Zug Zug Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I have recently brought home a beautiful 9 week old black standard poodle puppy, and his training began immediately. He is now almost 10 weeks old and has been with me for a whole week! Pasha will be a pet first and foremost, but I'd also love to take him into the obedience and agility rings one day. There is so much I need to teach him. I keep trying to make a list of 4 things to focus on in his training this week, only to keep adding to that list. I need to prioritise. So I'm interested to hear how other people tackle these very early stages of training. Which exercises do you focus on first? Why? At the moment we are working on these exercises: - sit (and stay in the sit until I say to get up - he's pretty good at this one already) - walk beside me on loose lead - drop (and stay in the drop until I say to get up) - come - go happily into your crate And these life lessons: - pee and poo on the back lawn (he has this firmly under his belt already - what a good boy!) - don't snatch the treat - take it gently - don't rush the door - sit first and come inside quietly - don't rush your food - sit first while I put the food down and eat when I say it's ok - crate time is quiet time (actually I didn't need to teach him this - it seems to come naturally to him at this age) - bath/brush and trim time is a normal part of life - rides in the car are a normal part of life Here is a photo of him doing his first wees on our back lawn within minutes of arriving home from the airport. What a good boy! Only 2 little accidents in his first week here - he has been absolutely marvellous with his toilet training. It has been 14 years since I last had a puppy, and I am absolutely smitten with him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Lucky boy!! first things here are 'come when called submitting to handling all body parts no jumping on/licking humans come when called don't chase /bark at cats/poultry come when called travel in vehicle come when called. 'Sit' to a hand signal. come when called (these dogs aren't obedience trained city dogs ..they are working sheepdogs in the making ...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huski Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 How to play a game with me will be right at the top of my list Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 How to play a game with me will be right at the top of my list Same! And then foundation games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Not just how to play a game with me but how to play a game with me at varying places and that all rewards come through me . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 ours love the game where they are allowed to run over, dig through , and generally be silly in, a big pile of fresh wool! Very important stuff ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumtoshelley Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 First thing I start training is sit,come when called,heel,drop,stay,leave,ignore. I take Missy my whippet to obedience and she is coming along nicely. I use to take SHelley my golden which has very sloppy sits,drops and her heeling is pretty bad, Obedience trainers tryed everything to get Shelley to do proper sits and drops and heel but nothing worked not even food. I even went back to basics but still couldn't get her to do it properly. Missy my whippet on the other hand has a good heel,very good sits and drops so Missy is my obedience dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huski Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Not just how to play a game with me but how to play a game with me at varying places and that all rewards come through me . For sure! I don't really worry too much about training lots of commands with pups, I would personally put more priority on having a pup that engages well with me, that has fun with me and the rewards I offer, that has good durable focus etc. I don't really care about having a pup that can do lots of things if I don't have the relationship and engagement I want with them. Basic manners in the house, crate training, toilet training, how to be calm and 'off' and up 'on' when I want are the other things I'd also have at the top of my list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) I do like teaching pups plenty of tricks though - tricks help build focus on you in a fun context which is outside the pressure of performing a particular behavior in an exact manner. Sue Guru and possibly Ptolomy suggested to me to drive lots of difference places, have a 30-60 second game, load pup back in the car, drive somewhere else and repeat. Get the dog use to going somewhere new and thinking it was the cue for fun to begin. Edited January 12, 2012 by ness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huski Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I do like teaching pups plenty of tricks though - tricks help build focus on you in a fun context which is outside the pressure of performing a particular behavior in an exact manner. Teaching commands and tricks is great, but sometimes I see people put too much emphasis and focus on having their puppy do lots of different commands and things (for eg) rather than focusing on building a good relationship and and raising their puppy to have good manners outside of training times etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) All about the context though huski and your focus - have a look at some of the Sylvia Trkman stuff . Edited January 12, 2012 by ness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huski Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) All about the context though huski and your focus - have a look at some of the Sylvia Trckman stuff . I'm not even really referring specifically to people training puppies for sport etc - I see pet people do it all the time. They focus on teaching their puppy commands and by pass stuff like teaching manners, focus, LLW, basic relationship stuff. I think you know what I'm talking about Ness - I don't really care how many 'things' my dog can do if the relationship and focus I want isn't there. Edited January 12, 2012 by huski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuffles Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) Most dogs I see can't do "things" if the relationship isn't there anyway. Edit: I think trick training was the main thing that built a solid relationship with my dog. Edited January 12, 2012 by wuffles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumtoshelley Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 My Missy loves to play. Missy actually listens to me more so then anyone else in the family. I actually love playing with Missy she loves to chase her toys and bring them back, She also loves playing chaseys too. I only do like 10 minutes of training with her a day, The rest of the day is either playing or just relaxing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huski Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Most dogs I see can't do "things" if the relationship isn't there anyway. Really? I see it all the time especially at obedience. Lots of dogs that can complete commands but are still just going through the motions. Just to be clear I have nothing against trick training etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) A few video links of Sylvia's puppy classes Edited January 12, 2012 by ness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuffles Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Most dogs I see can't do "things" if the relationship isn't there anyway. Really? I see it all the time especially at obedience. Lots of dogs that can complete commands but are still just going through the motions. Just to be clear I have nothing against trick training etc The ones I see lacking the relationship are the ones that go "roll over! roll over! ROLL OVER! *tug on leash* ROLLLL OVER!" and the dog MAY roll over ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuffles Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 A few video links of Sylvia's puppy classes Great videos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huski Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Most dogs I see can't do "things" if the relationship isn't there anyway. Really? I see it all the time especially at obedience. Lots of dogs that can complete commands but are still just going through the motions. Just to be clear I have nothing against trick training etc The ones I see lacking the relationship are the ones that go "roll over! roll over! ROLL OVER! *tug on leash* ROLLLL OVER!" and the dog MAY roll over ;) I see dogs with obedience titles who still don't have a great relationship with their handler. But it's not just about the dog doing things - I meet dogs all the time that are really great dogs and super obedient when they are working but have terrible manners outside of training. It's a mistake I made with my dog which is why I bought up teaching more than just obedience and tricks - my next puppy will be raised very differently! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumtoshelley Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 A few video links of Sylvia's puppy classes Great videos none of my dogs have that kind of focus as in looking up at me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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