Owen, 7 weeks old, has already starting learning a bunch of commands. However, he is having a lot of trouble with down. I start from a sit and put the treat right in front of his nose. Then I slowly pull it towards the floor and then start pulling away. He followed it once a few days ago, but hasn't since. Owen decides he doesn't want the treat after it reaches the floor and then just gets up. Eventually I just move onto a new command. We do training before feedings and take the amount out of his daily food. And the sessions are only about 5 minutes right now, unless he is really enjoying it, then we up it a bit, more like 10 minutes. What can I do to get him to learn down? I want to teach down so I can teach roll over and play dead. Also, everything I read says to not have them jumping or climbing stairs. We have either two stairs in back or about 7 stairs in front. The moment he started trying to climb the 7 we moved to the back for going potty. Occasionally he will run fast to the stairs and climb up them when I don't reach him. I want him off leash so we can practice recall and so he is used to being off leash. Will these couple stairs a few times a day hurt him? P.S. for those that answered to the couch questions. We got a new spray to use and this one works amazingly! It was apple and the old one was lemon. That combined with distracting with his toys has worked and he hasn't even tried to chew the couch yesterday all day!
7 weeks is very, very young. He shouldn't even be away from his mum and litter mates at this age, and it sounds like you've had him for a while. So, take it easy on him. Now isn't the time to be having long training sessions. 5 minutes is far too long. Cut it back to 1-2 minutes, a couple of times a day for "formal" things. Don't stress the down - it's not something all dogs find easy but it will come in time, maybe when he's older. For now, try focussing on fun things for him - doing things that frustrate you both isn't a good introduction to training. He should be learning that learning itself is fun and rewarding.
I had him a week today. He is almost 8 weeks old. He hasn't had any troubles with leaving his littermates or mom. The breeder actually had him moved from their mom shortly after they were weaned. He does this for all his litters and the dogs are great and do not have any issues after leaving at 7 weeks. I'm not frustrated with anything he isn't getting because I understand that he is young yet. I was only asking if there was another way to teach down that I didn't know about. And he has fun with our training sessions. He gets lots treats and praise and attention. I don't overdue it with him because I can tell he is having fun and enjoying it. He has yet to become frustrated with training. So I appreciate your concern for Owen, but he is in good, loving hands. He knows I am his mommy and I love him.
I'm afraid you can tell him that you are his mommy as much as you like, but he would have been much better off staying with his canine mother and littermates until he was 8 weeks old. Everything Fiona tells you is true, and I wouldn't even bother trying to teach such a young puppy down. Just do some fun little sessions with him, and capture any good behaviour. Yes, carry him up the steps. Until he is at least 3 months old.
7 weeks is pretty much the norm for Labs in the US. I think it the result of Richard Walters books from years ago. That said both of our Pups were right at 7 weeks when we got them, and I can't see any bad effects. I would not worry about a few stairs if he can navigate them OK. We carried our pups up and down when they were small, but let them negotiate stairs when they could. I worried more about falling down a flight than going up.
I taught down the way you are doing it (with a very "old" dog - 16 months!). I think I would keep on that way, just try a couple of times each session, perhaps conceal the treat in your hand so he knows it's there but can't see it - it might make him want to get it more and reach out to your hand, HUGE praise each time he gets it . I know you're not stressing about his age when you collected him, & that it's normal in many places outside the UK, he won't pick up any stress from you so that's good. Keep it as you are - fun!
