After reading Willow and Cupar's training logs I've decided to keep track of how Max's training is going. Max is currently 9 weeks old. I'm very glad I joined the forum as I've learned so much already, I had never even heard of clicker training and the whistle method of recall before joining, so thank you everyone In the next two weeks I am hoping to enrol him in puppy pre school, but for now I'm trying to teach him the best manners possible and he absolutely loves learning and pleasing me. Off lead walking: When we go for walks on our property Max doesn't walk on a lead. He is mostly always a few steps behind me or if he's a few in front he checks back to see I haven't run off without him. Sometimes he likes to follow my older dog Elvis, a miniature pinscher, who runs a bit in front but he always comes back when I call his name. Yesterday I took him to the beach for the very first time without his lead and he absolutely loved running in the water (he has a bit of a water obsession). After a while another two big dogs came onto the beach and i was a bit nervous of how he would react, so i picked him up until we passed them. Lead walking: When I take Max for walks off our property, there really isn't any other people or dogs but I'm just trying to teach him to walk on his lead. He likes to bite the lead and have it hanging out of his mouth, which makes it look like he's walking himself but other than that there aren't any problems. Sit: Sit was the first thing i taught to Max when i first got him and he's pretty much got it down pat. The only time his bum comes off the ground is sometimes when he's very excited for food (which he always is), but he doesn't get his dinner or treats until he sits with it on the ground. Stay: Stay is something we are working on. He can stay if i stand in the same position with my palm up and is getting better at staying while waiting for food, despite how excited he gets. I have just started taking a few steps back as i tell him to stay and have had some success. Shake: Max picked up on shake hands after only a few tries. Now if i tell him to sit or if he's sitting waiting for dinner, he raises his paw straight away before I even ask... which I'm not sure is a good thing or not. Down: We are still working on down, but slowly getting better. He goes into the down position when i drag a treat from his nose to the floor, but still hasn't quite got it by me just saying the command. Fetch: Max retrieves his ball or toys when i throw them and brings them straight back to me, however i still can't get him to drop it. Sometimes he'll just bring it back and start chewing at my feet. Today I'm going to try giving him a treat when he brings it back so he drops it! Bite inhibition: We are still working on this as well and I've definitely seen an improvement with him biting softer however when he gets over excited he is still biting hard. I'm doing the whole 'ouch' thing when he bites hard and getting up and walking away when he gets a bit crazy out of control. I'll keep adding to this as he learns more Here are some pictures from Max's first time at the beach: http://s1368.photobucket.com/user/tahliaandmax/slideshow/
Re: Max's Training That's great! We love training logs. Don't worry about him not dropping stuff he brings back - just encourage him right into you and to stay with you, sit on the floor if you can, and give him lots of praise. Let him have a really positive association with being very close to you while holding something. Let him give it to you when he is ready. If you cuddle him, makes sure he enjoys it at that time (not all pups do even if in other circumstances they love it) I'd recommend you get "paw shake" off cue at some point. That means he doesn't do it until you ask. For now, you could just not reward if he offers it. It depends whether you mind or not, but I find dogs who paw things that they want get annoying when they are bigger...
Re: Max's Training Great progress!! Sounds like you're having lots of fun together. With the stay, I'd try to wean him off the continuous hand signal before you start increasing the distance. Just stand close to him and use your cue once, briefly, and gradually increase the length of time you expect him to stay before marking and rewarding (which should end the stay). As we say with a stay cue: "Use your stay, then put it away!" You want to avoid a situation where you have to repeat your cue (or apply it continuously). Anyway, just a tip!
Re: Max's Training Hi from me and Bailey, looking forward to reading and learning more, thanks for posting
Re: Max's Training Thank you everyone for your helpful tips, I appreciate any help I can get. Max is 10 weeks today. Max loved being cuddled when he bought his fetch toys back and after a bit of a cuddle he would drop the toy and we'd keep the game going. I've taken your advice and am teaching Max to only paw shake when i ask. My older sister has two big dogs (Australian cattle dog X and golden retriever X) and often paw at me and sometimes it can be painful as they are so strong. I realize that it would probably be because when I was training him i was giving him his commands in the same order, so I've started changing them around.. not having a set routine. I'm also not rewarding him if he offers his paw without me asking. Thank you for your advice on stay as well. We will definitely continue to work on stay and practise increasing the time he stays. Just wanted to ask if there is anything else I should be teaching Max at this age? And what type of treats you give your dogs? xx
Re: Max's Training I don't think there is anything you really should be teaching at 10 weeks. It's just that, having experienced one pup and clicker training, I'd be tempted to do much more at a young age. I just don't see the point in waiting, and recently, having been to a trainer that believes in establishing lots very young, I think you might as well. Certainly, I'm teaching Charlie a lot now that I really could have started right in the first place or got done much earlier. Because I didn't do it, my training schedule is just packed full of stuff that really should already be in place. If you only do one thing, it's loose lead - get that right from the start and you can save months of work later. But keep it up, they forget everything when they become teenagers, so the stronger your early training the more likely it is to survive. You could try getting a book - Kay Laurence "the perfect foundation" is great. For puppy stuff around the house, I used Charlie's kibble. It was different when we went to puppy school, then I needed chicken..
Re: Max's Training For treats, I use a whole range of stuff. I baked some peanut butter and banana cookies and some liver cake; I cut these up really really small. I also use dried out bread cut into tiny cubes. A little bit of cubed cheese (it can be really small, less than 0.5cm cubed) and some roast chicken as a special jackpot. I'm trying to train Willow as much of the basics as I can at this stage - sit/stay, down/stay, hand target, leave/take - and at Julie's suggestion, adding in the idea that everything should be left without an explicit cue, unless she's told she can take it. Also lots of loose lead walking, trying to stop her jumping up (lower degree of success here!), making her choose to stay out of the kitchen by treating her when she's sat outside the door. Teaching her manners, in that she has to "ask" for things by sitting down (without a cue), be that a toy, a treat or being let out of her crate. Obviously things like separation, too. It makes sense to get as much into her brain as possible at this point, while she's so keen to learn. Plus, because she's not yet able to go for walks, it uses up some of her boundless energy doing several short training sessions a day.
Re: Max's Training Thank you both for your tips. I rarely walk Max with a lead, but I'll definitely be doing more of it. When he has been walked on a lead he gets a bit of the lead that is closest to him and holds it in his mouth and just walks beside me. Even when I don't put his lead on his collar he likes to hold it in his mouth.. Here's a photo http://i1368.photobucket.com/albums/ag179/tahliaandmax/073_zps9cb5a77f.jpg Should I encourage him not to do this? He's never a problem walking with his lead, he doesn't pull or anything but in saying that we never encounter any distractions like other dogs or people. I'll definitely have a look at that book. I have one called Wonderdogs by Dr Katrina Warren that he got in his vet puppy pack. Willow is definitely going to be a smart cookie Thanks for letting me know what you're teaching her. Max also has lots of energy so i try and keep him active throughout the day so he doesn't keep me up all night wanting to play.
Re: Max's Training Max looks very sweet. If he's never going to be in situations where he needs to be with unfamiliar dogs and people that's fine, but otherwise I would strongly suggest getting him used to them now while he's very young.
Re: Max's Training Thank you Joy He always has my families dogs around (2 little ones) and my brother and sisters puppies which come out to visit often, so he definitely is used to socializing with other dogs I suppose. I'm also taking him to puppy preschool soon so he'll learn to be around some unfamiliar dogs. It's just the walks we go on we don't see other dogs or people! It's a bit secluded out here.
