Puppy training questions

[JaniceZ]

Hello,

We have a six month old Australian shepherd puppy named Pippin. Pippin is super smart and has been quite easy to train so far, which is great for me as I have never had a dog before. Pippin knows sit, stay, come, shake, and lay down as long as he is not distracted, and he walks on a loose leash.

My question is, how do I get him to ignore other dogs? Pippin is very friendly and playful, when he sees another dog he pulls on his leash and wines if I wont let him play. How do I discourage him from pulling on the leash, hopefully ignoring the other dog?

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I take him to a park near our place where lots of people bring dogs for off leash activity. I always ask people before I take Pippin off his leash, and so far the majority of people have been fine with it. When there are no other dogs there, Pippin will come and sit nicely so I can put his leash on when I am ready to leave, but if he is playing with another dog, it seems to be luck whether or not he will come to me.

Pippin is the perfect dog, as long as there is not another dog around. Am I expecting to much from a 6 month old puppy?

 

[Lizzie]

I think you are, although you seem to have been doing well with him, so far. Now is the time to sign up in an obedience class. This will teach him to keep his eye on you and concentrate on you, with lots of other dogs and activity, going on around him. Between classes and when doing his 'homework' each day, try to work him again, in an area where there is lots of distraction. Make sure to attend every class and do his daily homework and you will see a difference. You can also change his area of homework each day. I used to work my dogs in the corner of a grocery store parking lot. Be consistent. Work diligently on recall, when you reach that stage in the obedience class. Don't work him off-lead ever, until he is absolutely reliable in all of his commands. Good luck and keep us posted. Lizzie

 

[anoki]

I second Lizzie on going to an obedience class. It is hard to explain things properly without showing or explain by showing (I do not do well learning by reading...I'm more a watch and learn person and then I can ask questions when something doesn't seem to be working quite right, or the instructor can step in before something is a bad habit).

I do 2 things with my dogs/puppies which GREATLY reduces them pulling on leash.

Teach 'Watch Me' and also teach them to step back to release pressure on their collar (so if they start to pull once they feel that pressure, they automatically take a step back and then I can do a 'watch me' and get their attention back on me).

Actually make that 3 things-I never use leash corrections to get them to stop pulling.

~kathryn

 

[bevann]

anoki How do you teach :Watchme" ?I adopted a shelter dog a male 3 yr old German Shepherd in May who seems to be ADHD.He has made progress but after having raised German shepherds from 1960-2002 this boy is a challenge and nothing like my dogs were.I am so embarassed when we have to go to the vet because he's so ill behaved,.I have been un able to go to obedience class due to knee surgery.I'm getting better now but very far behind in his training.Any training tips are greatly appreciated.

 

[AnnaC]

I think you are doing extremely well with your young pup, and I agree with the others that an obedience class will help no end - make sure it is one that you are happy with, one that uses praise for good behaviour and not 'rough handling' for any mistakes. Go and visit several if you can before you choose the one that you feel happiest with.

I would not stop your young lad from playing loose with other dogs - it is good for him to have plenty of doggy socialisation at this age. Suggest you take a little bag of VERY tasty special treats with you and when you call him back - however long it takes him to come - praise him profusely and give him a treat, then immediately send him off to play again. Never call him back to simply put him on his lead to take him home. It is the call back, treat, then send away with the command "go play", that will get him racing back to you once he gets the idea. Get him to sit each time he returns to you before you treat him (this makes it easier to pop his lead on at the end of play time). Not letting him off the lead for his play time will only make him more frustrated and less likely to return to you if he should ever get loose by mistake.

Good luck!

ps. "Watch me" is simply taught by sitting the dog beside you, saying (in a lively voice) "watch me" and immediately giving a treat as the dog looks at you. The dog will quickly get the idea and once reasonably established, keep hold of the treat (close to your chest, but where the dog can see it) and repeat "watch me" several times to hold the dog's attention for several seconds before giving the treat with an extra "good boy/girl". The dog should look directly into your eyes before you give the treat. Over time this teaches the dog to keep his eyes glued to yours for much longer than the original few seconds. You can then start doing "watch me's" in different situations - round the house, out in the garden/yard etc. Dont overdo it, just often enough to keep it established in the dog's mind. It is a very useful command to teach a dog.

 

[shorthorsemom]

You need to work on attention exercises. Google Ian dunbar sirius dog training attention and you will find excellent videos on how to get your dog to pay attention to you with distraction. You can do flicker training too. Whenmy dogs hear a dog barking and jumping and going nuts they lookrightat me. They are conditioned that they know if they ignore the distraction and look at me I will praise and treat. No off leash anything until you have attention and control. Dont do dog parks. Obedience school a good idea for teaching your dog to listen with distractions. That's clicker not flicker. Dumbkindle.

 

[JaniceZ]

Thanks guys, I am hoping to take Pippin to obedience classes in May, as my husband and I only have one car at the moment, and hubby works long hours, so I wouldn't know if I had a way of getting to the classes. I will be working in May (I'm a student right now), so I will have a car by then.

We unfortunately have no choice but to go to parks as we live in a Condo with a very small back yard. If we didn't go to the park the only exercise he could get is walking. We do go to the soccer fields of an elementary school near our house where there is lots of space that is almost entirely fenced. Sometimes there are other dogs there, but most of the time we have the whole place to ourselves.

Thanks shorthorsemom for the video recommendation! I checked the website there seems to be so much information there! Exactly what I need. Thank you!!