The Most Important Things To Teach While Waiting For The Puppy Class To Start

[Julie and Maggie]

Maggie is 9 weeks and her puppy class won't start until 12 weeks. I want to gather a list of things people think are things to work on during that first month until you get to the class that will go through the basics. 

 

For example, I've realized I can't wait until the class to teach her "sit". That is because not only do I eventually want her to sit before anything and everything, but I am needing her to follow that when she starts getting revved up and starts jumping at my knees and mouthing on my clothes. At first I was just doing all versions of "NO!" but I find it helpful to give her something I want her to do also so when she does it I can reward her. If I waited until the instructor at puppy class taught me how to teach her "sit" we would be in trouble. 

 

Also, when you tell me what is important, if you wouldn't mind explaining actually HOW you teach it. Like with sitting, it would help us newbies immensely if instead of saying "teach her to sit", give me an idea if you lure her head back with a treat so she sits, or give her bottom a little push, etc... 

 

I'm hoping someone out there believes that some version of "come" should be done because Maggie has developed her own game of keep away when I want her to come in from being outside. Thankfully we are only talking about less than 15 feet of lawn space but I look like a fool trying to catch her.

 

And if there is an old discussion and you don't want to repeat yourself, I'd love to get a link to it. 

 

:)

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

The way we have taught Luna most things when she was really little is to just say the word when she does the thing we want and then reward.  Over time she associates the word with the action and will do it on command.  You can use this for "come", "sit", "take it" and a bunch of other things.

 

For example every time she jumped off the couch or down from counter surfing we would say "off" and give a treat.  Now if we say "off" she will jump off the couch or get her paws off the counter.  Also - you should mark any good behavior with some sort of word like "yes" or a clicker so she knows the exact moment she is doing what you want.  Make sure that word or click is ALWAYS associated with a high quality reward like a yummy treat.

 

Other things are done using a different technique.  For example "wait"  and "leave it" are good ones to start early. 

 

For "wait" we did this, "leave it" is similar but instead of a door use a yummy treat on the floor that she wants to get to.

- Have the pup on leash and leave it on the floor, ready to step on it

- Open a door WIDE and say "wait"

- Throw some treats through the door and BLOCK her from getting through physically with your legs

- When she backs off or looks up at you, say "yes" (or use a clicker, whatever you want) and give her a treat

After a few repetitions, when you say wait and toss the treats through she should just stand there staring at you.  Use some sort of release command like "okay" or "all done" to tell her she can move through the door.

For both these commands it's VERY important she NEVER get the treat that you threw through the door or on the ground.  Those things are standing in for dangerous objects or situations, so she shouldn't associate them with good tasting treats.

 

I think that one is really important so she doesn't go charging out your front door any time it's open.  "Leave it" is important too on walks (especially on garbage day!) so she won't eat dangerous things.

 

 

[Adina P]

My list includes:

--potty training

--accepting confinement happily (being in a crate without protest, being on leash, etc).

--keeping mouth off human skin

--not jumping on people

--accepting body handling all over

--getting out into the world so she's comfortable in it

 

Those are MY priorities and responding to commands is low on my priority list until the dog is closer to 5-6 months and actually accountable for their choices.  At that point I start 'serious' formal obedience training.  But that's just my opinion.

[Mimi Linna, Lilly and Lolly]

thank you for this list.

[Elizabeth & Cooper]

Hi Adina,

I've been able to tackle 3/6 but #3,4 and 5 all kind of go together when it comes to Cooper. Can you give me some pointers on how to tackle these? Mostly, the jumping up and keeping mouth off human skin? I figure whatever approach used for the latter would also be used when getting the pup used to being handled all over.

Thanks... this has not been a good morning in puppy world :(.

 

Elizabeth

[Mimi Linna, Lilly and Lolly]

raising my hand on mouthing and jumping and when I am on the phone she talks (barks)to me ..i think she thinks I am talking to her since I do all day. I have just been putting her in the crate when I am talking on the phone. she does not do this when my husband is home and I am talking to her... i think she is saying " ah woman, I have not heard you use the word treat once..what is wrong with you?"

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I completely agree with this list for puppies.  The only thing I also worked on during this phase is what they could and couldn't chew.  Whenever they started to chew something that they shouldn't I would tell them "no" firmly and give them something that was theirs.

[Bonne Bouche]

Last week at our class, our instructor taught us a game, we call it "doodle in the middle", and think that sounds a lot better than "the come game", lol, but it basically is a great game for doodles to get exercise and learn the come command.

 

It works great with 2 adults, so DH and I play together in a secluded part of a park with few (but some) distractions. Bascially, doodle stands on a leash with one person, other person walks about 10 yards or so away. Then "far person" clearly vocalizes "Bonne Bouche, *pause* COME" and proceeds to enthusiastically run BACKWARDS. It becomes a chase/prey drive for the dog, and at least for BB, he acts like a greyhound being released from the gates. Then once he arrives at the partner, they give him a VERY high reward treat (cooked chicken, etc. or whatever the highest reward you can give) with one hand, as you grab his leash/collar with the other. Then rinse and repeat with your partner then calling doodle to him/her.  I only recommend doing this about 5x in a sitting, or the novelty may wear off.

 

Also, practicing/teaching the dog his/her name is a great thing to do before class.

 

Doodles are VERY smart, you can easily teach sit/stand/lay/touch in a couple of sittings. My way of teaching just involves luring with a treat.

Sit: treat at nose, then straight up about 4 inches

Lay: treat at nose, then straight down to floor between two front paws.

Stand: treat at nose, then straight out (horizontal to the floor) about 4 inches. (works best to start after sit is "mastered" and from sitting position at first).

 

Not sure i rememver how we taught touch, but its my favorite.

[BRADY GOOSE MOORE (Mini Doodle]

Julie ~  I started Brady last night at 'puppy kindergarten' at 13 weeks (1 week later than I wanted to but the class was full when I called to register).  So, before getting there all kinds of things had been taught.   All his lessons have been given using delicious 'treats' - and I have had some great success.   The first was '"sit" (which they seem to do quite naturally so it was easy).   I'd first just give him a treat for being his "nice" puppy. (meaning no mouthing, nipping, biting). He then knows you have the treats so you have his undivided attention.   To get him to 'sit',  I held treat between fingers ( but so he couldn't grab it),  if he is standing, put right hand with treat in front of his mouth so he can sniff it while saying "sit", meanwhile pull the treat up back as to pull the head back.   Then  give the treat while saying "GOOD  SIT".    Same went for "lie down",  "WAIT".    We are still working on "COME".   Problem is I haven't been using treats for  "COME" and I think I'll start as it has seemed to work for the other comands.  Try to also be CONSISTENT and really patient - your hard work will pay off -  all of a sudden they seem to just 'get it'.   Hope this is a help to you.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Riley is now nearly 16 weeks old and is fully house trained (hasn't had an accident in two weeks) Sits, lies down, waits for the command Ok to go to his food bowl, leave it, and runs to  touch my hands with his nose when I shout 'touch it'.  I learnt all this from watching Kikopup videos on YouTube, using a clicker and treats.  Now I don't even use the treats all the time but so far it's working.  We start formal classes in three weeks. I am working hard on not jumping up and mouthing sometimes it's fine and others not so much.  He doesn't jump on strangers but sits and lies down for a belly rub!!!

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

We started training Lucy (by 'we', I mean 'me') from day 1. Not just to sit, but to use the Poochie Bells to ring to go outside for potty, heel training inside on a leash, and sitting for her meals. I had fun training sessions with Lucy twice a day for 5 minutes at a time for weeks. Today (Lucy is now 21 mos.) if I say, "Lets do some training", Lucy bounds over and sits in a heel position at my side. She ADORES training sessions. She was already familiar with most of the commands by her first set of training clasess. She's now gone through 2 levels of training classes and can readily sit, stay, wait, heel, come (we're STILL working on getting this one consistently), down, and leave it. She also knows several tricks like, 'High 5', 'Spin' (in both directions), 'Speak', and 'Shake'.

One trick with training 'sit' is to have the treat in hand with the palm facing up. As you say 'sit', pivot your hand up at the wrist, toward you. Eventually, just that motion alone will prompt a sit, with or without a treat, and with or without a word. To get your puppy into a sit in the first place, put the treat close to it's nose (with palm up!) and slowly bring the treat back toward it's forehead. That should get the puppy to sit. Do this several times until the puppy sits consistently, and then add the word, 'sit'. A great 1st book for puppy training is, 'My Smart Puppy' by Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson http://www.amazon.com/My-Smart-Puppy-Effective-Training/dp/044657886X . It comes with an included DVD, which is fun to watch and makes it easy to learn the techniques.

Here's a link to my blog about Lucy's 1st week with us, if you're interested http://www.doodlekisses.com/profiles/blogs/lucys-first-week-with-us

 

One more thing, about 'come'. As I said earlier, we're still working on getting Lucy's down consistently. Her agility trainer suggested when we call Lucy we use a different word, and give treats for an entire 20 seconds (very small bits of treats) when she does come, along with lots of praise. Eventually, she said, Lucy would be much better about coming.

[Becka]

I want to second the recommendation for My Smart Puppy. It's a great book with lots of solutions (often in the form of games) for various problems, and offers a really helpful guide for puppy development. I especially like that it describes several kinds of puppy personality--it's nice that it's not a one-size-fits-all approach.

 

It's also a good idea to keep the training sessions short (no longer than five minutes) and have them several times throughout the day (after you've let her out for potty, of course.)

 

I taught Sadie the "nothing-in-life-is-free" approach from a very early age (10 or 11 weeks). She has to sit before almost everything: doors opening, meals, putting the leash on, etc. Now (at 5.5 months) I don't even have to tell her "sit"--she does it automatically.

[Julie and Maggie]

Just want you guys to know that I got this book with the DVD and it is ABSOLUTELY the thing I was looking for. There were issues brought up in the book that I didn't even realize I had! Seriously, this book is a life saver right now. I love how it is laid out, with so many specifics, plus I dig their attitude. Thank you so much.