Geeno

So we've had a few members get dogs in the years I've been here.

What does everyone do as far as training goes?

How often do you focus on getting the dog to learn things?

Resources?

I've got her pretty good at walking on a leash, and she generally comes when I call her. But I've always been envious of the relationship that some people have with well trained dogs.

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my_scatterheart

What and how you want to ask of your dog is different for every person. The only key is consistency.
The one bit that I'm always most insistent about though is to remember that a dog is a dog. I've met a lot of people that are so proud of themselves for seemingly training the dog out of their dog. Boundaries are rad, and respect is tops, but let your dog be itself.
My dog's keen on sitting outside/laying in the grass in the fuckin rain. Loves the smell. Loves to survey the land. Does he make a fuckin mess because of it? Sure does. But it's super important that he gets to enjoy whatever makes his little dog heart skip a beat.

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Be mindful even if your mind is full. -J. De La Vega

Geeno

So are you saying I should call off the piano?

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Mercury

Dogs can learn words if you are consistant in displaying the meaning of those words to them. The word 'snack' is definitely easy, as is 'walk'. In no time at all they'll be doing backflips at the sound of those words. Other ones are really not difficult at all. Wont be long until you can teach your dog to fetch you your pipe.

Tricks, IMO, aren't as important as word recognition, but teaching them to sit, stay, shake, lay down, etc. can be easily done with a balance of consitant practice and reward bribes (food).

my_scatterheart

Coordinate with hand motions/sign language. Can't tell you how much easier it is in mixed company, or on the beach, or now that my dog is losing some hearing to have them know what you're asking. I think my most useful motion is probably a lowered hand, palm out. He knows to drop what he's doing, focus, and come here.

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Be mindful even if your mind is full. -J. De La Vega

Mercury

That's the beauty of dogs. They're so intuative, they can read faces of their master as well as any person can.

One trick I remember seeing from the movie Somethings Gotta Give (I think?), Jack Nicholson's character could got his neighbors mean dog to love and obey him instantly by always carrying bacon in his pocket. I think that makes perfect sense. There is no doubt they can smell it.

Dr. ShinDig

I think it's all about the dog honestly...

I know I'm stretching here but I've owned like one of the smartest dogs and also one of the dumbest fucking dogs ever. My father and I used the same method in training each of the dogs, the first was a chow chow mix (the fucking dumb one) and the other was an American Bulldog, both males.

Just a quick summary of each dog's accomplishments:

Bull (the stupid chow):
1 - effectively learned how to sit when a treat was in hand. That is his greatest accomplishment.
2 - learned how to almost have sex with another dog. (not quite though)
3 - Once jumped from the back of our moving truck and was injured.
4 - months later we put him on a leash in the back of the truck so he couldn't jump out. We stopped by a grocery store one day from a camping trip and in just 8 - 10 short minutes we were called on the loud speaker, Bull had hung himself over the edge of the truck bed!!

Cyrus - The Epic American Bulldog
1 - Knew how to sit, lay down, heel, rollover, shake hands, speak and just about every basic dog trick in the book.
2 - did advanced tricks such as basic ladder climbing and pulled weight from a harness system.
3 - Trustworthy, never tried to get away or dis obey to fight another dog or chase another animal (at least after he was an adult).
4 - you could be out on a walk and tell him "stay" and you could literally walk away out of sight, wait a few minutes and then walk back and would be in exactly the same spot.

Also, since I'm boasting about him, he was a big and strong dog, he was probably around 100 - 105 pounds.

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fenderbender

way to give your dog just enough of a leash to hang himself and then call him stupid over it.

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Imagine there's no heaven,It's easy if you try

<3

adventure

dog training is a lot like dieting, there is no magic formula. Like the lovely MSH said earlier consistency, consistency! and keep it simple. a great walking technique, keep your dog on a short leash, so the dog is at your side, and walk hap-hazardly, with no rhyme or reason. walk, stop, turn left, walk, stop, turn right, walk, stop, walk. The dog will soon learn to pay attention to you, not just walking the way they want to walk. I am also a fan of food rewards. but they are dogs, they are just as happy with one piece of food as they are with a huge biscuit! if you want to change it up buy some cheap chicken and through it in some boiling water!

Oh and fuck that Ceasar douche hat
Pat is my home boy Best Friends Animal Society - Pat Whitacre

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Coming Full Range

Snowmayne

leash training is probably one of the tougher, normal routines to train.

I always started out by making my dog sit and be calm before I even put the leash on. Then sit at the door and give the command to ok lets go outside.

From there it becomes a task of making sure the dog isn't walking you instead of you walking the dog. Small slack is given on the leash, and as long as the dog stayed at my side after however many feet, say 10-15ft, I'd reward him/her. If she ever pulled or attempted to go off on her own, I'd give the command no, a slight tug on the lead, and make her sit. Then we'd start over. Repeat this process over and over again, rewarding the good, giving stern no commands (or w/e you want) for the bad and just keep working at it.

Having a dog that walks good on leash is pretty rewarding, especially wen most people look like jackasses letting their dog walk them or act crazy when another dog/distraction comes along the way.


BTW, with both my dogs having a high prey drive, I did take advantage of a prong collar in the beginning of training. Eventually I worked off from it, but it took some time. Nothing wrong though with taking advantage of tools like that when used correctly.

For everything else, its just simple repetition and reward. My rewards were always treats and eventually narrowed down to simple praise and belly rubs. For me, I felt a good trick that I taught, that really helped in everything else I taught, was the ability to sit their food bowl down feet away from them, and making them sit and wait for the command to eat. Not only does it look cool, but it teaches them to listen to you in a situation where they would probably rather not. I was able to teach that within a day, and from there the commands of laying down and staying, even while after leaving the room, came pretty easy.

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We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn't enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies.
We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated.
Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: "How amazing am I ?! "