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Training your Ludwig's Doodle ...
It is important for your puppy to feel he is a valuable individual. Try to
have your training sessions in a relatively quiet place. Because he is so
playful, he can be easily distracted by other people and activities.
If he is constantly being bombarded by other sights and sounds, it will be
difficult for him to get the message from you that you enjoy being with him.
Always Use Appropriate words for the action you are describing. In
other words if you want the puppy to drop the Kleenex he is running with, the
word would be drop it or leave it, not no and run after him.
The only way he will learn to associate the command with the action is if you
use the word or hand signal/clicker every time you guide him into doing what you
want. A puppy can learn a very large vocabulary with such words as Quiet, Stop,
Move, Upstairs, Downstairs, inside, outside, do you want to go outside, come,
sit, down, good boy, heal, off, stop, stay, take it, back up, give me a hug,
etc. as well as the basic manners..
Reward your pup:
To teach him anything, you must first have his attention and then you must
reward the instant he has done what you ask. I even take that one step further.
I reward when the puppy is contemplating doing it. So if the puppy looks
towards me when I have asked him to come, I will say good boy in an encouraging
tone, a proud voice. The reward can take three forms; a treat, a pat, hug
and kiss, or your voice. Consider the use of tidbits a highly successful means
of puppy training. By guiding his behavior with it, you can avoid pushing and
pulling with your hands and all of the jerking and pulling on the leash.
A puppy learns much more quickly when he performs the activity himself rather
than being pushed or pulled into doing it. Then, as he begins to understand what
you mean by "Sit" or "Come" or whatever, you can use your hand or leash to
perfect the performance, thereby keeping handling at a minimum. Timing is of
the utmost importance when using treats in puppy training. Obviously, your
puppy is not going to know what you mean by the different commands when you
first begin to train him, and the only way he will learn that he is doing the
right thing is when he receives the reward at the moment he does it.
An example in using treats is to teach the command "Sit." If you have a puppy
who prefers bouncing around and absolutely hates sitting, you may have to begin
by rewarding a bending of the hind legs. If you were to wait until he sits all
the way down with his bottom on the floor, you would never get the job done.
After a few rewards for partial sitting, the puppy will suddenly sit all the
way, at which time you will not only reward him but tell him how marvelous he
is.
Another example of rewarding with treats is with the heeling exercise. This
is the most difficult thing for most puppies to learn. Too often, it involves
excessive jerking on the leash. The more a puppy is being pulled, the more he
resists and pulls in the opposite direction. Their natural tendency is to run
off and sniff around. Cheese tidbits is very effective in overcoming the
problems of teaching a puppy to walk beside us. It works even better off-leash
(but only for a minute at a time).
As you begin walking, the instant the puppy begins to look away from you, get
his attention with your voice and give him a treat. This will keep him at your
side for another few steps. Repeat this a few times during each session,
reversing your direction and taking some turns. Then stop while you are both
still performing well and give him lots of praise with your voice along with
some pats.
To Top
After the puppy has a good idea of what you want him to do, begin to ease off
using treats every time. You should always use the verbal praise too. Do
not let yourself use treats as a bribe. Make sure when he is taking
the treat it is gently. I prefer the treat to be his own puppy food. Train
before a meal.
It is very easy to fall into the trap of thinking that if you give a puppy a
treat he will be good. But from the dog's viewpoint, it looks like you are
treating him as top dog and whatever he wants to do is okay with you. So only
use tidbits when you are teaching a specific thing and only long enough to be
sure he has learned it and associates the act with the word for it. Then ease
off to the point of stopping the use.
Do not expect overnight results:
Puppies learn in spurts and starts. One day he may know absolutely everything
and perform to perfection. The next day it is as though he never had a moment's
training. Too many owners make the mistake of thinking that if their puppy
does it right once or twice he knows it forever, but it really takes hundreds of
repetitions for a puppy to learn something.
A puppy or a dog needs at least one month of consistent daily repetition
before any action becomes a part of his routine. Train the pup consistently for
one month, then continue for one month longer than you think is necessary. Then
you can expect him to know what you are talking about, but you must continue
daily use of the commands, using an occasional reminder when the pup is having
an "off" day.
Be consistent:
There is a wide range of individual approaches to working with a puppy. Each
person will be guiding his own puppy to live in harmony with the lifestyle of
that particular home. Similar to raising children, there are many different
learning environments that can, each one, be successful. The key to success is
to be consistent in your demands and your discipline.
Puppies need feedback:
A puppy learns by getting feedback from his owner. Praise him so he will know
when he has done something right.Otherwise he will never learn what it is you
want him to do. Then he will get confused because you keep nagging him and
hollering at him and he does not know why. He will turn into a hyperactive
nervous wreck. So let him know when he has done a good job.
Hands off:
Keep your hands off the puppy as much as possible except to pat in praise. It
may be necessary once in a while to manipulate him with your hands, but this
should be the exception. It is easy to get into the habit of constantly
grabbing, pushing and pulling.
A puppy is not learning unless he is actually doing the action himself. This
is why it is so important to guide him into doing what you want. The actions
(sit, heel, come) that he repeats under his own power quickly become a part of
his conditioning and he will begin to repeat them willingly.
If you take all the previous points into consideration, you are automatically
teaching your puppy to pay attention. By adhering to his physical and
psychological needs, you will find that he will respond to you and you will be
well on your way to building a good puppy-person relationship.
One topic up
Basic Commands
Teaching Your dog To Sit
Dog training begins with the basics of walking on the lead and teaching them
to sit. In recent years we have come to principally understand dog behavior
better and have adopted more motivational training methods. This means rather
than manhandling a dog into the positions we want, we adopt the methods of treat
and reward training. Many people consider circuses and circus-style tricks
cruel. There have been high-profile proven cases of cruel methods used in
that context; however the alternative truth is that reward training has
constituted one of the major forces in animal training in zoos and circuses for
many years. After all, there's only so much manhandling a lion will take. If you
use psychology on him and offer food rewards for the "correct" behavior you'll
get results.
In the not-too-distant past, the recognized method of ably training a dog to
sit was to pull up on the leash while pushing down on their backside. This
method worked and probably still works for many people, but how much easier and
more gratifying it is to ask the dog to sit and without any physical contact, he
just does it. This is achieved by reward-based training methods, which many
people feel more comfortable with than the "push the dog around" school of
dog training.
Using the reward method, you can start with even a very small puppy.
Make the puppy aware that you have some very delectable treats in your hand.
It's best to have a special pocket or case filled with treats. The small bite
dog treats which are moist and vacuum-packed are good; they're moist enough to
have a good smell but not enough to mess up your pockets. Do be careful to
maintain hygiene in the bag or pocket though? Use a plastic or paper bag liner
and clean it out at the end of every day. Show the treat to the puppy by
holding it near to his nose, but don't give up your hold on the treat. Then
simply push the treat up above but towards his eyes and above his head. He then
has to tilt his head upward to keep his nose and mouth near the treat.
When the dog's head is at this angle, he's naturally inclined to re-align his
spine by adopting a sitting position. Once he's done this he is immediately -
within a split second, given the treat, and praised with an enthusiastic "good
dog". After a few attempts at this he should have the idea what is
expected of him, and you can introduce the word "sit" along with the hand
gesture. The dog soon gets to associate the word "sit" with the appropriate
action, and also the hand gesture.
Thus the action of curving the forearm outwards and upwards from the elbow
becomes synonymous with the word "sit". It is so sweet to see this done
with a small puppy and for some reason both the trainer and the dog seem to feel
better for applying these methods. The puppy figured out what you wanted "all by
himself" without any physical shoving, and you used a gentle and kind brand of
craftiness to accomplish your goals.
How To Train Your Dog To Stop Barking
If you've owned your dogs for any length of time, your faithful canine
companion has let everyone within a block of your home know someone walked by or
you have a visitor at your door. The method I'm about to explain to you worked
like a charm on both our dogs and now quiet reins supreme when a neighbor walks
by, our doorbell rings, or we hear a knock on our front door.
First, there are two reasons why your dog barks at almost anything. One
reason is some type's of dogs are just born to bark. If you can channel the need
to communicate correctly then they can be taught not to talk so loud since we
are in the city. The other reason is some dogs are naturally very
territorial. To them your home is their place to defend. When your dog barks
they're telling you, "Come quick, I need to know if this person is a friend or
an enemy!"
Instinctively we yell at them to be quiet. Hey, it works with children, why
not dogs? Unfortunately, yelling at your dog doesn't work, in fact, it makes
things even worse.
Why? Because a barking dog takes our yelling as our attempt to join
them in warning everyone of the intruder. Your yelling is inadvertently telling
your dog, "Keep it up, bark more and make it louder too!"
Okay, so here's what you can do to stop the barking. First, you need to
realize your dog must be retrained. They must develop a new link to the sound of
the doorbell ringing or knocking on the door. You can substitute with
anything that triggers the barking like a squirrel outside the window.
Here's how to create that new link: Start by ringing or knocking on the door.
When your dog barks - ignore them. Just stand there and wait for a few seconds,
then quietly say, "thank you" then reward them.
Now, you must wait until they stop, don't give them the treat before they do.
And yes, it's just that simple. That's because you need to think like your
dog. What would you do, keep barking and get nothing or get a favorite treat for
being quiet?
Easy answer, if you're a dog. Now you'll need to do these training sessions
3-4 times a day until your dog realizes, "thank you" means be quiet and being
quite means a favorite treat.
Here's the key: With each session make the time between when you say, "thank
you" and giving them the treat a little bit longer. After they have responded
correctly a few times, then say, "thank you" when they're actually barking and
reward them when they stop.
Now, if by chance this method doesn't work for you, here's Plan B. When they
start barking, call them to you and throw a favorite toy for them to fetch or
some other activity they enjoy. After they've done the activity - reward them.
Remember, it's a good thing to have your dog warn you of potential danger.
You don't want to train them so well they just sit there like a statue when
someone rings your doorbell or knocks on the door. You want them to bark
once or twice, and then try to stop the behavior by using the "silence and treat
method" or the" activity diversionary method", the dog will do the trick.
This way you have a better behaved dog that doesn't irritate you and the
family with no-stop barking whenever a stranger walks by or the door bell rings.
Withdrawal of Your Attention
One of the most powerful tools you can use in dog training is the withdrawal
of your attention. You know dogs love attention, whether that takes the
form of playing a game with them, cuddling them. stroking them, talking to them,
training them, giving them food treats, whatever.
The attention of their owner is what they crave - they are often quite
indifferent or even offended by the over-friendliness of strangers. They should
see you, the owner, as their pack leader, and it is imperative to them to please
you and gain your approval.
It is wise to always remember that all domestic dogs are descendants of the
wolf. Wolves live in packs revolving round the central figures of alpha male and
female, the pack leaders. These instincts of the wolf are still present in
the domestic dog. If you behave in a suitably dominant way, he should regard you
as pack leader. You are the source of food; he can't have failed to notice that.
You instigate "the hunt" when you get the lead out and take him for walks.
You enable him to have off-lead exercise, you play games with him, you do the
dog training, you should be the center of his world.
So now you're armed with this understanding of his psyche. So what should you
do if the dog incurs your displeasure? Say he's disobeyed you or just done
something really naughty of his own volition? Now do you see how the
withdrawal of attention is a good dog training tool? This can take a
number of forms, from the subtle to the extreme, depending on the severity of
the "offence". You could simply fold your arms (so that your hands are no longer
available to him) and turn your head away.
You could turn your whole body away from him. You could walk away, or
completely withdraw your physical presence and shut him away from you for a
time. Do remember though, that this should be done instantly, the very second
that the bad event takes place. Only then will the dog associate your
withdrawal of attention with what he just did.
Understand the Six Socialization periods a puppy goes through and how to
handle it.
Socialization Period (7 - 12 Weeks)
Lasting impact, rapid learning Seniority Classification Period (12-16
Weeks), You're not the boss of me!, Flight Instinct Period (4 - 8 Months), Fly
like an Eagle, into the wind, Adolescence Period (7 - 10 months), Welcome
to the Teenage Years - Put on your seat belt and enjoy the Ride, Second
Fear Imprint Period (6 - 14 Months), Yikes! What's up with that?, Mature
Adulthood Development Period (1 - 3 Years), I shall protect thy kingdom!
Yikes!, What's up with that? Mature Adulthood Development Period (1 - 3
Years), I shall protect thy kingdom!
Socialization Period (7 - 12 Weeks)Lasting
impact, rapid learning"
Dogs denied socialization during this critical Socialization period often
become unpredictable because
they're fearful or aggressive. It's during this time, your puppy needs
to have positive experiences. They need to be introduced to new things and begin
the groundwork to becoming a happy, well-adjusted dog.
Here's what your puppy is experiencing during this time:
- Short attention spans.
- Things learned are permanent and will be resistant to change.
- Eager to learn.
- What they do and learns now, they will do as an adult.
- Temperament and personality become more apparent.
- Transitioning their education from his mother to his human environment.
- Any traumatic, painful, or frightening experiences can have a lasting
impact.
Here's what you can do during this period:
- Gradually introduce your puppy to new things, environments and people.
- Make experiences positive (provide treats or toys) or a happy happy tone
to your voice
- Don't push your puppy into fearful situations - take things slowly and
allow them to adjust and get use to the situation.
- Do not let others push your puppy or be forceful with them.
- Provide a secure comforting demeanor.
- Teach the puppy you're there to protect and lead.
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