SO...the recall is supposed to be the FIRST thing learned?

[aldelgreco]

I'm confused by my little girl.
She is 10 weeks old, and seems smart as a whip.
Her best commands are most definitely "sit' and "down". It is the cutest thing ever to see a puppy this age sitting on command and then going to the down position as fast as lightning as soon as you command it. having always raised dachshunds, this is an entirely new experience for me (having a pup that actually absorbs any learning before 5-8 months.)

She is also good at "kennel" because 1/3 of the time i say it, she knows she is getting food put in there to eat.

As far as her recall, though...well, she seems to come when she wants. sometimes, she will just lay there and look at me while i say her name, etc. I'm not saying she never comes or that she is particularly bad at it...but it makes me wonder why she is not as awesome at the recall as she is at sitting and down. i am also having a bit of a hard time teaching stay, but i had a good idea last night that maybe it will be easier to teach stay now that she completely understands "down", so maybe she can learn to stay from that position to start?

any advice about how to integrate some games that can teach the recall into our little training sessions ( i do like 4-5 short little ones throughout the day ) would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to do that thing listed above where you have to yank them your way with a leash. it seems like that would make them hate the leash, and I haven't even started down that path yet.

holla back at me

[Nishasmom]

If you want to meet up I can show you some techniques to get you started.

As for the recall, does she know her name (turn your way every time you say it?)? Do you use a "clicker" yet? This is what Nancy will teach you with. Do not try and call her when she is distracted by something else; you will be setting her up to "fail". Call her when she is running towards you, ect. Make a game out of it. Play "reverse chase" while calling her towards you, when she reaches you, she gets rewarded ect. We played "hide & seek"; at first it takes two people (until your dog is good at "stay"). Have your girlfriend hold her while you go hide; call her to you when you are ready and reward her for coming or "finding" you.

As for stay, you work in TINY steps. She stays for 3 seconds then treat; slowly you start to lengthen the "stay" time.

Do a search on "clicker" training to get you started. You can buy these at Petsmart for like $1.00.

[aldelgreco]

Originally Posted by Nishasmom

If you want to meet up I can show you some techniques to get you started.

As for the recall, does she know her name (turn your way every time you say it?)? Do you use a "clicker" yet? This is what Nancy will teach you with. Do not try and call her when she is distracted by something else; you will be setting her up to "fail". Call her when she is running towards you, ect. Make a game out of it. Play "reverse chase" while calling her towards you, when she reaches you, she gets rewarded ect. We played "hide & seek"; at first it takes two people (until your dog is good at "stay"). Have your girlfriend hold her while you go hide; call her to you when you are ready and reward her for coming or "finding" you.

As for stay, you work in TINY steps. She stays for 3 seconds then treat; slowly you start to lengthen the "stay" time.

Do a search on "clicker" training to get you started. You can buy these at Petsmart for like $1.00.

thanks dawlin......you've been so helpful and we all appreciate it. i will go buy a clicker today just to get her a little bit of a headstart, and also use the reverse chase and the hide and seek game. she responds to her name, because that was the first thing i tried to teach her. i just sat there with treats and made her look me in the eyes when i said "Missy!" she has gotten ok at it, but like i said...maybe i should spend more time on the stuff she is not as good at than the stuff she seems really good at. I will use your advice for now, and will be calling nancy as soon as i know when her 3rd shots will be done this weekend (she is just now getting her second round on the 10th!) that way, i can set it up to where she can start immediately after. i will post some of my pics later today!!
for real, thanks again. raising this girl to be a good model for the breed is very important to me!
-alex

[Nishasmom]

Good, I am sure you will find the clicker to be priceless. Every time I get mine out my dog runs to me and waits for me to "teach" her something new !

When training use small soft treats that they can eat quickly; this way time is not wasted on "chewing". Let me know if you have any questions! Good luck; it sounds like you have lots of time to spend with Precious; you are lucky !

I will see Nancy on Thursday (trick class ) I will tell her about you; she loves rotties and will be excited to meet you all. Will your girlfriend be attending class with you?

[poohbearsmom]

Aside from your puppy, the leash and treats are your very best friends.

A recall should always be fun and happy, and coming to you should ALWAYS be the most fun thing in the universe !!!!! Moving away from the pup and inviting her in should help.

With a leash, you can always control the outcome of any given request.

With food, you have a reward which makes the likelihood of your pup coming to you next time even greater.

With puppy, you have something to connect the leash to and and feed the reward for a job well done.

[dawnadkins]

How are you training the stays? Are you walking away after telling your dog to stay? Try having the dog sit in heel position, give the stay command and then step directly in front of your dog. If the dog stays a second or two, reward. Gradually increase the time. Once that is learned, start adding distance, until you are eventually six feet away. If the dog breaks, immediatly correct them. Lots of praise for a job well done!!

Dawn