Hi everyone! I'm having a bit of trouble with Abby, who's a little over 11 weeks old now. She's discovered sofa/endtable 'surfing' where she puts her front paws up and scoots the length of the couch, and all around endtables, in search of fun stuff. I've removed anything dangerous and anything rewarding, so I'm mostly just concerned that she's hurting her back legs straining to reach up Here is what I've done so far: -Removed temptations like food and remotes -Reward "all four paws down" with treats (she just eats the treat, waits to see if I have more, then resumes jumping up) -Taught "off" (same method/result as with 'four paws down') -Removed her from the room into a confinement pen for a 5 to 10 minutes time out. She usually finds something else to do when she gets out, but it doesn't seem to discourage her from going back later to do it again. Is there anything else I should be doing?
Re: Teaching "off" I think I would use just one command so would go for "off" rather than 2 commands for what seems to be same behaviour. With Juno I used to put her paws back on the ground while saying off, but with no treat, and found that she quickly learnt. Also it is easier if Abby isn't allowed in a room by herself as you can distract when she looks as if she is going to investigate table tops etc. Abby is still very young and as she grows finds new experiences in her environment but consistency will help her to learn what is acceptable behaviour.
Re: Teaching "off" This article here is about how to stop your dog pestering you: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-stop-your-labrador-pestering-you/ For 'pestering you' read 'trying to get on the sofa'. The article talks about training your dog to lie quietly on a mat. I'd be using that approach for your sofa problem
Re: Teaching "off" Thanks Maccie and Oberon for the replies! Maccie - Abby's never by herself, it's just super hard to distract her - like I said, after she takes a treat she will just go right back to doing it. I will try it without the treats. You're right, she is really young - I'm just afraid that if I don't TRY to teach her now, she'll never grow out of it. It just really seems like an exercise in futility most of the time. How old was Juno when she finally 'got it'? Oberon - thank you for the link! I will definitely work on her down-stays!
Re: Teaching "off" [quote author=stripeybelly link=topic=10851.msg161710#msg161710 date=1431033691] Thanks Maccie and Oberon for the replies! Maccie - Abby's never by herself, it's just super hard to distract her - like I said, after she takes a treat she will just go right back to doing it. I will try it without the treats. You're right, she is really young - I'm just afraid that if I don't TRY to teach her now, she'll never grow out of it. It just really seems like an exercise in futility most of the time. How old was Juno when she finally 'got it'? Oberon - thank you for the link! I will definitely work on her down-stays! [/quote] Agree with you that if you don't try to teach her now she'll never grow out of it, why would she if she enjoys doing it and has the potential when she's bigger of reaching food etc so is rewarded for the behaviour. It's just really hard sometimes when you don't seem to make any progress but then all our puppies are different and learn at different rates. With Juno I've become convinced that she's isn't really a Labrador as I haven't had any major problems training her, for instance she had "leave it" and "take it" within 5 minutes with my trainer at 13 weeks - it took me longer to get the timing right in the training, but I reinforce frequently. "Leave it" is such a handy command to have a good response to. Don't despair or think Abby isn't like other labs, she is and will suddenly surprise you when understands what you want from her. I think more often it's us at fault for not being clear with what we want from our pups and confuse them by not being consistent
Re: Teaching "off" [quote author=MaccieD link=topic=10851.msg161783#msg161783 date=1431075105] I think more often it's us at fault for not being clear with what we want from our pups and confuse them by not being consistent [/quote] Never was a truer word said about animal training....
My worst fault is that I can't help laughing sometimes when my pup does antics like this. If I don't get my emotions under control I'm going to be a horrible father to the coming human children, hahaha!
I always said I'd love to mess with my kids' minds, teach them the wrong names for colours etc so that they'd be confused when they got to school ... it's just as well I don't have any!
You've gotta have kids, S.B. Messing with them is the best part. my wife says I'm a sick person and always ruins everything for me.
You can have great fun with French OHs...years and years and years ago, when he was still learning English, I told him cabbage meant cupboard and iron was yawn (and vice versa)...then he trotted off to his new job in a London investment bank...teehee...ironing because it was early...
Hahaha! I'll have to try this with some of my Catalan/Spanish friends! I remember the pain trying to teach a Chilean friend the difference between "chairs", "cheese" and "cheers". It still haunts me.
