The original training levels ( from the year 2000) are free. But I don’t know how much the new ones have changed or how much better they are. Here’s the link for the originals: http://sue-eh.ca/page24/page26/page10/
One of the first things I give to clients is a form 'Your dog's dictionary' for them to gradually complete as behaviours are trained and cues introduced to ensure everyone uses the same cue, and says it the same way. The choice of cue word is yours and no-one else's- it doesn't matter what a trainer thinks you should use. It's helpful to list your cues so you don't start using a word for two different behaviours I.e. 'Down' meaning to lower body to floor and 'Down' to get off furniture/paws on work surfaces etc.
That’s a good idea. I must admit my estimation of my trainer went down all of a sudden, when they claimed that my dog would stay better if I used the word ‘wait’ instead of ‘stay’
Had to laugh at that @Lara . There's enough debate in some circles as to what you should use 'stay and 'wait' for - it really doesn't matter, it's whatever you train it to mean with your dog.
I know but I prefer to have a physical copy when it comes to books. When I went traveling for seven months, instead of a Kindle, I had books. I'm lost with this part of modernisation. I just don't enjoy reading from my I-Pad or computer.
I really like this idea and will make one for Bernie. One of the things I really want to get rid of is saying the word Bernie when I should have a cue for it. I have stopped saying his name when it is negative though, so that's a start.
When you use sit, down or any other commands, do you use a release word for them to move or do you ask them to stay after the sit, down etc? I know there are multiple ways of doing it and it is owner dependent but I'm interested as in Korea dogs are legally speaking not allowed off-leash anywhere. For me, when my dog is off-leash I can get him to sit or down and he doesn't move until I tell him to (under certain time restraints and distractions that he has been trained for), but with a long line , he tends to move more before the release word unless I'm extremely careful and don't create any tension in the line which is difficult to do 100% of the time(popular places where he can't be unleashed as it's a $200 - $800 fine). I still take him back to where he was sitting and do it again with a shorter distance or less distraction until he gets it right 4/5 or 8/10 times.
@Bernie In early training sessions I toss a treat to the floor out of reach of the dog to get ygem to move out of position so that I can ask for the sit/down/stand again. Then who,e moving on the teaining I introduce a new cue as necessary to release from position - so a stay in either sit or down will ve released when I stand in front of pup and use 'ok' or a clicker to finish the position and reward. Some cues if course would be finished with the dog running to me and being rewarded upon arrival. With the long line you need to take a step or two backwards as he hasn't learned what is expected of him at each step - it's a bit lije teaining a sit and then expecting pup to sit for 2 minutes. Train step by step with what the dog is comfortable with. I use work on 5 repetitions and will normally want 5/5 before I move on. 4/5 in my book is good but leaves room for the dog not to respond as expected. I tend to work on 1 or 2 out of 5 fall back to the previous training step, 3 or 4 out of 5 repeat the repetitions again later, 5 / 5 move on to next stage.
