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Post by DogGoneGood on Jun 30, 2008 20:10:46 GMT -5
RECALL: The recall command is another extremely important one for your dog to know. If he doesn’t have a solid recall you should not be doing off leash training or taking him out in public off leash (that is of course if your city laws all you to walk your dog off leash). With this in mind, I do believe it is impossible for any dog to have a 100% solid recall. It is very hard to override a dogs instincts and a lot of breeds have instincts to chase and/or run. Any herding, hunting, or running breed (ex. Border collies, beagles, Siberian huskies or sight hounds like the greyhound) will have an over powering urge to run or chase and no matter how many hours you put in teaching your dog the recall it is not 100% effective that they will return once these instincts take over. Because of this whenever you take your dog out in public off leash it is important to know your surroundings and scope the place out first. Are there other people and dogs around? Is it likely any wild or domestic animals may show up and tempt your dog to chase them? Is there a highway or road near by? I think it’s best, if possible, to do any off leash work or play in a fenced area to keep your dog safe and give you peace of mind. While teaching the recall it’s good if your dog has already learned how to “stay” or “wait”. I personally prefer to use the command “wait” before telling my dog to come but it is completely up to you and to avoid confusion I will be explaining this excise using the command ‘stay’ first. Place your dog in a sit/stay and walk away to the end of your leash (with a regular walking leash this should be the distance of about 4-5 feet). Wait for a few seconds before giving the command. Your dog shouldn’t break his stay by now anyway and is expecting for you to come back to him at some point. The hand signal for the recall is your hand flat and straight, and with your elbow bent bring your palm towards your chest. Use a combination of the hand signal and verbal command (“Come!”). You can also place your dogs name in front of the command. There are only two commands I encourage using your dogs name in front of the command and that is, most importantly, the recall and (least importantly) the heel command. (Example: “Coal! Come!”). You can now use your leash to “real” your dog towards you and use your voice and body as encouragement. Be excited! You want your dog to WANT to come to you! You want him to think it’s the most fun thing to do in the whole world! Once he gets to you (must be within your reach so you can get ahold of him) place him in a sit by pulling the leash up towards your face and if necessary, use your other hand to scoop his butt downwards into a sit. Do not use the command sit. That was not what you asked him to do, you asked him to come. Sitting is just a way of finishing the exercise (like the automatic sit in the heel exercise). Praise once he has finished this exercise! Once your dog is coming to you on command on a regular basis you can switch to a longer lead. You do not have to use your entire length of your long lead, you can start at a shorter distance and work your way back if you do not feel comfortable yet using a longer distance. When doing this drop the excess leash onto the floor next to you. When your dog comes to you, you don’t want to be occupied by flailing the extra leash around and getting it tangled around your hands; you want to have your attention focused on the dog to let him know when he’s done the right thing or the wrong thing! If he shoots past you on the recall correct him for it. Tell him “NO! Come!” and bring him back to where you wanted him in the first place. This may involve turning him all the way around so that he was facing in the same direction. If you plan to compete in obedience you will also need to have a straight sit upon the finish of the recall. If your dog is sitting crooked when he gets back you can fix this by either bending down and pushing his butt back in place (using a “nooo, come” correction) or use your foot to push it back into place. If you find you’re repeating this too often and your dog tends to sit straight only when he wants to (and is simply being lazy) you can give a leash correction before moving his butt back in place. This should tell him you don’t really enjoy having to move his butt back in place and he needs to stop being so lazy! You can also tell him “no, come” and using the leash guide him out wards into a circle then back into a straight sit in front of you. Dogs don’t particularly like going in circles and this should be just annoying enough for him to see it’s better to do it the first time!
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Post by DogGoneGood on Jun 30, 2008 20:12:39 GMT -5
THE FINISH There is no real use for the finish other than the fact it looks nice and can be quite impressive to on-lookers. It is also used quite often in the obedience ring so it’s good for your dog to know if you choose to compete. There are two types of Finish: the Continental Finish and the regular, Come Around Finish. The Come Around Finish: This one should be taught first because it is much easier for your dog. Although some dogs pick up naturally to one or the other, and some may find the Continental Finish to be easier. Either way, you should try with the Come Around Finish first. Place your dog in front of you (like he would at the end of a recall) and gather the bulk of your leash in both hands. Give him the command you wish to use (such as “finish”… I also use ‘left side’ for one of my dogs) and with both hands pull your dog around your right side. Let go of the leash with your left hand (while still holding it with the right), switch your hand around your backside (coming in from the left) and grab the leash with this hand. Let go with your right and using your left (where the leash is now) pull your dog to your left side, into a sit (heel position) and praise. This may sound really complicated, and it does take a bit of practice (especially if you’re uncoordinated!) but it’s actually a rather simple move. Your dog is basically going around you in a half circle, stopping at your left side where he sits at the heel position. The hand signal for the Come Around Finish is your right hand making a swift, swooshing motion just above your knee in the direction of behind you. Once the dog is moving around you without the help of you and the leash you can exclude this move and start throwing in the hand signal! He should work well off leash because it is easier to do this move without the leash tangling and wrapping around your legs. The Continental Finish: This is quite often the most impressive move of the two. With this finish your dog does not go all the way around you to end up at your left side but instead turns in a backwards circle to sit at your left side. Place your dog in a sit stay and walk out to about the end of your leash (depending on how long your leash it, but it should be about 5 feet). You should be at a 90 degree angle from your dog. With your left hand grab about the middle of your leash and give the dog the command (make sure to use a different command from the previous finish as to not confuse him). Pull him towards you while you step backwards with your left leg, pull him outwards and back into a circle (moving in a clockwise direction), once he’s turned around facing in the same direction as you are step with your left leg forward again and place him in a sit beside you in the heel position. You are basically turning him in a wide circle and stopping once he’s in the right direction. Stepping backwards gives you more room to move and is actually easier on your body. Keep repeating this until you feel he is catching on. Once he is catching on shorten your distance and start to cut out the move where you step backwards. You can do this by stepping back not as far and gradually decreasing the distance until you are not stepping back at all. You should also start to decrease the angle at which you are pulling your dog in from. Decrease it slowly and gradually until you can tell him to Finish while he’s facing directly in front of you. The hand signal for the Continental Finish is the same as the Come Around Finish except it is with your left hand in the opposite direction. This finish will probably take longer for your dog to learn and should be done slowly and gradually for it to be done effective. The end result will be your dog spinning his butt around in a clockwise direction to sit perfectly next to you!
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Post by DogGoneGood on Jun 30, 2008 20:14:27 GMT -5
FUN & GAMES: READY? STEADY? GO! Ready, Steady? GO! is a great game that teaches your dog control, patience, and strengthens his stay/wait command. You can also add more commands into it. It is a basic game that makes training and practicing a lot of fun for both owner and dog. Additional commands can be added in at either the start or the end of the game (or both!). Start with your dog in a sit or down at your side. Give the STAY (or wait) command and walk about 4 feet out in front of your dog (at this stage in training he should not break the stay). Place a toy on the floor and calmly walk back to your dog, returning to the same spot so that the dog is in a heel. You can return either straight back to this position or walk around behind the dog as taught with the Stay command. Once next to your dog give him the commands, “Ready, Steady?..” say this part in a much calmer voice. If need be you can place your hand on your dogs chest or keep a leash on him until given the next command. The dog must NOT break his stay during these two words, “GO!” on go you can let the dog go/remove the leash and encourage him to go after the toy. If your dog has a poor recall you can keep a long lead attached to him and “reel” him back in after he’s gotten a hold of the toy. Once back to you, you can either praise instantly or have him do a finish first (either continental of come around) before he releases the toy. PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE! This game is all about having fun! As you progress you can eventually move the toy farther back, remove the leash completely, and even THROW the toy while the dog stays where he is told to! Remember to mix it up a bit, have fun with it and don’t be afraid to try different commands mixed in with this fun game. Also, after he returns each time try playing a little bit of tug-o-war with him (as long as YOU are the victor), play with the toy a bit before making him work for it again. BEST OF LUCK!
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Post by DogGoneGood on Jun 30, 2008 20:15:35 GMT -5
Practice makes perfect! Please remember to take at least 10 minutes a day to train your dog. If you do not do this you will not see satisfactory results!
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Post by DogGoneGood on Jun 30, 2008 20:24:30 GMT -5
SIT FROM A DOWN The definition of Sit From a Down is… basically exactly what it sounds like! The dog starts in a down position and then on command goes up into a sit position. The Sit from a Down is relatively easy to teach once a dog has already learned both the down and sit. Start by placing the dog in a down at your side. Wait for a few moments praise for the down and tell him “sit”. You can give him encouragement (and hits) by patting your left leg above his head as you tell him to sit and use an encouraging tone. He should automatically go into a sit position or at least stand up. If he doesn’t sit automatically (either by not moving from the down or rising to a stand rather than sit) you can use your hands and leash to guide him into the sit. Use the same methods you did while teaching him to sit. Pull up on the collar slightly while pushing down on the bum (if he stands) or pulling up on the collar and patting your leg if (if he’s in a down). Praise once he accomplishes what you are asking of him!
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Post by DogGoneGood on Jun 30, 2008 20:26:17 GMT -5
STAY Stay is one of the hardest commands a dog can learn, and it’s also one of the most important. It tends to be harder for dogs that are more hyperactive or extremely attached to their owners to learn. Those with a calmer disposition and more independence tend to pick up on it easier and quicker. Even with this fact, stay is relatively easy to teach as long as you’re extremely persistent and patient! The most important thing to remember while training stay is that when they move you ALWAYS put them back to the same spot you told them to stay in or further back. Your dog should know sit and/or down by this point so put him in either a sit or down. I’ve found it can be easier for them to learn stay from a down but they should be taught with both. It’s good to start with him on your left side (in the heel). There are two different hand signals for stay; one is a sweeping motion with your hand in front of his face and the other is like an upside down “stop” signal with your palm in front of his face. You can choose to use either. Tell him “stay” and give him the hand signal then step forward about 2-3 steps, and turn around. If he follows you tell him “nooo, Stay” and place him back to where you first told him to stay, or farther back. Walk back out to where you were originally standing when he moved. If he stays count to five in your head then return to him and praise. There are two ways to return to him; one is by circling around his left side (your right while facing him), walk behind him and return to the heel position. This is the most acceptable way to return to your dog, especially in the obedience ring. The second way is to walk straight to him and praise from the front. I personally prefer to circle around him and stop at the heel position before praising. If he moves before you praise him (a lot will once you walk behind them) tell him “nooo, stay” and put him back, walk back out, count to five and walk back. He should not move until you’ve given him the okay and praised! Use a combination of the hand signal and verbal command (“Come!”). You can also place your dogs name in front of the command. There are only two commands I encourage using your dogs name in front of the command and that is, most importantly, the recall and (least importantly) the heel command. (Example: “Coal! Come!”). A Quick Note: There is a choice of two different commands you can teach your dog that are very similar. These are “stay” which means “stay in that spot until I tell you otherwise”; and “wait” which means “wait there until I tell you your next move”.
It isn’t incredibly important to teach the difference and both commands to your dog as “stay” most often works with all scenarios. I do like to teach wait however, as I feel it strengthens their stay because they’ve never been taught to move after they’ve been told to stay whereas they know when I say wait they may be asked to move afterwards. The choice is up to you and the same principals apply to training both except while training stay you always return to your dog and never have him come to you while when training Wait you have the option and telling him another instruction without having to return to him first. You can now use your leash to “real” your dog towards you and use your voice and body as encouragement. Be excited! You want your dog to WANT to come to you! You want him to think it’s the most fun thing to do in the whole world! Once he gets to you (must be within your reach so you can get ahold of him) place him in a sit by pulling the leash up towards your face and if necessary, use your other hand to scoop his butt downwards into a sit. Do not use the command sit. That was not what you asked him to do, you asked him to come. Sitting is just a way of finishing the exercise (like the automatic sit in the heel exercise). Praise once he has finished this exercise! Once your dog is coming to you on command on a regular basis you can switch to a longer lead. physically go back to him and place him in a down. If you feel your dog isn’t totally getting the concept you can go back to the down from the side for a while. You can also choose to go back to the dog and sweep his feet rather than use the leash and your foot to pull him down if you feel the reason he isn’t going down is due to lack of understanding. Going back to him and sweeping his feet is like a little reminder without a correction. Once you feel he is understanding it then you can add in the foot correction. Remember to praise your dog when he does go down on command!
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Post by arrianavera on Jan 8, 2012 11:23:22 GMT -5
What happened? I used the same training with Merfy(Akita Inu). First day, since you said "heel" is the hardest one. I taught her only that for the first day. then the others on the succeeding days. Then after a week, I tried. At first it was OK. But then one time, I only said "Heel", she did it but does the other things as well.. Is this thing happened to anyone too?
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Post by chiniejapanesechin on Feb 17, 2012 22:57:51 GMT -5
My Chinie knows how to sit and jump. I taught those commands in a matter of 2 days and with that I'm so proud of myself.
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Post by garymaglipay on May 6, 2012 3:17:45 GMT -5
Nice links! Most of the tricks are working with my dog except the HEEL.. I was thinking if i should replace the keyphrase or not. I think she just dont understand it at all. But i really love the way she sit then when i say down, she rolled out.
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