Training from home??

[Megansmom]

Thanks, danisgoat!

Megansmom - I followed some of the tips in that thread and they have really helped. The main thing is patience and not expecting college level work from a puppy. I practice "come" with Buffy every day, usually in the hallway of our condo. We started with very easy, short comes and just did it over and over.

We have started doing "come" randomly in the house, too. We have containers of treats scattered around and if she comes when we ask her to, she gets a big surprise treat. I have not cut down to intermittant rewards with come - she still gets lots of praise and treat whenever she does it.

TY so much for the input, it has really been helpful.

 

[Megansmom]

Here is Diana's thread about getting your dog to "come."
http://sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=3426

Maybe you can find some tips in there.

GREAT ideas! Megan loves scrambled eggs, in fact, the other regular dog treats do nothing for her, but she is very motivated by eggs . Today when I wanted her to come back in, of course she wouldn't, so I threw a little piece of egg, then said "Megan come", and WOO Hoo she came for the second piece .

Right now the most challenging behavior is jumping at us and barking while I am cooking or making lunches, etc. She sits when told to 95% of the time, but while I am cooking, she immediately gets back up and keeps jumping. I keep making her sit/stay, she keeps getting back up. How do I get her to NOT jump and bark profusely during cooking time ?

Thank you, I just love you guys!!

 

[Diana]

Your cooking issue sounds like the dinnertime issue we had when Buffy was little. For a few weeks when she was a puppy Buffy decided to whine and bark all through dinner time! Oh what a headache. What she needed to learn was "quiet." This was not an easy command for her to learn but she did get it eventually.

First we did a few preventative things - she got a walk and her food before dinner so we knew she was not whining to go potty or eat. Evidently many puppies just get antsy during certain times of the day. After that we gave her lots of praise and attention whenever she was quiet. If she started being vocal (and I knew it was just for attention) I would walk out of the room and close the door, leaving her in her pen. Sometimes we would just ignore her. If she was quiet, I would say "quiet, yes" and play with her. This command did take a few frustrating weeks before she caught on.... but when she finally did I was SO excited.

And of course make sure she is not getting any scraps when you cook so her bad behavior isn't being reinforced.

 

[Megansmom]

Your cooking issue sounds like the dinnertime issue we had when Buffy was little. For a few weeks when she was a puppy Buffy decided to whine and bark all through dinner time! Oh what a headache. What she needed to learn was "quiet." This was not an easy command for her to learn but she did get it eventually.

First we did a few preventative things - she got a walk and her food before dinner so we knew she was not whining to go potty or eat. Evidently many puppies just get antsy during certain times of the day. After that we gave her lots of praise and attention whenever she was quiet. If she started being vocal (and I knew it was just for attention) I would walk out of the room and close the door, leaving her in her pen. Sometimes we would just ignore her. If she was quiet, I would say "quiet, yes" and play with her. This command did take a few frustrating weeks before she caught on.... but when she finally did I was SO excited.

And of course make sure she is not getting any scraps when you cook so her bad behavior isn't being reinforced.

I am also learning from you all that she is going through adolescence right now which is pure joy. I do try and ignore her barking and jumping at me, but when I am bare legged it hurts cause she scratches, so I have to keep walking away OR keep making her sit/stay. When she does sit/stay I praise her like crazy, I guess it will just take time.

TY so much for the input, I appreciate it

 

[Caro]

Getting a reliable "come" from a teenager is really hard. I used to carry cheese and salami with me on walks when they were this age. I find a whistle gets through their brains much better. Mine will always come straight away when they hear me whistle. It was recommended to me by someone with a koolie who does sheepdog training, she prefers to whistle when working sheep because it will get thru the brain of a focused dog. I noticed an immediate difference in their response (esp Tully who used to disappear for ages chasing bunnies)

if you dont do it already, I also found the command 'on your mat' useful during adolescence.

 

[Megansmom]

Getting a reliable "come" from a teenager is really hard. I used to carry cheese and salami with me on walks when they were this age. I find a whistle gets through their brains much better. Mine will always come straight away when they hear me whistle. It was recommended to me by someone with a koolie who does sheepdog training, she prefers to whistle when working sheep because it will get thru the brain of a focused dog. I noticed an immediate difference in their response (esp Tully who used to disappear for ages chasing bunnies)

if you dont do it already, I also found the command 'on your mat' useful during adolescence.

My DH and I continually have "discussions" on how to properly raise Megan. We both are right, but on the extremes of both spectrums, so finding a middle ground is FUN stuff

 

[Strider]

First, I think it's so cool that you realized the training wasn't a good fit and are looking elsewhere. There are those that would just do the training and, because it didn't fit them, not follow through or even worse, drop the class and just give up and raise an untrained dog!

All the advice given here is what I'm working with Deja on now.

Have you tried teaching her 'settle' or 'mat'? I'd reccomend this as a way to help with the kitchen issues. puppy gates can help to teach boundries as well. Victoria Stillwell uses distinct boundries such as carpet to tile etc..

Teaching Megan that she gets the 'aht' command (high pitched negative almost yelp) when she enters the kitchen area and gets rewarded when she goes to her mat our a 'special' spot.. A friend has a small mat that she carries with her. She has her dog trained that when she puts the mat down, the dog goes to it and stays there.

Depending on your room layout you might consider baby gates to limit access to the kitchen. Hmmm.. Seems like someone was going to post pics of her new hardwood floor.. who was that again? Anyone recall??