Do it yourself training?!? kinda looong!!

Hello everyone!! Well, Rascal and I have *almost* mastered potty training. We are down to about one accident a day (and its usually right by the door where he goes out, so I blame myself for not catching it) So, I was really wanting to start working with the basic commands with him. I have tried for weeks to get ahold of the lady who was offering puppy kindergaten....but she has yet to call back....and the only other place is petsmart, which is 45 minutes away....so I think I need to work on the basics alone. My husband did the commands with our lab, and she was super eager to please soooo I am in the dark on what to do with *my* guy.

I have started with sit, he is always sitting though (some say lazy...i say smart) so I just take advantage of it. When I put his leash on I say "SIT" and he usually does (lol even if I dont say it) and then praise him for sitting. I *think* he has got that one. How do I work on the other ones (stay, skake, lay, dance, anything really)? Any tips? Is it harder to train a small dog??
THANKS AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!
Melissa and Rascal

 

I dont know what kind of dog you have, but alot of small dogs are very easy to train. I have a maltipoo, she has to be the best little dog I have ever had, very smart, she is 7 months now, sits, lays, shakes a paw, hi fives, rolls over, sits pretty (begging position).

It just takes repetition, but really depends on the dog, they are all different, just have patience and do it every day and she will catch on, treats really help, Madeline will do anything for a treat, she loves cherrios, so I use them. I was going to take her to training classes, but never did because she is so good, walks really well on the leash too.

I may still take her in the summer, just for the socialization part of it, as she doesnt really like other dogs, but that is a maltese trait, I will have to take her around other dogs alot more so she gets used to them.

 

Rascal is a 18 week (sounds younger than 4 1/2 months lol) shih poo. He really is a good dog also. He walks well on the leash, doesnt bark much at all, gets along with evryone and everything, and working down the potty trained road. I just want him to have some of the basic commands under his belt!!
Thanks!
Melissa & RAscal

 

Teaching 'dance', the way I do it is have a small treat in your hand, above him so that he has to come up on his rear legs (but not too high or he will want to jump), as he comes up, say 'dance' and move your hand (the treat) around in a circle so he is following it but staying upright and in the same spot. keep saying 'dance', when hes done a full circle give him the treat and say 'good dance'.

Apparantly it takes 30 times of doing the same trick the same way for them to know it well (cant remember where I read that though).

As for shake, I use 'paw' for the right leg and 'leg' for the left leg if you want to differentiate (I use the shake for head shaking which were working on), hold you hand out (the one opposite the paw you want), say 'paw' and when he gives you his paw, give lots of praise and the treat, at first he wont know what your talking about so as your saying 'paw' just gently with your fingers ease his leg up from behind and when your holding his paw give the praise and treat, he will relate his paw being on your hand with the praise and treat.

High 5, put your hand in a 'stop' postion....like your telling someone down the street to stop and tell the pup 'high 5', he should try and put his paw on your hand....you might have to teach him to give you his paw first.

When hes got the high 5 down pretty good, you can have him 'beg' (sit up with front paws up off the floor) and then put your hands in the position of 'high 5' but this time tell him 'reach', when both paws stretch up (he should be putting his paws straight up as he would with high 5) keep saying 'reach + stay', keep him in that position for a couple of seconds then give him the treat......this one leads to a very cute "hands in the air its a stick up"...where they roll over and play 'shot dog'.....but one step at a time.

Also watch for his own little things he does, my chi mix used to have a thing about just running to the middle of the room, butt in the air and chest on the ground (the normal 'play' position in 'doggy language') except she just did it whether there was another dog around or not and then would just stay in that position for a few minutes (I actually thought she had abdominal pains at one time!!) Anyway what I did was I would get on the floor in front of her with a treat, drag the treat along the floor and say 'crawl', within a couple of days I could just say 'crawl' and shed hop on the floor, butt in the air, and go across the floor on her chest. Another dog I had used to show his teeth a lot so every time he did it I said 'smile' and before long he was smiling on cue, If you notice him doing something different/quirky, see if you can work on that.

 

That is the easiest/bestest way for me...........we just watch what they do, and pick up on that as a trick. Makes for quicker training, and something they really remember. Took me five minutes to teach the queen how to 'wave'...........still does it, five years later. :lol: