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Originally Posted by Chatugian  Just as I did, you're going to need to suppress your desire to "make A's" in class... and just work with Romeo where he is - distracted. So the most important command to teach him first is "Watch me" or "Attention" or "Look" (whatever you decide to call it).
You already know he can learn - sit, down, etc. - because you've taught him. But you now also know that in a situation with distractions, he will ignore you and try to play with other dogs. So don't worry about the other commands - you can teach those in no time later. Right now, the only thing that's important is for him to learn to watch you, to look to you, every time there's a question, his eyes should go to you. Reward the heck out of that, whether it's accidental or asked for.
If you complete the class and the ONLY thing he can do in class is look at you when you ask for it, you have done a GRAND job. And I'll wager you can teach all the other commands within a week or two, if you can do that.
The voice of experience, having graduated with just that one thing taught! |
Funny you say that, because it's actually one of the commands the trainer showed us on the first class. She told us to put a treat in our hand and put it up to our forehead and say "watch" or whatever our command word is, but Romeo only stares at the treat. he doesn't really look at my eyes. and if i move my hand he'll follow my hand, not stare at me. I'm sure that's just because he's just beginning though.