By now, your dog should be making some good progress.
Here’s a list of the things you should be working on:
- “COME:” One of you should hold him and let the other one tease him and then call. He should come in like a bullet. Always praise the come and don’t do it off leash unless you are positive that he’ll come.
- “SIT:” piece of cake
- “WAIT:” for longer and longer periods and with distractions
- “LOOK, LOOK:” point to your eyes and get eye contact
- “FETCH:” Save the tennis ball for this exercise. Use the word BALL so he learns what it is.
- “BRING:” Encourage him to come all the way in to you
- “GIVE:” Praise enthusiastically
- “OFF:” Reinforce it by physically removing him
- “TWIST:” Add one or two in a row
- “SPIN:”
- “LEAVE IT!” Wait for eye contact
- “WHERE’S MOMMY? WHERE’S DADDY’S?” You should be able to hide pretty well by now
- “DOWN:” Make sure he stays down and waits before you release
- “STAND:”
- “SHAKE:”
- “ROLL OVER:”
- “SHOW ME YOUR BELLY:”
- “PAWS UP:”
- “1-2-3—OK:” Again, to make him wait and keep him focused
- “BACK:” Keep the treat and your hands low—right at the level of his nose and walk straight into him
- “GO TO BED:” Just tell him this whenever you want him to get in his crate. Use a cookie
He’s already got quite a vocabulary!!
With all training:
- Stop before he wants to—leave him wanting more.
- Play every few minutes with a tug or a belly rub—lots of hands on interaction, but stop before he gets mouthy—or immediately when he starts to bite—then isolate him
- Try to give one positive command and expect him to carry it out. Don’t keep repeating what you want him to do
- Really start mixing up his routines so he doesn’t always do the same thing in the same order. Keep him thinking.
- Start adding distractions so he has to think about what he’s doing and learns to control himself.
- Even though he’s picked up on things very quickly, you’ll need to continue reinforcing them throughout his life.
Next time we’ll work on walking on a loose lead, and some scent games.
Any questions? Give me a call any time. Please recommend me to any of your friends who might need help or just want a dog as smart as Shooter.
