Need dog training tips!

[Smartie_Pants]

If you've seen my other post, you know that I just adopted a 4-5 year old beagle from an animal shelter. If you haven't seen it, now you're caught up.

I want to teach her the basic things: Sit, Stay, Stop, Down, etc. I have had many dogs before, but I've never been able to teach them anything! I've come to the conclusion that it must be mostly my issue, so I need some training ideas. She's very smart and learns quickly. The first time I thew a toy, she ran after it, brought it back, and dropped it in my hand. She's done it every time after too. She doesn't pull on her leash, and walks right by my side or right behind me all the time. She's housebroken too.

What has worked with you, particularly if its worked on beagles? I don't really want to use many treats, because she won't eat the healthy ones we have, and I don't want to fatter her up on hot dogs. Is there any other way to reward her for good behavior?

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

congrats on the dog!

a couple of books:

1. Be the Pack Leader
do you watch the dog whisperer? you can see in online at hulu.com do what he does

2. The Farmer's Dog
do what he does

3. How to be your dog's best friend
do what they do

to do's:
1. exhaust your dog every day with exercise
2. always be the boss
3. give her a job
4. work work work
5. dont underestimate your dog's prey instincts around your chickens

working dogs are very smart, good problem solvers, and can be incredibly helpful.. or they can destroy your house and drive you nuts if you dont give them a job. work work work

no treats - say 'good dog' or 'good work' or 'thats the way!' with an animated tone in your voice. if you have to move from treats to positive reinforcement - do it gradually. each dog as something they want from you (praise, play, treats) the thing is to figure what that is and use it to motivate them.

good luck!

 

[Smartie_Pants]

I don't know what her job should be. Honestly, the only thing I really want her to do is be my companion and hopefully protect me if anyone or anything should try to harm me. What job could I give her to make her feel useful while doing that? I was trying to think of something that would tie in with her natural uses, but we don't hunt and we don't do anything similar. Maybe I could teach her to help me round up the animals in some way?

Thanks for mentioning the book, I only knew about one of them. Hopefully my library will have some of them.

 

[Clicky]

Since she's a beagle (and an adorable one at that!) teaching her to round up the animals could yield either very positive or very heart breaking results.

Beagles in general are trained more to chase out their prey rather then catch and kill them, but that doesn't mean they won't kill if given a chance.

Also, Beagles are not herding dogs, so even though they CAN be trained in some cases to herd, it would be very difficult, especially since if they get on scents that their instincts recognize, they'll become distracted, even if they have the will to not go after it, which would be detrimental to herding animals.

My dogs haven't hunted in a year or two now due to my dads health, so they've come up with their own ways to help out, such as scare off any 'intruder' whom so much as looks at our yard funny, among other things. They're also VERY helpful in getting rid of unwanted trash. Especially the meaty kind.

Your best option is to simply see if you can train her to go after bunnies after you get her to come on command. You don't need to actually hunt the rabbits, just train her to get the rabbits to run towards you. Surprisingly, this is actually what would allow you to train her to herd, but she might get too into it and not see it as herding, but as hunting. I digress, however.

If you wish to simply train her how to run rabbits once in a while, you can try and see if there are any hunting and trapping clubs in your area, or perhaps go to AKC registered Beagle groups and the like, where some one I'm sure would be happy to help teach you, though the latter may have better info and tips on how to train your dog too, whilst not needing to be AKC registered. 83

I hope all that helps, and I'm just speaking from owning 5 beagle + 1 Brittney spaniel for 17 years.


P.S. I remember in your other thread you were looking for toys, anything that squeaks or smells will do, since those are the top two senses they use. Rope toys work too, and if your beagle is anything like mine, be prepared to lose that nice looking fluffy toy withing a day or two due to some insatiable urge to rip the fluffing out of it. Hence rope toys, wich if you're lucky, last a few weeks.
XD;

Edit:

P.S.S. If you're looking for rewards for training Sophie, try and use squeaky toys, since it's seen as both a reward and a fun thing, which thwacks the "sit-down-stay=MOST AWESOME THING EVER!!! *pant pant pant*" into their some times stubborn little heads, but I don't think you'll have much problem with that, due to the way you described her. 83

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

her job could be anything - just keep her busy.

like "its time to get the mail!" and make a ritual our of it. or "sit on your mat while i make dinner" and yes she can sit there for an hour on her spot with no wiggling. or "lets walk around the yard" (good for all kinds of things - like establishing a perimeter). or "find the toy/treat" or "where's the (toyname here)" - hide it outside or in the yard and make her find it. one of the best ones i taught my dog was "go around" for instance - have her 'go around' a tree or whatever before you throw the ball for her.... you can then use this to have her 'go around' the chickens (wide circle around them) to help bring them in. but as clicky says - this could go wrong very quickly.

you can also keep her mind busy by teaching her hand signals for the commands she already knows.

whatever you do ... do NOT encourage her to howl. no its not funny and your neighbors will hate you. she will naturally bay and if she's not stimulated enough she will sit there and scream while you are gone.

the point isnt what she can do for YOU - its for you to keep her active and engaged.... or say good bye to your shoes, furniture, house, yard, etc. if she doesnt have enough to do, she'll go and find something to do.

maybe you'll luck out with a 'couch potato' dog... but most working dogs go nutty if they dont have enough to do. she might be your 'baby' (and cute at that!!) but she is not a 'little person in a fur coat' - work with her dog-ness for everyone's happiness.

have fun!
clicky - great ideas

 

[greyhorsewoman]

Rewarding with treats isn't a bad thing. They can be very small and if you think they are adding to much to her diet, cut down on her regular meal slightly. We do both. Our dogs are biscuit rewarded after we come in from a successful pee/poo session (yes, even though they are now several years old).

I practice sits, downs, stays, begging just randomly ... sometimes they get a treat, sometimes they get a special 'huggy, best dog, happy' session from me. Since your dog is a natural retriever, that is one great game to enhance. You might consider agility. Or at least look at the agility courses and maybe come up with some obstacle ideas. My corgi will sit on top of tables, walk along wooden barriers, up&down wood ramps, and do simple jumps.

anything that squeaks

Ok, folks, I gotta ask ... if your dog plays with SQUEAKY toys, why is it surprising when they are attracted to SQUEAKY chicks? It has always made sense to me. We provide our puppies and adults with great little stuffed squeaky toys, that often resemble living animals. When we then bring in a brooder full of chicks, the dogs are instantly excited~!! Why not? We've trained our dogs to respect the other critters, but I wouldn't leave them unattended with our poultry.​

 

[ChickenToes]

When training my dog, I always use a very firm voice and I use a combo of voice and hand signals. When I tell her to sit, I say 'Sit!' in a firm voice, and at the same time I hold my arm out and point my index finger at the ground neat her butt. When she does it, I always reward her with a small treat or lots of praise.

The combo of visual training and voice commands seems to work very well.

It's the same for any other trick. The hand signal for 'Lay down' is having my arm extended and then bringing it quickly down towards the floor with my hand in a fist. The signal for 'stay' is my hand, open palm, held in front of the dog's face. 'Up' is slapping my hands on my chest.

After a while, the dog starts responding to hand signals alone. My dog will sit, lay, shake, up, and stay with me only using a hand signal, without saying a word.

Always give lots and lots of praise. If the dog is having trouble with the trick, always go back a step.

BE VERY CONSISTENT!!!! Don't change your hand signals, once you start using one, stick with it. The ones I listed are just the ones that work for me. Don't use different words either - don't tell her "off" and then switch to "down", etc.

Don't give praise or treats if the dog doesn't do the trick correctly - just say 'No' and start them over again. When they get it right, give a small treat and tons and tons of praise. You may feel like a dork saying "Good girl!" 40 times, but it really works.

Good luck!

 

[Smartie_Pants]

Okay, so her job doesn't have to be a JOB per se, just something for her to feel good about doing? I know to be very careful with her around my chickens. I had a walker treeing coonhound come up as a stray and took her in. She would try and attack ANYTHING that moved and constantly went after the poultry and waterfowl. After she killed one of my older chicks (probably about 8 weeks old) and then bascially attacted me and almost broke my arm when I tried to get his body away from her, she went to live with my dad! I don't trust hunting dogs around my animals unless I am right there, preferably holding the leash they are attached too.

 

[Stina]

Good tips from many

As for the reward...you need to find what motivates her best! If its praise, use praise; if its a toy, use the toy; if its food, find a healthy treat she likes! There is more available than biscuits and hot dogs! I would probably try freeze dried liver treats for her since she seems to be a little picky....you will want something very small and easy for her to eat quickly (usually something semi-moist works best as it can be broken into smaller pieces easily). The key to a good reward is one that can be given very quickly so that the dog doesn't lose focus. Toys can be difficult to use for basic training b/c they can cause the dog to lose focus...I would only use a toy if nothing else works.