Chickentrain's Dog Q&A

[HuffleClaw]

I guess it would’ve been helpful to include EVERYTHING he knows. Other than sit, jump, lay, and heel.. he knows recall (includes whistling, his name, and even the tsk tsk sound) really well, he knows “I dare you” (which means put that down right now… an accidental training ), he knows down (which means stop jumping on people lol), and he’s REALLY good on a leash. I don’t think I left anything out.

 

[berryncherry]

What tricks are THE most important for dogs? Charlie was a very difficult pup to train, but is now 8-9 months old, and is much easier to work with. He knows Heel (which, in our case means stay RIGHT beside/behind me until I say “go”), Jump, Sit, and we’ve started working on Lay (which means lay down) today. I figure after we perfect “Lay”, we could start on other commands.

For me, it’s been sit, down, stay, heel, leave it, and touch (serves as an attention-grabber). Like BC said, recall is KEY. I’ve had many instances where recall possibly saved my dogs’ lives .

 

[black_cat]

The 30 ft leash that I bought for recall work came in the mail yesterday. On Wednesday we'll be going out to some fields with a ball and some boiled chicken to work on it.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I taught Down-stay a step at a time, and in a way he could not fail. Here's how:

Have the dog on leash at Heel. Get your Automatic Sit, then ask for a Down. Drop the belly of the leash to the ground between you and the dog and put your left foot on the leash, without making a big deal of it. Say, "Down" and pull UP on your end of the leash. (This helps the dog to lay down) Then say, "Stay," and give a Stay signal by putting the palm of your left hand flat, facing the dog, beside your hip. It does not have to be in front of his nose, don't bend over. Just make kind of a Stop sign signal over his head. He'll see it. *

Now, keeping your left foot on the leash, move your RIGHT foot away to the side, to your right. Don't lean away from the dog. Like, do the Hokey-Pokey, put your right foot out, but just to the side. Now bring your right foot back, say, "Bozo, Heel," gather up the leash and move forward. Don't snap your fingers, don't slap your leg, just walk forward and do your Heel exercises. Congrats! Your dog just did his first Down-stay!

Now do several Automatic Sits, Heels and turns before you try again. Repeat about three times. Then, move your right foot FORWARD instead of to the right. Again, do lots of other exercises before doing another Down-stay. Next, move your right foot forward, then take your left foot forward also and turn and face your dog.

ETA: After a second or two, pivot back to Heel position and heel away. In other words, go back the way you came.

(ALWAYS move your right foot forward first on a Down-stay. Use your left first first to Heel.) (Also work on being RANDOM. If you do 3 Sit-stays followed by a Down-stay and repeat that sequence three times, your dog will learn to count. Or if you do 3 left turns, a right turn and a Down-stay, five times in a row ... Yeah.)

With practice, you can start walking around your dog counter-clockwise with your hand directly over his neck until you get back to Heel position. Actually, you should have done this on Sit-stays so this would be nothing new. When you get back to Heel position, wait a second or two, foot on leash, then Heel away.

All that's left is to extend the TIME you are away (still on leash), and then gradually to extend the DISTANCE, using a longer leash. Extend one or the other, not both, at first, then combine. Going off leash, or out of sight, is another lesson.

*In competition you can't use both a verbal and a hand signal, but for training you can use both. Later, you can switch to using one or the other.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

What tricks are THE most important for dogs? Charlie was a very difficult pup to train, but is now 8-9 months old, and is much easier to work with. He knows Heel (which, in our case means stay RIGHT beside/behind me until I say “go”), Jump, Sit, and we’ve started working on Lay (which means lay down) today. I figure after we perfect “Lay”, we could start on other commands.

Drop-on-Recall saved my dog's life once. And Down-Stay. I don't consider any of these ,"tricks," though, they are basic obedience. Tricks, to me, are things like teaching your dog to dance, or wave, or shake hands. Things that are cute but essentially useless.

On a very hot day on a trip through the desert, I had to stop for gas and to use the restroom. I was traveling alone with my faithful Golden. There was a sliver of shade beside the small building that housed the restroom and the office where the guy sat where you paid for your gas. I took my dog out of the car and put him on a Down-stay in that shade while I went inside. I wasn't gone long, but when I came out, a man was calling my dog, whistling, snapping his fingers, sweet-talking and generally trying to get him to come with him. I knew my dog would not respond; this was a game we played in my classes all the time. I didn't say anything. I just went to my car, opened the door, then turned and whistled for my dog, who of course had not moved from where I'd put him. On my whistle, he jumped up, ran to the car and jumped in. I locked the doors and drove away, leaving the would-be dog thief scowling after me, looking like he'd bitten into a sour pickle.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

The 30 ft leash that I bought for recall work came in the mail yesterday. On Wednesday we'll be going out to some fields with a ball and some boiled chicken to work on it.

Sounds like fun, let us know how it goes. I know if I had boiled chicken or treats on me, there is no way Sammy would leave me to go chase a ball. He is VERY toy motivated, but even more is he food motivated. I have never seen a Sheltie so scent-driven! We might could do rescue work if he would, you know ... Come when called. And focus on a single scent. And not roll in stuff like coyote scat.

 

[SpotTheCat]

What tricks are THE most important for dogs? Charlie was a very difficult pup to train, but is now 8-9 months old, and is much easier to work with. He knows Heel (which, in our case means stay RIGHT beside/behind me until I say “go”), Jump, Sit, and we’ve started working on Lay (which means lay down) today. I figure after we perfect “Lay”, we could start on other commands.

“Leave it” “stay” and “recall” I don’t use stay much for my dog because she knows when I can’t reach her .

I also don’t call them tricks, tricks to me are more frivolous things.

I once taught my dog “wrong way round” because she is all was on a leash and tends to go on the other side of the tree then the one I am on, I wouldn’t count it as important but it was useful

 

[black_cat]

I also tend to count tricks as stuff that's un important- is it absolutely necessary for Finn to be able to crawl on his belly? No. Is it fun to teach? Yes.

My list of necessary commands includes:
Sit
Down
Stand
Stay
Come/recall
drop it
leave it
and other necessary skills that don't have commands being loose leash walking, not begging at the table, not jumping on people, not door dashing, and a neutral reaction to other dogs.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Lol, I always taught my dogs to "beg" at the table by lying down under the table with their heads down. A flat, dead dog MIGHT find manna from heaven dropping down in front of his nose if he waits long enough. Or he might just fall asleep waiting, lol. I confess I am an evil woman.

 

[black_cat]

Lol, I always taught my dogs to "beg" at the table by lying down under the table with their heads down. A flat, dead dog MIGHT find manna from heaven dropping down in front of his nose if he waits long enough. Or he might just fall asleep waiting, lol. I confess I am an evil woman.

I mean 'don't beg' like 'don't stare at me and whine while I'm eating' lol