that we all have fun and want more!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 LAUGH!!!Just get out and play with your puppy. Then all of a sudden in the middle of mucking around do somthing formal, then go back to your play time. YES :) :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Echoing what the others have said. It's all about the relationship - your pup seeing you as more fun than anything else. And for the more formal disciplines, have a look at the components that go to make up the finished exercise, rather than thinking about training a completed exercise. You can just work those bits and pieces and then put them together when they're polished. Rear-end awareness exercises are always good - have a look at platform training. You can find some cool stuff on Youtube - thinking of kikopup (Emily Larlham), K9infocus (Deb Jones) and there are more - but those ones will give you good foundations, taught in a fun way. Less is definitely more, and ideally the pup shouldn't know what is training and what is play more :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dididog Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 Thanks guys, I definitely think I've fallen into the trap of trying so hard to get my first puppy 'right' that I've missed out on some of the fun stuff . As far as trick training goes she is really good at giving her paw (shake) and we tried roll over but she would just get really excited and flop around on her back like a fish. At the obedience club intro they asked us to work on introducing a bridge word (yes) which we've been doing so I'm looking forward to teaching her some tricks as with the bridge word it'll be easier to pinpoint small parts of the trick rather than trying to introduce the trick as a whole, I was thinking picking up all of her toys and putting them away would be useful... And thanks agility dogs, I never really thought about using play to get her better at listening in distracting environments but I do think she doesn't see me as the best thing ever in some situations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 :) when you are playing relax and watch her. What does she do as her own fun? Does she silent bark, dig, roll, hold things with her paws? Does she enjoy crawling, jumping,poking things with her nose or sniffing along in line? Must admit admittedly I am not at all into obedience training but I spend a lot of time watching pups to learn what they enjoy/ are best at. Then we spend time understanding each other with a compromise on these things :) my Hamlet was one for carrying things- he ended up as an adult picking up stuff I dropped , carrying notes & things between family members in different rooms. Just one example of my lazy training :) Your puppy has lots of world to explore and play in. Watch her, enjoy her enjoying herself, and let her show you what she's an aptitude for :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 LAUGH!!! Just get out and play with your puppy. Then all of a sudden in the middle of mucking around do somthing formal, then go back to your play time. I'm finding the more I do that the more I get dogs that are super charged when we are training and just get switched on by doing what we do. :) ETA - along with what hte others have said. I helps to build in distraction as well because training becomes more exciting than whatever else might be out there. Big Yes to this !! :) Especially with my girl. We play ball together cause she just loves to run & chase it. Then I'll ask her to do something eg lay down or whatever & she does it super fast & with such gusto. I can walk outside at home & request the same thing & while she is obedient she has nowhere near the enthusiasm that she has when we are having a game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Miss Emma Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I taught Kenzie munchkin to put her toys away! It's great in winter when I don't want to go out in mud and play with her! Mind you, now that I have Hamish it is much harder as he want to play with the toys she is putting away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I taught Kenzie munchkin to put her toys away! It's great in winter when I don't want to go out in mud and play with her! Mind you, now that I have Hamish it is much harder as he want to play with the toys she is putting away! :) ..so many toys ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Very clever Kenzie girl :) Glad to see I'm not the only one that has a lounge room that resembles Toys R Us pretty miss emma LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankdog Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Clicker training and doing 101 things to do with a box, it teaches creativity and I think builds thinking skills. Urban agility, make a little circuit of anything in your lounge or garden that can be climbed on, over or under, you can use benches or your crate or a stick over two pot plants to jump over. I watched a guy walking his kelpie through Federation Square last week, every post or bench or bump in the ground was an opportunity to place front feet on, climb through or touch with a body part. It was beautiful to watch and the dog was getting so much more than a walk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 I would of loved to have seen that Hankdog. How inspiring it must of been Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Agree with the others. Mix in so much in your training. Obedience commands are important - we want them to be reliable. We NEED them to be reliable. And I think because we tend to see them as so important, we tend to forget they can and should represent "fun" to the dog - so much "fun" in fact, that the dog wants to be reliable, can't help but being reliable. But simultaneously, we shouldn't go too far too fast with our training. We have to stay within the boundaries of the dog's capabilities, nudging the envelope, so to speak, for progress sake, but not venturing into unrealistic expectations. Your pup's "boundaries" at this stage will be his ability to maintain focus and attention. Too far, too fast and later we begin to see the obedience training we've done, to unravel. So, as said - add in tricks and use these as a sorbet between obedience commands. I love using the dog's natural "drive" to advantage learning. I love it, because the dogs tend to love it the most as well. Teach your dog names for its toys. Don't name them all at once and just shape it. IE Say the name of the toy whenever pup picks it up. Congratulate pup for picking up "flea" or "shrek" or "donkey" or whatever. Over time, when the names become familiar (i.e. word association has occurred) you can begin introducing more challenging games, such as asking your pup to go fetch "shrek". You can set this up as easy, and as your dog gets better and better at it and in turn finds this easy, increase the difficulty factor by having one other, two others, three other, etc. toys in the vicinity. Teach your pup to "find" - this is another great activity. There are more to "tricks" than simple passive ones (not to say they aren't good - we need them too in some instances). The only thing that limits what we can teach our dogs is our own imaginations. Have fun with your pup. He'll be an adult dog before you know it. Enjoy the pup-dom :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Miss Emma Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Very clever Kenzie girl :) Glad to see I'm not the only one that has a lounge room that resembles Toys R Us pretty miss emma LOL. I keep having to buy bigger toy buckets for them!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Ha Ha !! that's what I had to do too. Now I have upsized to a big cane T chest & I can't even close the lid on it as it is over flowing :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 (edited) Great post Erny I nearly soured my first BC as I trained her till she was bored pretty much. Not know any better & so wanting to get everything 'right'. Poor girl, glad I woke up to myself. I am so much more relaxed these days with my guys with the whole training routine & I get far better results now. I used to just watch them lots when I first got them as puppies & we played together lots.I bonded with them & figured out what made them tick. Gradually incorporating slithers of training here & there. Then more fun. Then repeat. We have fun everyday. But we also have boundaries that must be obeyed & they do. Mine are obedient for my requirements. They are learning all the time. I just really enjoy every moment I have with them :) Edited March 11, 2014 by BC Crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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