Basic Obedience Training
The single most important point.
Most training 'faults “ are caused by the handler, not the
dog.
The more you are involved in training dogs for any type of activity,
the more this quote is proven to be correct. If you accept the validity of
this statement, you are well on the way to resolving the problem.
If you do not accept it, you will probably not address the actual root
cause of the problem and are unlikely to successfully resolve it.
The building blocks
It is always easier to tone down an over-exuberant dog in the long run
than it is to try and re-invigorate a dog that has learnt that training is
dull and boring. To this end, it is important that all training
sessions be performed when both dog and handler are enthusiastic. With a
dog that is really over the top you might want to wear him/her out a bit
(with a walk) before you start as it is difficult for a dog that's leaping
out of it's skin to pay attention for any useful amount of time.
Ensure that you are working with the dog to try to achieve a common
goal, if something is not working look at it objectively to work out why.
Don't just punish the dog on the presumption that it's only doing it to
upset you.
Try to lean towards praising the good rather than punishing the 'bad'.
This will produce a dog that is not scared (through fear of punishment) to
try different ways to approach a problem. Such a dog will
eventually hit upon success and be rewarded with your praise, and hence
know the appropriate action next time. The attempts prior to the
successful one are not 'failures', merely experiments.
Use the minimum of force to teach your dog a new task. It will learn
quicker if it 'chooses' to perform a particular action than if you
physically manipulate it into the same position.
Always praise your dog for the successful performance of a task,
even if the performance is fleeting. Eg if you have had trouble getting
the dog to sit and it finally does sit for half a second before leaping
up; you must be ready to praise during the half second! There is no
incentive for the dog to perform other than your praise/reward.
Voice control and training sequence
There are three main ways to verbally communicate with your dog when
training, and each has it's own tone. Always command the dog first; if it
responds correctly then praise it. If it does not respond correctly (you
must be sure he/she knows the exercise) then correct the dog. Always
finish with praise when the exercise is performed satisfactorily.
Command
When commanding the dog to perform an action, use a tone that carries
authority but not threat, or request. You are telling the dog which action
you would like performed, nothing else.
Correction
Should the trained dog fail to respond, you should use a sterner tone
that leaves the dog in no doubt that you are displeased. This does not
need to be any louder than your command; volume is not the issue
(Louder never makes you more right!).
Praise
When praising the dog, your tone should be much brighter and
fun-filled. The dog must know that he's performed correctly and that this
makes you very happy. Hopefully he will try to reproduce this
reaction in you by performing correctly every time you give the command!
Command Timing
Note that in the following exercises 1 generally recommend that you get
the dog performing the action before introducing the word for it. There
are a few reasons for this: We really want the dog to concentrate on
learning the exercise, excess stimulation (including verbal commands) can
detract from this ability to focus. Also if the dog should not perform the
exercise, or perform it differently to what we would like, he is learning
to either ignore the command or associate it with the wrong activity. If
we wait until the action is correct we resolve both problems. After the
initial learning is complete, the dog can afford to be less focussed on
the actual action and listen to our command. Also we associate the correct
action with the command.
Sit
Have the dog standing in front of you and get its attention with a
"lure" (toy, snack). Make a motion with your hand starting near
the dogs nose (so he knows the lure is there) and going up over and partly
behind his head. The dog will spin his muzzle upward in an attempt to grab
the lure. Experiment with the best hand movement to get your dog to sit
rather than just jump at the lure. It is important to move the lure not
only straight up (you only need to be a couple of inches above his head)
but also back in the direction of the dogs tail this should stop them from
jumping up. As soon as the dog sits, praise it profusely and allow it to
have the lure as reward. Do not add the verbal command "sit"
until your hand movement produces the required action from the dog on a
regular basis.
Drop
This can be taught from either the standing or sitting position,
sitting is generally easier as the dog is under a bit more control to
stair with. This is almost the opposite to teaching the dog to sit. Have
the dog in front of you and, with the lure in your hand, sweep your hand
down to floor level and 'm towards the dogs chest. At first praise/reward
getting the front end down, but eventually the aim is to get the whole dog
down. When the front end of the dog goes down, leave your hand (containing
the lure) on the floor for a few seconds. The dog will tire of this
position and the back end will also go down. When this happens, heap the
praise and give the lure reward. Again, don't bother with the command
until the dog will perform the action.
Stand
Stand can be a little difficult to teach, as the dog often doesn't
understand what it did that is right. It’s just standing there and you
praise it! Repetition is the key. Quietly command the dog to stand, and
immediately praise it in this position. The dog needn't be beside you; it
can stand anywhere at first. We're more concerned with teaching the action
than the best position for it at this stage. Gradually extend the length
of time that you expect the dog to stand, and praise it when this time has
expired.
Stay
As with all other exercises Stay need not initially be taught relative
to a particular handler stance. le the dog can stay at any distance, in
any direction from the handler, not necessarily in front or beside.
The easiest way to do this is to have the dog sit and gradually increase
the amount of time it has to sit before you praise and release it from the
exercise. Introduce the word stay when the dog seems to have the idea that
it should not move until you tell it. Make sure you say the stay command
quietly, too much enthusiasm will cause the dog to get up. Use a gentle
command to receive a steady response.
Heel
Use the lure to encourage the dog to the correct position by your side
as you are walking, praise/reward the dog. The dog should learn to vary
it's pace to keep up with you, and perform the other exercises in the heel
position. If they were introduced already this should not be difficult.
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