Question about training basic commands with a young puppy (around 9 weeks):
At this point, I am keeping things short and easy and striving for 100% consistency. The puppy has done very well with the “come” command. Even so, I have made sure to only use it in situations where I would bet money that it will be obeyed. I look for signs that she is ready to do her training – alert, but not too excited – and I’m guessing that she has nailed it 75 out of the last 75 times we have tried it.
Here’s my question: I just tried it with her and I was surprised when she didn’t respond. Not sure what else to do, I moved to a different position to ensure that I had her attention, repeated the command, and she came. In retrospect, I suspect that I misread her and she was not fully alert after her nap. I can keep that in mind for the future.
So, if something like that should ever happen again, what is the best way to salvage it? I know that repeating the command is not desirable…but what are the alternatives at that point?
What’s the payoff for her in coming? You are right to make this a key command that you want hard-wired. so it’s actually something you need to practice all the time.
So rather than do it when you believe (for reasons you haven’t clarified) that it will work, you need to make sure it works all the time, in all situations. The way to do that is simple, but takes commitment: make sure your dog knows that coming to you will invariably be MORE rewarding than anything else available. If all he gets when he comes is a “good dog!” and a few pats, well, that’s fine if the alternative is nothing more compelling than smelling some gum wrapper. But if it’s a choice between chasing a lizard and your “good dog!”- lizard wins every time.
Therefore, and especially now, when he’s so young, you need to make sure he gets something GREAT when he comes. A fantastic treat, a lot of treats, some wildly excited rolling around on the ground with you, SOMETHING that makes coming to you thoroughly compelling and wonderful, so that you saying “come” triggers instant bliss and joy and a desire to rush to your side to receive whatever fabulousness you have available.
And it goes without saying (she says as she says it) that you NEVER EVER EVER EVER NOT EVEN ONCE EVER deliver correction or punishment when your dog comes to you!!! NEVER. For exactly the reason given: coming has to be something he wants to do more than anything, and if he thinks that there’s a chance something unpleasant will occur, you’ve screwed yourself.
On this same topic: never chase your dog. Chasing your dog is a game, and your dog knows exactly how to play it: run away. Instead, run away from your dog, making her “it”, and she will chase YOU, then you can get control of her when she “wins”.
Maybe I’m misunderstanding something, but why would you only issue a command when you know it’s going to be obeyed anyway? Isn’t the point of issuing a command to change something the dog is doing? (i.e. The dog is waaaay over there. I say, “Come!” Now the dog is right here!)
The whole purpose of training a dog, I thought, was to get the dog to do what you want, when you want him to do it. Not when it’s convenient to him (the dog).
Situations where you NEED a dog to come are few and far between (i.e. he bolted out the door and is now playing in traffic). *Training *a dog is about reinforcement during times where success is nearly guaranteed, so that you increase the chances of that training being successfully transferred to the time when you need the dog to come.
Yes. When we trained our Guide Dog puppies, the rules were that no treats were used, only verbal reenforcement. It took longer for the training to work, but it worked. (They are now allowing treats and using clickers.) In particular, you train them to relieve on command by saying “do your business” when they relieve on their own when they are very young. They associate the word with relieving, and before you know it they go on command. No treats after this, just a “good dog” and maybe a pat.
We also learned that a good time to train was just before meals. Your dog will do anything for you if obeying lets it get to its food.
So, you’re saying instead of a treat or a word that she associates with a treat, you give the dog lots of treats every time? I see what you are going for, but I had been concerned with the dog becoming motivated solely by food, as well as having very quick diminishing returns in training. Once you do one thing right and are rewarded by a whole bag of treats, isn’t your motivation for continuing going to disappear? It also runs contrary to what I have read in a number of places. Not the most authoritative cite but, for example: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-to-train-a-puppy-7-common-mistakes-to-avoid.html
That aside, what happens if due to some unforeseen circumstance (unusual smell in the air, unexpected distraction, etc.), the dog ignores the command despite the huge reward awaiting them?
No, read again. You can also just get wildly excited and happy and roll around on the ground… you may have noticed, if you’ve ever tried it, that this makes your puppy very happy.
Here’s the key to successfully training a dog: make sure that you are always the most rewarding thing in any situation. This is done with food, with treats, with games, with praise. Make sure that all good things in life flow from you, and that your dog knows it. Food, pleasure, fun, stability… make yourself the center of your dog’s reality. The positive center.
This includes making a commitment to your dog getting exercise and stimulation every day, and creating an environment where your dog never fails.
Which brings me to the next part:
If you have been effective, there’s no distraction more interesting than you.
Which is why you set your dog up to win. Don’t push this past where your dog can actually handle it. Right now she’s 9 weeks old - don’t test her. Don’t expect her or hope for her to be able to ignore the butterfly when she’s across the yard and you call, so don’t use the come command then: you are setting her up to fail and weakening your training. If you need her, go get her, or do something else to get her attention and get her coming towards you…then, when she is already on her way, use the command. When she arrives, make sure she gets a great payoff.
She will only fail if you let her. Make sure she always wins and gets it right by not pushing or expecting past her abilities. 9 weeks is way too young to have any expectation that she’s going to have a perfect recall command. You can’t expect a perfect recall until she’s 2! Because no matter how great she is at 5 and 7 and 11 months old… she’s going to go through doggy “teens” during her second year when she will be more inclined to challenge you. Dogs aren’t fully mature until they are 2 years old, so keep that in mind.
It is her fundamental nature to follow your lead, to do what you want her to do. That’s what she wants. Your task is to be effective in your communication and to reinforce her desire with positive rewards of all kinds. Figure out what makes her happy and excited and use those things as rewards. My dog would be conflicted to the point of implosion if he had to choose between a delicious treat and a game of weasel.
Also, another key thing to do to make sure you have a well-trained dog: control the food. My dogs NEVER eat until they get the signal. My golden Maggie (now gone…) would sit by her bowl and the saliva would be hitting the floor in pools while she gazed patiently up at me waiting to be given permission to eat the food that was in her bowl. Establish that early, and you will have established enormous authority over your dog. Any dog that waits next to its food to be told it’s ok to eat is absolutely clear on who the boss is, and a dog that knows who the boss is is a much happier, well-behaved dog.
I jsut checked out your link- regarding food, they have it right but they aren’t clear enough. Food as a reward is extremely effective, and you should use it consistently at first, until your dog has learned that the reward will come. THEN you start switching it up, occasionally giving praise without a reward. You should do that, because you absolutely don’t want your dog spending the rest of its’ life expecting and demanding food treats. But if you use treats (and you should use what works - most dogs will have the strongest desire to do what you want for a food payoff initially) you have to use them consistently enough to establish the connection between success and positive rewards, so that you “wire” the response you are trying to get.