Hi Lab Experts, I am not sure if I am posting this in the right place, maybe I should put it in lab puppies, but I have a 12 week old chocolate Puppy named Huxley. He is wonderful and has the most beautiful nature. But, we are having a real hold up with his training...he just does not seem to get it, and he seems unable to focus. He learnt to sit in about 2 minutes flat in one day, but will sometimes still ignore the command when over excited. But since then here are some examples of what has been going on: Trying to teach him to lie down, I get him in the sitting position, then draw my hand away with a puppy biscuit or a treat inside really slowly to draw him into a lying down position, but he just leaps around and bites at my hand trying it from all different angles. trying to teach him the command In Your Bed to signal him to get into his crate at night, I use chocolate for dogs, which he goes absolutely nuts for, but he will see me with the box and continously follow me and sit right in front of me (heart melting as he thinks if he sits he is entitled to all treats), and follow me to his crate then sit right next to it (all the time me pointing at saying in your bed! in a happy voice). It is not until I tap on the top of the crate that he actually gets in and I give him a chocolate through the crate. I havent confused the command for him as I have only ever said IN YOUR BED when he is in there initially, never before he was in. Plus he doesnt seem to be connecting that he has only ever got the chocolate once he was actually inside the crate. Thirdly I have been trying to teach him to LEAVE IT, so I have tried with toys and puppy treats to no avail. I put them under my hand and instruct him to sit and he just bites and paws at my hand incessantly causing me to move it, he will then lick the spot where the food was on the floor. I hate to say it but I dont know if I have a little bit of a slow learner on my hands? And I am a little bit stuck as to what to do? any tips would be really appreciated
Hi GreenLady, I am not the best person on the training topics, but have you considered clicker training. With that you can accurately mark the behaviour that you are trying to achieve. Sometimes training falls down because dogs don't really quite understand what we want, but the clicker training method seems to make a really effective communication method with our dogs. Really worth a try.
Hi thanks for your reply I havent really considered clicker training no, I suppose just as it is not something I had researched and I know very little about it. However I will have a look into it now. Thanks for your suggestion, willing to try anything!!
When Jubilee was a puppy, I found both kikopup and Zak George videos very helpful. There are lots of them on YouTube.
Hi there. It sounds to me as if you need to go back to basics. I agree with Jac that clicker training is a great way to start. There are loads of articles on the main site about it, so give them a read. It sounds as if you're expecting far too much from your young puppy. First off, start on no mugging. This is a very important skill to have and will stop him leaping around for the treat. Have a treat in your closed hand. He'll probably try to get to it by using his nose and his paws. Ignore these attempts. Eventually, he'll stop. As soon as he stops for a nanosecond, you click and treat (having charged the clicker first - do read up on this before you begin). Repeat and he'll quickly learn that he only gets the treat when he stops fussing. Once he's clear on this, keep the hand open, with the treat on the palm. If he goes to take it without you telling him he can, close the hand. Open it again when he backs off. After a second of not grabbing, let him take it. Gradually (very slowly) increase the duration, and make it a bit more challenging by bringing the treat closer to him. There's a good Kikopup video on this here: . Have a browse around the Kikopup channel while you're there, because it gives you a feel for the power of the clicker. Do that first, then come back for advice on the other parts. The no mugging is a good place for you to learn about clicker training, too. You don't want to rush this as a newcomer to it, because you can end up causing more confusion than anything if you don't take the time to understand the clicker. So, read all the clicker training articles on the main site (here are a couple - follow all the links in the articles) http://www.thelabradorsite.com/ten-great-reasons-to-start-clicker-training/ http://www.thelabradorsite.com/clicker-training-whats-it-all-about/ In the meantime, it's very important to stop using your cues (the words you want to use to get your pup to do something). These only get introduced once a behaviour is happening consistently. By using them too early, before the pup understands what they mean, you're actually associating the cues with all sorts of behaviours that you don't want, and it becomes more difficult for the dog to understand later. As far as your pup ignoring you, it's not that at all. You're simply asking too much. Try to keep that in mind and it will help you throughout your life with your puppy (and later, when he's a teenager). If your dog doesn't do something you've asked him too, it's because he either doesn't understand what you're asking, he's not motivated enough to respond to it, or he's too distracted. You have to "proof" against these things: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/proofing-an-essential-part-of-labrador-training/ These are the stages of dog training: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/dog-training-stages/ If you keep in mind that your dog isn't stubborn, wilful or any other negative thing we like to put on them, it will help you to manage your expectations and look at what you need to change to help him achieve success. Sadly, with dogs, it really is the case that, if they don't do something when asked, it's our fault as trainers, not their fault as dogs. Good luck, let us know how you get on with the no mugging, once your clicker is charged, and then we can help you through the other things, one at a time.
Thank you so much, this is a really helpful answer. I have bought a clicker tonight so I will start this ASAP and get back to you all.
It was a bit of an essay, sorry. I get a bit carried away. I start off saying "I'll keep it short" and then think "Oh, another thing! And another thing!" as I'm typing
