Easy way to teach my lab these commands???

I_love_my_poopers · 02-10-2009, 02:54 PM

I need to teach my choc lab to stay, come and down befor my due date which is August. Does anyone have any ideas. Right now if i have a treat in my hand and try to make her lie down or say down, it doesnt work, she will only stay for a few seconds and when were outside she doesnt really listen when i say come. She kinda does when shes in the house, i can just call her name and she comes. I would like to start teaching her asap befor my belly gets big n its gets hard for me to do stuff.

Marsh Muppet · 02-10-2009, 03:15 PM

I'm guessing you'll want to have this accomplished by the end of June-ish. Assuming the dog is at least 4 months old, this is quite do-able. In the process, you can reduce a lot of unwanted behaviors. It's best to follow a sequential training program that suits your dog and your personal style.

I_love_my_poopers · 02-10-2009, 03:49 PM

Cinnamon is 11 months old. Im home pretty much all day. Ive been really sick with morning sickness but im starting to feel alot better, i would like to get started, i just dont know the best way to teach these commands.? Ive tried a couple times but she just thinks im playing and wont listen.

rogueslg71 · 02-10-2009, 04:01 PM

well some dogs need a lot longer to learn something. so be patient . can you descibe what you are doing with the treat right now to try and train her? most likely you just have to keep trying until she finally gets it (which you have a lot of time to do before the baby).

emily445455 · 02-10-2009, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I_love_my_poopers

I need to teach my choc lab to stay, come and down befor my due date which is August. Does anyone have any ideas. Right now if i have a treat in my hand and try to make her lie down or say down, it doesnt work, she will only stay for a few seconds and when were outside she doesnt really listen when i say come. She kinda does when shes in the house, i can just call her name and she comes. I would like to start teaching her asap befor my belly gets big n its gets hard for me to do stuff.

Stay: Put her in a sit/down and tell her to stay. If she moves her front paws, correct by pulling up sharply and quickly on her choker chain, say "stay!", pull up if shes in a sit-stay, pull down if shes in a down-stay. Every time she moves her front paws, correct and repeat the command. Keep her there for 30 seconds, then heel her out of the stay command. Increase the time slowly to about 3-5 mins.

Come: This requires the dog to know what the "wait" command is. Put her in a sit-wait (Wait is different than stay). Back up a few feet, wait a few seconds and say "dog's name, come!" Give her a treat and praise her once she comes to you. Increase the distance and time. This is a fun game on rainy days

Down: This was hard with my lab. Put her in a sit, take a treat and put it to the ground and move it in towards her butt...gently hold her back/butt area so she doesn't skoot back. OR-- Put her in a sit, place your hand gently on her back and put the treat to the floor, slowly pull it out away from her, apply light pressure on her back until she lays down, then give her the treat and praise.

Hope I helped, let me know if you have more questions

I_love_my_poopers · 02-10-2009, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rogueslg71

well some dogs need a lot longer to learn something. so be patient . can you descibe what you are doing with the treat right now to try and train her? most likely you just have to keep trying until she finally gets it (which you have a lot of time to do before the baby).

With the treat i had her sit and put the treat in front of her and moved it down towards the ground and said down, she just leaned down then stood up she didnt stay sitting n lye down.

emily445455 · 02-10-2009, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I_love_my_poopers

With the treat i had her sit and put the treat in front of her and moved it down towards the ground and said down, she just leaned down then stood up she didnt stay sitting n lye down.

It took my lab awhile to learn/like down. She would do what you described, kind of lean over then get back up. She didn't like it, I think maybe it was a submissive thing...? Not 100% sure...but she does it now without a problem

I_love_my_poopers · 02-10-2009, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emily445455

It took my lab awhile to learn/like down. She would do what you described, kind of lean over then get back up. She didn't like it, I think maybe it was a submissive thing...? Not 100% sure...but she does it now without a problem

I tried what you said for the down and it almost worked, she got down almost all the way but it was hurting my back. I might have to get my hubby to teach her that one. I tried the stay, i had her sit and said stay a couple times n took a couple steps back n she jumped up, i repeated it a couple times n she just jumped up.

emily445455 · 02-10-2009, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I_love_my_poopers

I tried the stay, i had her sit and said stay a couple times n took a couple steps back n she jumped up, i repeated it a couple times n she just jumped up.

Do you use a choker chain? Just keep poppin' her and say "stay"...she'll get the hang of it after awhile

Takes lots of patience to train a dog...lots and lots.

I_love_my_poopers · 02-10-2009, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emily445455

Do you use a choker chain? Just keep poppin' her and say "stay"...she'll get the hang of it after awhile

Takes lots of patience to train a dog...lots and lots.

I dont have a choker chain for her. Is it easier with one? When i take her for walks i use a no pull head coller.

Marsh Muppet · 02-10-2009, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I_love_my_poopers

I tried the stay, i had her sit and said stay a couple times n took a couple steps back n she jumped up, i repeated it a couple times n she just jumped up.

This is where a sequential program is key. If you're just winging it, trying this and that, you're progress will be slower and the results inconsistent. When teaching stay, you only expect a dog to hold it for a few seconds. You want to release the dog from stay before he breaks on his own. You gradually increase the length of the stay (I go to a full minute) before introducing handler movement, increasing distance, & etc.

Vegas's Mom · 02-10-2009, 05:52 PM

Clicker training is pretty simple and dogs pick up on it pretty quickly. Buy a clicker (its very cheap) and get some good soft treats ( like pieces of hotdog. make them small though). So first to show your dog how the "game" works you click the clicker and give him a treat, click and give him the treat, click treat...do this until he perks up when he hears the click. As soon as you click you must give a treat. The click marks the behavior.

The first thing you should do is hold out a treat (in your fist) and as soon as your dog touches his nose to your hand click the clicker and treat. He will learn really quick that he has to touch his nose to your hand to get a treat....after he gets that you can move on to the sit.

Now to get him to sit hold the treat in your hand (in a fist) right above his nose and hold it there..now move your hand back a little and he should sit. If not keep your hand out for a minute and let your dog figure it out...if he sits immediatley click and give a treat. Do this over and over. Even if he starts to sit down click and treat..he will get that he is supposed to go all the way down. Your dog will learn the "game" and try to figure out what he has to do to make you click!

You can look up more info on the internet on clicker training...there is plenty of it!

I_love_my_poopers · 02-10-2009, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vegas's Mom

Clicker training is pretty simple and dogs pick up on it pretty quickly. Buy a clicker (its very cheap) and get some good soft treats ( like pieces of hotdog. make them small though). So first to show your dog how the "game" works you click the clicker and give him a treat, click and give him the treat, click treat...do this until he perks up when he hears the click. As soon as you click you must give a treat. The click marks the behavior.

The first thing you should do is hold out a treat (in your fist) and as soon as your dog touches his nose to your hand click the clicker and treat. He will learn really quick that he has to touch his nose to your hand to get a treat....after he gets that you can move on to the sit.

Now to get him to sit hold the treat in your hand (in a fist) right above his nose and hold it there..now move your hand back a little and he should sit. If not keep your hand out for a minute and let your dog figure it out...if he sits immediatley click and give a treat. Do this over and over. Even if he starts to sit down click and treat..he will get that he is supposed to go all the way down. Your dog will learn the "game" and try to figure out what he has to do to make you click!

You can look up more info on the internet on clicker training...there is plenty of it!

This sounds like fun! I'll check it out.

emily445455 · 02-10-2009, 09:08 PM

IMO a choker is necessary for some commands, like a wait and stay

pamperedpups · 02-10-2009, 09:51 PM

I don't believe a choker is necessary at all. To be perfectly honest, I don't even use wait or stay cues with my dogs. I simply teach sit, down and stand so the dog knows to stay in position (without additional cues) until I give a release of another cue. I train these cues so it doesn't matter what's going on around us, or what I am doing, or whether or not I am coming back to the dog. Clicker training and the 300 peck method makes this fun and easy. I suggest you check out http://www.dragonflyllama.com for more info.

Dogstar · 02-10-2009, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emily445455

IMO a choker is necessary for some commands, like a wait and stay

Definitely not true. My most solid stays are on the dogs that were entirely clicker trained.

pamperedpups · 02-11-2009, 01:03 AM

Here are a few examples of dogs trained without chokers or other physical or verbal punishment or coercion, to stay in place, as I described without the additional cue "stay":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NHqAW66-gE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebjBo_spqG0

Morgan Spector's book also talks about this in his book, Clicker Training for Obedience:

http://www.clickertraining.com/node/322

poodleholic · 02-11-2009, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I_love_my_poopers

Cinnamon is 11 months old. Im home pretty much all day. Ive been really sick with morning sickness but im starting to feel alot better, i would like to get started, i just dont know the best way to teach these commands.? Ive tried a couple times but she just thinks im playing and wont listen.

Enroll in an obedience class so you can learn how to train your dog. Your bond will deepen, and you'll both learn to effectively communicate with each other. Have fun, and enjoy!

Quote:

Originally Posted by emily445455

IMO a choker is necessary for some commands, like a wait and stay

A choke chain is completely unnecessary for training, including wait and stay.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pamperedpups

IClicker training and the 300 peck method makes this fun and easy. I suggest you check out http://www.dragonflyllama.com for more info.

Fabulous step-by-step instructions for training on that website!

rosemaryninja · 02-11-2009, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emily445455

IMO a choker is necessary for some commands, like a wait and stay

Both of my dogs do solid stays and they have never known a choker. A choker is NOT necessary for a well-trained dog. I would go so far as to say a choker is never necessary. I'm not saying it should never be used, but there is no situation where you have NO option but to use a choker.

If you want to train your dog quickly, you need to show her what you want her to do. Popping her on a choke chain every time she doesn't lie down is not showing her what you want her to do. Using a treat to lure her to the ground, then giving her the treat when she's down is showing her what you want her to do. Clicking and treating every time she moves towards the ground is showing her what you want her to do.

Repeatedly popping a dog and giving it commands that it doesn't know the meaning of yet may eventually get a dog trained, but it takes a LONG time. Sit, down, stay etc are basic commands and shaping/clicker-training will teach your dog the meaning of those in less than a month, provided you practise regularly. She may not be able to perform them in all situations amidst all levels of distraction, but she will be able to perform them quite reliably by August if you start now.

Check out this page:
http://clickersolutions.com/articles/index.htm

Read about the basics of clicker training. Understand what a clicker is for, what the click does and what shaping is. Some of the articles may seem a little complicated, like the ones on behaviour threshold, reinforcement schedules and so on. Leave those for now. You can get to them later. Scroll down to "specific behaviours" -- there are a list of commands, plus articles on how to train each one. Remember to read the basics on clicker-training first and charge the clicker (if you don't know what charging the clicker is, don't worry, reading the basic articles will tell you).

All the best!

emily445455 · 02-11-2009, 09:14 AM

That's why I put "IMO" before my statement.

I always get attacked for how I raise my dogs...and probably how I will raise my future kids too

Whoever gave me bad rep over my post.....

I just tried to help, not my problem if some here don't agree with how I raise my dogs. She asked for help...I offered it. You can offer your own, I don't bash you, don't bash me.