what is the best method..books? tapes //advice?
he is very smart and he loves to fetch but me and my wife are poor trainers..thanks
2007-02-14 22:29:14 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Dogs
Your dog and you are both young enough to learn tons of new tricks!! The first thing you teach the dog will be the hardest for it to learn, because it won't know exactly what you are doing. Good news is the more you teach it the faster it learns after that because it get's that you are looking for and rewarding a certain behavior. :) Lots of praise and lots of treats will get the desired results 99% of the time.
I would try the "down" command first because it is an easy one to work on. You give a voice command AND hand signal at the same time. When you say "Down" take your hand with the palm flat facing down and motion down towards the floor. While teaching the dog this you cup a treat to the palm of your hand with your thumb and bring the hand all the way to the floor so the treat is under your hand (show dog treat first time so it knows you have one), the dog will try to get it and soon as it's belly touches the floor you say, "Good dog" and give it the treat. Repeat this till the dog starts to lay down when you tell it to with out trying to search out the treat under your hand(100 times or so depending on the dog LOL). Then you no longer keep the treat in the hand you are commanding with and no longer bring the hand all the way to the floor, put it in the other hand and when the dogs belly hits the ground you bend over and give the treat.
After they have "down" worked out you can start working on "stay" so the dog will stay down for longer than a second or two. :)
I taught my older dog all obediance, he was so good on stay I could put steak in front of him and leave the room for 10 min and he wouldn't move, and lots of crazy tricks, he'd bark, do high 5's, hold treat on nose till you said OK and flip it in the air to catch it, and get his tail on command. LOL
2007-02-14 23:32:29 · answer #1 · answered by shannon_crystaln 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think a class is going to be an excellent option for you here. It's not just the dog that needs to learn, but you too need to learn how to train your dog and better understand your dogs behavior. I wouldn't trade my classes or trainer for anything as it's been really helpful in my learning process.
I personally would not bother with the pet store type classes tho. I've seen them when visiting the stores and don't think they've got anything on a really good obedience trainer. A better place to find a good trainer is to contact a local Obedience Club, Training Club or Agility Club (you need a solid obedience before going on to agility, so they will have suggestions for both usually) and ask for referrals of good trainers. This is how I found the lady I am working with now. She's not in the yellow pages, nor does she run any kind of "facility", merely word of mouth and references to find her. Her prices are about half what PetSmart kind of places charge too. The advantage to asking for referrals from one of these clubs is that these folks take their training very seriously and they will suggest trainers they know, have used and trust.
2007-02-16 11:14:40 · answer #2 · answered by Shadow's Melon 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Since your pup is 3 years old, I would try to get them into a training class, rather than trying to do it yourself. I'm just like you, I want to teach my pup new tricks, but I don't know what I'm doing! I know Petsmart and Petco offer training classes and sometimes, they even have free classes offered. I know last weekend, there was a potty training class that was 45 min to an hour long here and it was free! I didn't make it, but wish I could have gone. I would check into getting your pooch in a training class. That away, they can also be socialized with other dogs too. This can help in more ways than one. For 6 weeks of training (it may vary in locations) but it's around 99 dollars here and I live in a big city. Good luck!
2007-02-15 07:01:31 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You and the Wife are the ones that need to be trained so you can train the dog. Classes at a pet store or from a trainer is the best way. Books are the next, but you and your wife will have to make the effort to understand and work with the dog. He cannot read so you will have to do it for him.
2007-02-15 06:38:21 · answer #4 · answered by redhotboxsoxfan 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If you can take your dog to obedience classes you will be amazed how well dogs respond and learn. At our obedience class the trainer says that the dog knows what to do and she has to train the owners, you know what, shes right. My dog is great now and actually responds to me and my partner. They just have to know where they stand in the pecking order and obedience shows them where they belong in the family. Hope you have something like this where you live.
2007-02-15 06:58:08 · answer #5 · answered by Rhondda G 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
don't buy a book! go to your local library in the non-fiction section they should have a great supply of dog books. this way you can check out lots of books and try different methods to see what best fits you and your dog, and you won't be unhappy with wasted money.
2007-02-15 06:35:40 · answer #6 · answered by curly_qt2005 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try taking him to a obedience school. It can be a basic one it doesnt need to be expensive and them try teaching tricks after he has learned basic commands. All the best
2007-02-15 06:39:57 · answer #7 · answered by Suki&Heva 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
So far...I am happy with clicker training. The training book and clicker are sold in Petsmart and Petco.
2007-02-15 06:57:09 · answer #8 · answered by KathyS 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋