Any Advice?
 

Does anyone have any advice on how to train your dog to do commands and tricks. So far all i have taught my gracie is sit and not sure how im supposed to start off teaching the rest! Any advice on how anyone has trained theres or have heard about will be great! thanxx alot!:animal-pa

use lots of treats!!

I taught Zoe how to sit, paw, down and up (standing on both hind legs) he even dances if he feels like it. Not now after his surgery but will when he's all better.

This was all done by giving him treats after he follows the command. he can't seem to roll over or stop barking. Let me know if you ever find a resolution to the barking because its driving me nuts.

We used treats. We also used hand signals in addition to saying the command. The first couple of times we did it we always said the command and then put them in the position we wanted them in untill they started doing it themselves.

cchu ... im lucky cuz my gracie rarelyyy barks lol! amen for that ! ha

animalplanet has a great video to teach you how to teach dog tricks

Hi! I've said it before and I'll say it again - I LOVE CLICKER TRAINING!
Check out http://www.clickertraining.com

Treats work really well. The treat doesn't have to be big it just has to be enough for a taste - which is good especially if you're doing a lot of treating. I cut treats into pieces about the size of my little finger nail.

You can use the treat to lure the behaviour you want. For example for "down" get the dog to sit, then bring the treat down in front of the dog's nose and away from the dog along the floor. Once the dog is down give the treat and give lots and lots of praise. Once your dog's consistently going down start saying the word "down", or whatever word you want to use, AS the dog goes into the position you want so the dog associates the physical movement with the word. Then eventually you'll just be able to say "down" and the dog will go down.

lots of tiny treats..
How can I stop one of mine running away from me? When she is off her leash and she figures it out she runs off.
She does not come back when I call , unless i have a treat bag or a squeaky toy.

Hi You could try running away from her. Turn it into a game for her to chase you, I mentioned this on another thread and it really helped a lady whose yorkie got out http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sho...932#post630932.

But they're cunning aren't they? They know when you don't have any treats for them! I don't know how old your little girl is but Dougal was over 2 before he started consistently coming back - I think getting him neutered helped tremendously with that tho!

You could also practice doing recalls in safe situations, indoors, in a fenced yard. It doesn't have to be a big recall if you practice all the time at home, even if your dog's only going a wee way then it makes a huge difference when you're out at the park. But always praise the dog when they come back to you. Never yell or be angry when they don't come back - who'd want to come back to a grumpy person? If they don't come back, take a breathe, count to 5 and try again! :)

Also do you only recall to put the lead on when you've finished letting her run around? Try recalling her half a dozen times when you're out walking and rewarding her with lots of pats and "good dogs" every single time she comes back.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

I agree with the use of treats. Jaxon is a treat piggie and will try all the tricks he can think of to get the food! I tried to spend about 5 minutes a day with him, working on different tricks. They pick things up really fast.