Puppy training advice

[Discussing Labradoodles & Goldendoodles]

We've had our puppy Stanton for almost 2 weeks now, and we started teaching him sit, down, and shake.  He's very good with sit, but I think we might have confused him with down and shake because now when I say down, he does both down and shake.  Any idea on how I can un-confuse him?

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

So Stanton is about 10 weeks old now? He is just an infant and even though he sounds really intelligent he still has a baby brain! Tara did this for a while too. When we would start a practice session she would just start doing every command before I said ANYTHING!! I guess she thought she could get to the treats faster that way!!  Im not sure it is anything you have done but rather just part of the training process and his age. Just keep repeating your commands and no rewards until he does the correct behavior.  I would suggest that you join the Puppy Madness Group where there are other members who have pups and are sharing advice and experiences with each other. And it might be good to repost this question there too.

 

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/puppymadness

[Lorraine Bromley]

They do their tricks in an order that they think you want. You need to separate the trick training.You can get up and move to another spot and ask for another trick. Do each trick alone and at random times throughout the day. Only treat the trick you want. I also started naming and treating natural behaviours so that we could use them as tricks as well. Like when they get up and stretch with their bum in the air. That became bow. Yawn on command. Shake (the whole body) this comes in handy for baths and brushing.

[Bonne Bouche]

I am also having trouble with BB discriminating between several commands. I found doing hand gestures helps. I use my palm facing up = sit, hand touching the ground is "lay down", Hand in a fist for "paw" etc. These seem to be easier for him to tell the difference between than my voice. Once he gets this down, I will focus on the vocal commands.

 

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Ha! My puppy is doing this too. i have to admit it's pretty cute! She is 11 weeks. I use hand signals and that really helps although she will eventually need to learn to respond to the words only. Good advice about only treating when they do the correct behaviour, although easier said then done when they are looking up at you with those big puppy eyes...

[Adina P]

Just be sure to NOT reward him when he does the wrong thing.  He's just throwing out all he knows if you have a treat visible to him because he doesn't yet understand that the reward only comes when YOU give a cue and he does exactly what you've cued him to do.  So you have to be clear and maybe go back to practicing one thing at a time and then don't praise him, don't give him attention, don't reward him in any way if he shakes when you didn't say "shake".

[Jessica]

Our trainer suggested that we not pair the words with the commands yet and use physical cues instead, as the words don't mean anything yet, and as humans we tend to over verbalize with dogs. We are waiting until Sheldon has got a firm command of sit and down with our physical cues. For instance, when I put my pinched fingers above and a little behind his nose he learned to sit, and we only give him what he seems to want once he's sat to reinforce
his behavior. He now must sit before we go out, get out of crate, eat etc.

Carla said you also have a pup from the same littler as she and we do? Our Sheldon is growing so fast!