Help your Dog Quickly Learn Obedience Training
One of the most commonly held beliefs about dogs is that they are quite literally born to obey their respective masters – be they male or female. That’s why we all collectively consider dogs to be mans best friend. Obedience is not necessarily something that comes naturally to dogs and to be honest often has to be trained into them with compassion and patience. Your dog needs to learn how to obey commands so they know how to behave around your home, people and of course other dogs and animals.
Obedience training in dogs is to allow you to “control” the dog. Remember dogs think and act with a pack instinct to a certain extent and this type of training is vital so that the dog knows who the master is in your relationship. In effect you’ll become the Alpha male of this particular small “pack”.
The methods used to achieve this final goal vary from one trainer to the next but the ultimate goal is the same – the dog has to obey their master; it’s to the benefit of all involved.
So what actually makes a dog obey their master? They (dogs) don’t think the same way as humans do and don’t understand our spoken language as such. So what are the core techniques to making a dog obey you? It’s quite simple really… you need to train your dog in a consistent and compassionate manner and they’ll respond. And you thought it was going to be rocket science eh?
Having a consistent approach in your training is critical. Dogs don’t think logically as humans do. You need to be consistent in showing your dog what behaviors you appreciate and those that you don’t. This way it can become more “instinctual” for the dog and they’ll quite happily obey you and your dog/owner relationship can truly blossom.
Compassion is equally important. Even the smartest dog will take time to learn new commands from you. If your canine buddy doesn’t instantly respond to a new commmand then don’t scold, slap or shout at him or her. Your dog needs to trust you for your training to be truly effective and let’s face facts nobody likes getting yelled at – dogs are the same in this regard.
Your dog is willing to obey you but he’s going to take time to learn the ropes. Be patient, compassionate and consistent in your approach and you’re already 50% of the way to success.
Aaron Walker
http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/help-your-dog-quickly-learn-obedience-training-124323.html
November 19th, 2009 at 9:45 am
At what age is a good age to start teaching a puppy basic obedience commands?
I have a Sheltie pup who just turned 12 weeks (3 months). I was going to start teaching him to "sit" today and then also start introducing the recall or "come" command on the lead as well. I thought 2- 10 minute sessions for the next 2 weeks would be sufficient. He’s walking nicely on the leash but I’m not worried about "heeling" yet. He’s too young. I thought next week, I’d introduce "down" and "stay" on lead. At 14-weeks-old, I think we can progress to the recall and stay off lead but still close.
I have obedience trained dogs before but never this young. I am going to take him to puppy kindergarten in 2 weeks and he may be ahead but that’s okay.
I like to use treats as rewards along with TONS of praise (of course). i tried the clicker but find it just too cumbersome and didn’t like it. I think it’s more suitable for dogs that aren’t quite as easy to train. Shelties are so incredibly smart though and learn so quickly that I think a simple "Good Boy" and a tiny Cheerio will suffice, don’t you?
THANKS FOR ANY OTHER ADVICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I may want to do AKC obedience with him. I definitely wan to do agility with him so that’s why I really want him to learn these obedience basics now.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Sounds like you are off to a good start. The only suggestion I will make is to work with the pup a couple of times a day for brief period.
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November 19th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
We started training our pup the day we got him (10 weeks or so).
I think I started with "Wait", "Sit", "Down"…then "Stay" and some other useless (but cute) tricks.
If you have the time, the more "sessions" you have per day, the quicker your puppy will pick up on it. As long as they are short…you can do them every hour if you want. We used Cheerios sometimes…his kibble…ice chips…
Good luck
PS…make sure he separates the commands and can do each one individually …lol…when we first started ours would sit, lay, roll over and speak at the same time when he saw a treat.
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November 19th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
He is NOT too young to learn to heel. There is no such thing as too young, you start the day you get the dog, and if he picks things up fast, then you work with that, and keep introducing more commands for him to learn, smart dogs can get bored alot faster than one who doesn’t pick things up quickly. He’ll handle anything you throw at him, to be too scared to push a little or that you may over load him, keep to 2 or 3 different commands at a time, variety is good.
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November 19th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Basic training should start from the minute you pick him up from the breeders. Yes, keep the sessions short at this age because they don’t have the attention span as when they get a little older. Patience and praise! Sounds like you are off to a good start!
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November 19th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
HI What you have said sounds find to me.. I would be using the clicker Methods with a young pup… you don’t have to use a Clicker.. just use a word like "YES"
in Agility training we do this as its too hard to hold targets treats and clickers etc…
Pups are like Sponges and they can learn so much as long as you keep it light and happy.. the good thing with the Clicker methods is that its more like a game to the dog than a training session.
Good luck
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November 19th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Your dog is going to be one smart cookie!! I started my dog ( a rhodesian ridgeback) off at the same time you did. If you want to enter agility you are definetley heading down the right track. My vet told me it is never too early to train a dog. Stay is a very difficult one to teach and my instructor said that some dogs won’t pick it up for weeks. Hope you have fun at puppy Kindy i found it great fun and it brilliant bonding time with your dog! Caitlin xx
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experience
November 19th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
5 months old is the best time to do pup classes. 6 months the pup can start really responding to all of those commands. heel. down. sit. fetch they say. To me though all pups learn differently. Sheltie’s are smart dogs… I deal with more stubborn ones. I have a rott thats very well trained by myself whom was resuced and he didnt know anything at all. He didnt even know how to climb stairs. I do have a mini pin whom is 4 months old. He knew how to sit and stay at the age of 1 month. If you always try eventually he’s going to learn.
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November 19th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
I tell people that they can start training their puppies the day that they bring them home. The lessons need to be short, positive and fun. 10 minutes might be a little long but it does depend on the puppy. You also might want to add some retrieving, go outs, and attention exercises to keep your puppy from being bored. Since you are interested in competition make sure that any classes that you take are from people who have competed in agility and/or obedience. Not all classes are the same. You want a class taught by a knowledgeable person so that you and your puppy don’t accidentally learn bad habits for the ring which maybe hard to fix latter on. Shelties are very intelligent and learn fast. Be careful that you don’t go too fast in order to develop a good foundation and habits. A good book to look for is called "Building Blocks for Performance" by Bobbie Anderson. It is a very useful book for people interested in performance sports with pups. It gives them a wonderful foundation for training.
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old balanced trainer
November 19th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
I start imprinting at 6 weeks when I get a puppy…and I do not get puppies often, but, I do 5 1-2 minute long sessions a day.
I teach one command at a time and I ALWAYS start with the recall.
The one thing to remember is NEVER allow any failures through inconsistency on you part or lack of clear communications to the dog.
This method has worked for me every time…hope I helped!
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Realist
November 19th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
To train some of the simple tricks to my dog i would take him outside let him go to the bathroom and when it comes time to go inside he has to sit at the door for me to open it. At first i would have to push his butt down but everytime he sits we go in and he gets a treat. Now at nine months he will run to the door and sit down to wait for me to open the door and let him in for his treat. Same goes for going outside, this helps then too because he will sit at the door now if he needs to go outside to the bathroom. I also taught him lay and shake and stay and in to go into his cage. All of this was done immediately after i got him which was at about 6 months of age and he learned most of the tricks after a couple weeks. He is about 10 months old now.
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November 19th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
I always start right away. I just know not to expect too much right off the bat. While they can begin learning & being introduced to training & commands they aren’t going to have them down right away. It will take a while for them to obey consistently.
I currently have a 10 week pup who I’ve been doing training with since the first week I had her (8 weeks of age). She can sit, offer her paw, lay down, heel & responds to her name & the "here" command. Though she doesn’t yet obey perfectly (obviously) she caught on very quickly & does extremely well.
I’ve never like clicker training either. I use just my voice occasional hand signals & pieces of hot dog to start. It works fine for me. I’m pretty old fashioned about training though. I don’t go for all the new Ceasar Milan – calm submissive showing whose boss BS.
So I’d say you are on the right track. If you feel like your dog is responding then that’s all that matters.
Try short 15 minute training "sessions" a few times a day. & always use the same words for commands & the same tone. You don’t want to be unclear about what you want from your dog & switching up commands can make for confusion. For example I’ve seen some people say different words for the same commands. Example: "down" "lay down" or even "sit" & "down".
Another problem to avoid would be saying the command over & over if the dog doesn’t respond. They should respond the first time. If not, no reward. Example: if you are trying to get your down to sit & they are not listening do not continue to repeat the command.
Side note: About the age issue, I would say all dogs are different when it comes to training. Some dogs have little focus, especially as pups, so it’s harder to keep their attention when trying to train.
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November 19th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Start training now! Even though Shelties are incredibly smart – never trust a puppy off lead without being in an enclosed safe area.
You also may want to consider Rally Obedience. I know you mention AKC Obedience but that sounds like Competitive Obedience and that is tough for a puppy – I know because my lab and I are going thru it now and he is 12 months. We recently just placed 3rd in a Rally competition and have only been doing Rally for about 4 months.
Start with Rally and then go into Competition Obedience. Good luck.
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November 19th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
I start training when I get the puppy at 8 weeks old. How much we train and how intense we train all depends on the puppy and its personality.
In my opinion the most important commands to teach a puppy is its name, to focus on me when I call its name and keep eye contact, "come" and "no" – and these are some of the first things I teach it.
I keep training sessions short and sweet 2-5 minutes per session and 3-5 session a day.
If you don’t like using the clicker, but like the clicker-training principles you can always mouth-click. Clicker training is not just for difficult to train dogs, in fact it’s perfect for intelligent, fast learning dogs, because it allows them to think for themselves and problem-solve which helps activate them mentally. I use a combination of methods myself, including clicker training.
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