The Spotted Devil Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Sometimes young pups are so excited by all the novelty that they don't even notice the clicker sound - watch what the ears/head do when you click. It's like it is just part of the background noise. In the first week, I let my pup relax and gain confidence with myself, OH, older dog and cats. In the 2nd week, I carried her daily biscuit ration around so I could reinforce desirable behaviours - toilet training, 4 paws on the floor and recall. Different exercises were added as she gained confidence but she has not eaten out of a bowl since - dry food comes from me or is in a Kong. I didn't introduce the clicker for another few weeks. Also be aware of different rewards for different contexts ie if pup is jumping up for attention then use pats and praise as the reward in this instance instead of food. Every pup is different. Relax and enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 thanks for the help everyone. I have been spending alot of time with him playing and giving attention and have began taking him for a walk up and down the road behind us but I dont want to walk him too far as hes so young and I am not sure how much he really needs yet. At the moment its maybe a 5 min walk where its mostly broken with stops and rewards for walking on a loose lead or walking the other direction when the puppy pulls. as for food rewards I have tried roast chicken, yoghurt, cheese, kibble, tuna, peanut butter, raw chicken, raw mince and scottys roll. I have been training just before dinner and also an hr after but both at the moment yeild the same results. I think I will try to bond with him more and get his attention on me more. I truly think this is the right approach. He is a baby - and he has boy brains - so just having fun with him and having him bond with you is the best foundation you can do. Another thing that I would say is what one of the well known US trainers said (sorry, can't remember which one) - "Don't forget that if you're not training your puppy, your puppy is training you." What she meant was that everything we do with our pups is "training" - as in teaching them to live with us and in our world' - not just the more formal training we might set out to do. So like others, I would say - concentrate on just having fun with your lad, catching him being 'good', and encouraging him to focus on you and want to be with you. And as poodlefan suggested, try rewarding little chunks of behaviour or approximations - darned good tries -, rather than trying to get the whole behaviour at once. And if you're doing something like luring a sit, try moving your hand more slowly - give the boy brains time to figure something out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyliegirl Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 Sometimes young pups are so excited by all the novelty that they don't even notice the clicker sound - watch what the ears/head do when you click. It's like it is just part of the background noise. In the first week, I let my pup relax and gain confidence with myself, OH, older dog and cats. In the 2nd week, I carried her daily biscuit ration around so I could reinforce desirable behaviours - toilet training, 4 paws on the floor and recall. Different exercises were added as she gained confidence but she has not eaten out of a bowl since - dry food comes from me or is in a Kong. I didn't introduce the clicker for another few weeks. Also be aware of different rewards for different contexts ie if pup is jumping up for attention then use pats and praise as the reward in this instance instead of food. Every pup is different. Relax and enjoy! thanks, unfortunately our boy is on a mostly raw diet so its a little hard to carry around his whole chicken frames and mince mix for training He only gets a small amount of kibble in his diet ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I agree with Staff n toller, give yourself a few days off and relax. GIve him lots of attention when he is "good" even though he can't be "bad" because he is just being a perfectly well behaved dog, even if that conflicts with what we want them to do. I think you are maybe feelign let down because you have waited a long time for your puppy, you have been reading and learning and wanting to do it all right and wanting to do all this fun stuff you have been reading and learning about. Each puppy is very different. Speaking from experience Male Dobes can be fickle little things sometimes and it can take a little while to figure out what turns them on. If he is on a raw diet get a bum bag or something you can wash and use that or put his bowl of food on the bench and feed a him mouthful after you get him to look at you, move a step or get distracted then look again, if he responds to his name, sits etc. In the first week I would be chasing only things such as a split second of "what?: when you call him, if he looks at you (even by accident) mark and reward. If you don't have your clicker use a word. Make yourself extremely rewarding to be around and a little unpredictable as in he never quite knows when he will get marked and a small treat. if he lays down near you inside mark reward etc. Goodluck and try to relax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvsdogs Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 (edited) You will find lots of videos by kikopup that may be of help to you, this is only one of them. Edited January 7, 2011 by luvsdogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAX Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 thanks, unfortunately our boy is on a mostly raw diet so its a little hard to carry around his whole chicken frames and mince mix for training He only gets a small amount of kibble in his diet My dogs and many others are on a raw diet, Dobermanns are pigs, if he/she is not yet, it wont be long:)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyliegirl Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 thanks luvdogs, I have kikopup on watch already (have since her first videos of when splash was only 10 weeks old lol) Ososwift, I believe you are right, I have been waiting for a pup for a long time so I have had alot of time to watch and read on training, along with buying many clicker training books, so I guess I was feeling a bit too confident, its clear Echo isnt quite ready and I have takena step back and I am just trying to make things fun for now for both of us. Pax- hopefully it shows soon because at the moment my cat is more willing to eat than him lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I have had a male Dobe who was shocking at eating, as was a friends. The bitches would eat a wooden table leg if it stood still long enough. Some males can be a bit harder so I would use his meals and get him to do something for every mouthful. I know exactly how you feel I had the same shock to the system with my male Dobe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyliegirl Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 Am a bit excited this morning, I was charging the clicker with Echo this morning and rewarding with mince and I began to click when his nose touched the clicker and something went off in his head and he started to tap the clicker with his nose from then on! Was very happy. I stopped after the fourth click so he didn't lose interest. Doesn't sound like a very good trick, but to me its huge because he registered that tapping the clicker with his nose means reward! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuffles Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Great, sounds like he has taught himself 'touch' This was one of the first things I taught my puppy, to touch my hand with her nose... they seem to love it, like pressing a button for treats. My girl didn't even arrive at my house until she was 12 weeks old, then I only did light training with her for a few weeks. At puppy preschool and beginner's obedience, the puppies were all over the place, concentration spans like gnats, just loving life being a puppy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Am a bit excited this morning, I was charging the clicker with Echo this morning and rewarding with mince and I began to click when his nose touched the clicker and something went off in his head and he started to tap the clicker with his nose from then on! Was very happy. I stopped after the fourth click so he didn't lose interest. Doesn't sound like a very good trick, but to me its huge because he registered that tapping the clicker with his nose means reward! But it is, it is :laugh: . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalathebear Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I think you're doing very well. We didn't really start any training with our two when we first got them - even Hoover who was already 11 weeks when we got him. We were just concentrating on house-training and mealtime-manners. Once both could wait for food, then we started with the obedience and tricks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brinashay Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 1st rule of training - Never train frustrated, agitated or upset. 2nd rule of training - enjoy your fury friends company. One of the things we teach is not to play tug games with a puppy, but if the puppy does YOU must always win. Also watch closely for natural behaviours i.e. sitting & add your command to it, puppys sit or lay down quite often over the course of a day. We practice getting our timming right for markwers by bouncing a ball and offering the marker at each bounce. i.e.right hand drop the ball click left hand the moment of contact with the floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 (edited) I actually train the game of tug making sure that the dogs I'm working with get lots and lots of wins. The game is structured in such a way that the dog understands that this is your tug item and that you do control the game. Letting the dog win and win lots does not cause problems as was in the past thought to be the case, when you do it this way. If I was working with a dog who had rank aggression issues within the human household, I would not play tug let alone allow it to win, but this is far from the case in this instance. Who would be thrilled to engage in a game knowing that winning was impossible ? I certainly agree with Brinashay's advice of never training when you're upset, agitated or frustrated. :D ETA: The only thing I'd say that you need to watch with the tug game, Kyliegirl is for when your pup is teething. Go very gently on the puppy teeth (firm tension but with some empathy and 'give' in your elbow). I backed right off from playing tug for the short period during which my boy was teething so as to not hurt his mouth. Edited January 8, 2011 by Erny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huski Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I actually train the game of tug making sure that the dogs I'm working with get lots and lots of wins. The game is structured in such a way that the dog understands that this is your tug item and that you do control the game. Letting the dog win and win lots does not cause problems as was in the past thought to be the case, when you do it this way. If I was working with a dog who had rank aggression issues within the human household, I would not play tug let alone allow it to win, but this is far from the case in this instance.Who would be thrilled to engage in a game knowing that winning was impossible ?. Totally agree with you Erny - I wouldn't want to play a game that I could never win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyliegirl Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 I let Echo win some and I win some to try and keep it even. Hopefully this is ok, I would hate to play a game I always lost too.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 (edited) I let Echo win some and I win some to try and keep it even. Hopefully this is ok, I would hate to play a game I always lost too.. Once you teach the 'give' command (I swap for food initially) you can really ramp it up - I play pretty hard with Em...lots of growling from both of us but giving the toy to me is now part of the game because as soon as she is calm I start the game again. I also play games with her (without toys) - lots of growling and excitement but I can ask for 'sit' in the middle of it - as soon as she is in a controlled sit I start the game again. Great for teaching self-control and that stopping in the middle of something exciting doesn't always mean the game is ending. Edited January 9, 2011 by The Spotted Devil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyliegirl Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 (edited) I havent been really reinforcing the give command, When he loses grip I wait until he sits before start the game again and then we start tugging again. I will have to start teaching him give. He is quite soft mouthed so its not hard to take from him or give him things. - this said his grip is amazing when playing tug! Edited January 9, 2011 by kyliegirl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I let Echo win some and I win some to try and keep it even. Hopefully this is ok, I would hate to play a game I always lost too.. My dog gets to win many many more times than I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelpie-i Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 One of the things we teach is not to play tug games with a puppy, but if the puppy does YOU must always win Why??? This is totally incorrect advice and I echo Erny's sentiments. Tug of war is a team sport, not a challenging for 'dominance'. People lack the knowledge and understanding about drives and tug and then unfortunately go off and give this sort of advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now