Part 7 - Early Training
Posted: 14 Sep 2007, 19:52
PART SEVEN
Early training
The problem with notes like this is trying to get them in chronological order when so much starts at the same time. Training starts the instant a puppy walks into the house.
In the old days somehow training did not seem so important. I suppose there were far less dogs around. I remember when I was at school we used to play football across the road. Now the same road is wall to wall traffic! Latch key dogs were the norm. Unfortunately times change and training for the family dog is now so important.
Training is like a child at school. The teacher teaches the simple things and the child learns. As the child learns the power of the brain increases and so the child finds it easier to learn more and more complicated things. The hardest things we teach our dog are the first things. My Anna is a four year old working gundog and on Gundog Day at Crufts I brought her a fluffy tiger toy. Without deliberate training, by the evening of the following day she could, just by being asked “Where’s tiger” pick up tiger out of a pile of other toys and bring it to me.
The words of command are important. They should be as distinctive as possible and be short crisp sounds. Sit, Down, Stay, Come and possible the most important, No! Give the commands as firm one word commands and not as part of a sentence. The aim is to make the commands stand out. Always aim to be successful and always reward the correct response.
So where does training start? I start with the sit. It is so easy! At meal times before I put the food down I tell the puppy to sit and holding the food dish over the dogs head I move it back over the puppy . As the puppy’s head follows the dish his behind goes down! Simple as that! The puppy does not have a clue about what the “SIT” sound means but over a period of time the same “action, sound, response” sequence will start to take effect.
What do you say if your puppy stands up you with muddy feet? “Get Down”? What about if it jumps onto the furniture? “Get Off”? And if it starts to chew something? “Leave It”? Three commands for your puppy to learn when one command, that good old general purpose command “NO” is all that is needed! Think about the commands you give. Remember every one has to be learned so the less you use the less to be learned! If you think about a dog working in the highest class of competitive Obedience, it only needs to know the correct response to eight commands and yet the average pet dog is bombarded with twenty plus commands, most of which mean the same thing!
When you call your very young puppy the chances are it will come! It does not understand the command but it hears you and wants to find out what’s happening! In other words, it is nosiness which brings the puppy to you not the response you intended but useful non the less! Obviously if nothing interesting happens when he arrives back to you then he just wont bother next time! He’s not disobeying the command, he doesn’t understand the command at this stage anyway. He’s just doing what to him is the most interesting thing at that moment! The secret is to never give a command if you think it is not going to be obeyed. Or if you are not in a position to enforce it.
NOTHING BREEDS SUCCESS LIKE SUCCESS!
Regards, John
Early training
The problem with notes like this is trying to get them in chronological order when so much starts at the same time. Training starts the instant a puppy walks into the house.
In the old days somehow training did not seem so important. I suppose there were far less dogs around. I remember when I was at school we used to play football across the road. Now the same road is wall to wall traffic! Latch key dogs were the norm. Unfortunately times change and training for the family dog is now so important.
Training is like a child at school. The teacher teaches the simple things and the child learns. As the child learns the power of the brain increases and so the child finds it easier to learn more and more complicated things. The hardest things we teach our dog are the first things. My Anna is a four year old working gundog and on Gundog Day at Crufts I brought her a fluffy tiger toy. Without deliberate training, by the evening of the following day she could, just by being asked “Where’s tiger” pick up tiger out of a pile of other toys and bring it to me.
The words of command are important. They should be as distinctive as possible and be short crisp sounds. Sit, Down, Stay, Come and possible the most important, No! Give the commands as firm one word commands and not as part of a sentence. The aim is to make the commands stand out. Always aim to be successful and always reward the correct response.
So where does training start? I start with the sit. It is so easy! At meal times before I put the food down I tell the puppy to sit and holding the food dish over the dogs head I move it back over the puppy . As the puppy’s head follows the dish his behind goes down! Simple as that! The puppy does not have a clue about what the “SIT” sound means but over a period of time the same “action, sound, response” sequence will start to take effect.
What do you say if your puppy stands up you with muddy feet? “Get Down”? What about if it jumps onto the furniture? “Get Off”? And if it starts to chew something? “Leave It”? Three commands for your puppy to learn when one command, that good old general purpose command “NO” is all that is needed! Think about the commands you give. Remember every one has to be learned so the less you use the less to be learned! If you think about a dog working in the highest class of competitive Obedience, it only needs to know the correct response to eight commands and yet the average pet dog is bombarded with twenty plus commands, most of which mean the same thing!
When you call your very young puppy the chances are it will come! It does not understand the command but it hears you and wants to find out what’s happening! In other words, it is nosiness which brings the puppy to you not the response you intended but useful non the less! Obviously if nothing interesting happens when he arrives back to you then he just wont bother next time! He’s not disobeying the command, he doesn’t understand the command at this stage anyway. He’s just doing what to him is the most interesting thing at that moment! The secret is to never give a command if you think it is not going to be obeyed. Or if you are not in a position to enforce it.
NOTHING BREEDS SUCCESS LIKE SUCCESS!
Regards, John