posted by Marita on Feb 18
I often observe a person calling a dog, who ignores them completely.
When the dog eventually picks up the courage to return to its owner, it receives a scolding and often a hiding.
The best way would be to reward the dog when it returns to you. You end up having a happy dog that enjoys coming to you whenever you call it and returns to you instantly.
First, start training in an area where the dog cannot run away, in your own back yard or someone else’s fenced garden and ask a friend along to help you. (Preferably, someone the dog is not too familiar with)
- Take the dog’s favorite toy and some treats with you.
- Have your friend hold onto the dog and start moving backwards away from them, while keeping close eye contact with your dog.
- When you are about two or three meters away, call the dog and dangle the toy and the treat.
- The friend must hold onto the dog until it really struggles to get to you before letting it go.
- When it reaches you, it gets lots of hugs and lavish praise and a tit-bit.
- Repeat this until the dog runs straight to you.
- Increase the distance between yourself and the dog gradually, as far as the dog can still make proper eye contact with you and observe treat.
When it comes to you without fail, go to a public place like a park and continue the training there. In the beginning, keep the dog on an extendable lead until the dog comes to you every single time.
Carry on with this training without the lead until the dog comes every time it is being called, regardless of where you are.
posted by Marita on Feb 12
If you can find the time and can afford to, it is a great idea to get formal training for the pet and the family. It does not make much sense if one person takes the pet to training and the rest of the family does not know anything about the training. They then behave and instruct the pet with incorrect commands and signs, resulting in confusion and wasted training.
When you check out trainers for your puppy, we suggest that you first visit one of their training sessions. If there is a lot of screaming and shouting going on, rather look for someone else to train your dog. Apart from being extremely upsetting to the dog to be listening with their hyper sensitive ears to lots of people screaming and shouting instructions, dogs barking and being pulled in all directions, you most certainly do not want a dog that only listens when it is being shouted at.
posted by Marita on Feb 8
To get a dog to sit is probably the easiest thing to teach:
Give the single command “sit” – do not repeat yourself.
To get the dog to know what is expected, simply push down lightly with your palm on the lower back (above the hips) of the dog with the thumb and middle finger putting very light pressure into the sides of the dog directly in front of the hips.
Once the dog sits, leave the soft weight of your hand on the lower back. Give a tit-bit AND praise as a reward. Hold another treat in front of the dog, if it attempts to get up, just lift the treat slightly above the head of the dog, it will drop its hind quarters back to the ground.
Be ready to put you hand back down if the dog gives any indication that it is going to stand up and combine with the treat above the head. (Not too high, or it will jump to get to the treat)
If the dog remains seated, praise lavishly and soothingly.
In the beginning do not make it sit for more than 20 or 30 seconds at a time. If you remove your hand from the dog and it remains seated, give some more soft voiced praise and another tit-bit.
Allow the dog raise itself up of its own accord, again give a normal voiced command to sit and repeat the praise/reward procedure.
Do not do this more than 5 times without a break.
You may have to repeat this procedure for a few days until the dog sits without you having to push it down.
