obeying commands

[hunniebunnie]

does your yorkie only obey commands from you? or will he/she comply with the command no matter who gives it?

i'm working on getting bunjee to respond to my husband as well as me. i'm curious to know when dogs learn a command, if it's exclusive to an individual?

[FirstYorkie]

Joey will pretty much obey anyone (especially if he thinks there might be a treat involved!).

It is true, though, that dogs don't generalize well. Just because they know sit means sit in the kitchen, take them outside and say sit, and they may have no clue that sit means sit there, too. That's why clicker trainers always say "take it on the road" after you've taught a behavior. IOW, teach them to do it in multiple situations.

So, it makes sense that some dogs may think they only have to obey commands from one person.

[Jaspermom]

Originally Posted by FirstYorkie

Joey will pretty much obey anyone (especially if he thinks there might be a treat involved!).

It is true, though, that dogs don't generalize well. Just because they know sit means sit in the kitchen, take them outside and say sit, and they may have no clue that sit means sit there, too. That's why clicker trainers always say "take it on the road" after you've taught a behavior. IOW, teach them to do it in multiple situations.

So, it makes sense that some dogs may think they only have to obey commands from one person.

WOW, I had never thought about any of this!! Thanks, hunniebunnie, for bringing this up!! It's not too late! Got to get my hubby to work with Wosie, and then maybe "bring it on the road"!!

Great thread!! Bet this will open loads of other eyes besides mine!

[Erin]

Loki listens well to anyone who has a treat/reward including myself, my husband, my brother, parents, neighbors, etc. He sits/down pretty much 99% of the time when my husband or I ask and give a hand signal, treat or no treat. But he thinks something like "roll over" is a silly thing to do if there's no reward involved He also knows words, like "out" for "Get out of the bathroom" or "Come out of your crate" and we don't treat those, so he pretty much complies when asked.

We are always working on improving COME because that's so important and we're working on a delayed treat. I've been saying "Good boy, let's go get your treat now!" when he listens. He is extremely food motivated so it's difficult, but he learns tricks in a single afternoon because he'll do anything for food.

I should add that we do practice things at all different places. We go to stores (pet friendly!) and show off his tricks, we stop halfway through a walk, we go outside, we go to my parents house, etc. We are constantly working on everything with him.

[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!

[Princess Zoe]

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.

[hunniebunnie]

Originally Posted by Erin

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.

Totally reminds me of my husband. I am forever telling him, it's "sit" or "down" not "sit down", it's "watch me" not "look at me", and you have to praise him (the puppy, not the husband.. ) with a "good boy" along with a treat when he complies not give treat with silence.

Hubby had to dispute my use of "no bite" as "not grammatical".... the goober (the husband, not the puppy... )

Training my yorkie to respond to my husband is as much training my husband as it is training my yorkie.

[Yorkie Mum]

My girl listens to me and only me with one exepction.
She does listen to the kids for playing ball, she will drop it, back and down for them before they can pick up the ball to toss.
She does it her self now for the kids but I still have them ask.
she tends to listen to kids better then adults.
We are working on come with them but for a dog with focus issses and aggresssion I want her attention on me and no one else.

Joy

[FirstYorkie]

Originally Posted by hunniebunnie

Training my yorkie to respond to my husband is as much training my husband as it is training my yorkie.

Amen, Sister!!!

[chattiesmom]

Here are my two cents worth..... unless the dog is trained to ONLY respond to one person or certain people, then a command is a command and should be obeyed. They can understand and tell the difference between a true command and a random request. Never ask your dog to do something unless you are willing and able to follow through, each time you ask for something and they say "NO" by not responding you are reinforcing the idea -- "My human can ask me to do something and whether or not I do it is my choice."

They are a lot smarter than we give them credit for being and since they read our body language, if we don't believe that they will listen then we tell them that.....and chances are they won't.

Their is a huge difference between having a dog comply with a request because they choose to do so and having a dog who is genuinely trained to obey. When a dog is trained to respond, then he/she will respond irregardless of who gives the command and irregardless of any distractions.

[chattiesmom]

I am sorry if I sounded harsh, training should be fun for everyone. The more fun and exciting you make your training sessions for the dog, the quicker you will get results you want and the happier your dog will be to comply.

I had an Irish Setter that was incredibly intelligent. She was trained to obey hand signals and/or voice commands. If she didn't want to obey the hand signals, she would simply duck her head down and not look at me, so one of my most important voice commands was, "Mandy, look at me!". Although she didn't like it, she would obey that command and then she was compelled to obey the hand signals. LOL they can be so funny.

I haven't gotten that far with the Yorkies yet, but we are working on it.

[FirstYorkie]

Originally Posted by chattiesmom

When a dog is trained to respond, then he/she will respond irregardless of who gives the command and irregardless of any distractions.

You may find that your Yorkies don't generalize as well as your Setter did. Some dogs have to learn that a command is a command in different locations, with different people, and with different distractions. You're right, though, that you can't really say that your dog has learned that command until he performs it under different circumstances.

I do agree wholeheartedly to NOT give a command unless you are prepared to follow through (good childrearing advice as well!). Don't say "sit" unless you're prepared to push their little hiney down. Unless you're prepared to go get them, don't say "come".

Which raises another good training point and that is: don't repeat your commands. If you say "Sit...sit...SIT!", Fido learns that he doesn't need to obey until he hears the last one.

[hunniebunnie]

Originally Posted by chattiesmom

Never ask your dog to do something unless you are willing and able to follow through, each time you ask for something and they say "NO" by not responding you are reinforcing the idea -- "My human can ask me to do something and whether or not I do it is my choice."

That's a very good point!!!! Thanks for the reminder!

[hunniebunnie]

Originally Posted by FirstYorkie

Some dogs have to learn that a command is a command in different locations, with different people, and with different distractions.

I totally see that with bunjee. he's so good at responding to commands at home. but in class when the trainer wants to see how we're doing... he decides he doesn't wanna "sit" anymore.

[FirstYorkie]

It may also be a matter of how comfortable Bunjee is in the class. Joey is perfectly happy to sit in a class full of big dogs, but he's hesitant to do a down if there's a big dog behind him! Can't say that I blame him...