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Originally Posted by Erin Sorry for the double post but I thought of something else. Consistency with commands is key. It took me forever to get my mom to use the same words and signals. For my dad I'm going to have to write them down because he doesn't get it.  "Down" is not the same as "Lie Down" to a dog. They don't speak English. I love the book The Other End of the Leash because it explains something like a dog doesn't understand that "C'mere!" "Come" and "Over here boy!" mean the same things to us! Hee! Even your tone of voice matters. Hand signals work extremely well too. In some situations Loki won't *listen* but if I signal he'll obey.
For a cute example, my mom was trying to get Loki to lie down on his bed so she could take his picture. She's trying "Lie Down Loki" "Get in your bed" "Loki, in your bed" "Can you sit on your bed sweetie?" and on... and on...
I looked up and said "Loki, Target BED" and he happily went over and hopped on his bed. She thought he was only listening to ME, but really it's just that I knew the right command!  |
What a cute story!
It's SO true! My husband always says "down" for Zoe to get off of furniture, or if she jumps up on something, and I have to tell him that she knows "down" to be "lie down", and she knows "OFF" to mean the other.
Everyone needs to be on the same "page" when training.
Food motivation is a great way to train. I just got a video online called "It's Pawsible", and that is how they teach. It's a WONDERFUL method. Their motto is "would you work if you didn't get a pay check?" So they use treats as the dogs "pay check". They say that leash training is sometimes forced, and not much fun for the dog... so when they are off leash, there isn't as much control. If you use treats as a lure (instead of force), your dog will always be ready to do what you ask. Here's the website:
http://www.itspawsible.com/ Check it out.... there are even sample videos of her method that are really impressive. So far, Zoe is doing extremely well, and we are amazed at how easy it is. What I like to do is put Zoe's dinner (kibble) in my pocket, and then train with that. That way she is hungry and ready to work..... and I get to spend that one on one time hand feeding her, which I enjoy!!
Then, we stop training as soon as she gets full.
It's SO much fun! I use to train with treat, which wasn't as helpful if Zoe had already eaten, and if she had eaten, I was worried that she was eating TOO much! Anyways, just thought I'd share.