Echo...the Woofie

mrleee74

mrleee74

New Member
We, or rather my girlfriend, got Echo for a birthday present. She is 18 months old now and loves cheese. We have failed miserably on the training front and envious of those dogs who walk without leads... hence our interest in this site. We have decided to take the matter a little more seriously and follow some excellent guidance we have found on the internet.
Echo can do some impressive tricks in the house, the usual, sit, stay, lay, come here and kiss. Outside she is bordering on an embarrassment, and we can no longer blame it on being a puppy.
Echo is a long legged staff. Most staffies ive met are incredibly affectionate, they love people and children (so much so, Echo once jumped into a baby buggy to great and kiss a toddler) We love her simply because she is lovely.
 

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Dogster

Dogster

Honored Member
Welcome to DTA!!!!!:) Echo is such a cutie!!!!!!:love:

Please explain what you need help with in detail, it will give us a better understanding of how we can help you.
 
jackienmutts

jackienmutts

Honored Member
Hi and welcome! Do keep in mind, that 18 mos is still a puppy, albeit a big one - so you can let that make you feel a little bit better. :LOL: Dogs can do amazing things in the confines of their homes with no distractions - but once out in the big world, they can tend to lose their brains and ability to think. That's where lots of patience and consistent training comes in. If you need suggestions or help, let us know and we're more than happy to help. If you would like help in any particular areas, be specific about what's going on, what Echo's doing, what you're doing in response, what happens as a result, etc - and we can make suggestions, give you ideas, etc. Have fun!
 
Adrianna & Calvin

Adrianna & Calvin

Experienced Member
Hi Mr Lee

Have you looked into clicker training at all? The clicker is a great training tool, though it's certainly possible to train without it. Check out clickertraining.com or kikopup (on youtube) for more info.

I know a lot of young Staffies/pitties and there tend to be two training hurdles IMO.
1- These are big, strong dogs whose physical maturity often goes ahead of their ability to control themselves. This isn't a specific pit bull thing, there are a ton of dog breeds with the same trait. Medium-to-large "exuberant" breeds often need to be helped to learn how to restrain themselves. Notice that I say that dogs can learn to restrain themselves! It's not a matter of teaching the dog to wait for your command in every instance -- it is entirely possible to teach a dog self-restraint.
2- Pit bulls/Staffies tend to be very clever dogs. How is this a training hurdle? Because while you're plodding along at a normal human pace, the dog is five steps ahead. It can be hard to capture/reward the behavior you want because the dog has thrown out 3 different behaviors in the blink of an eye. The up side of this, though, is that once you and the dog hit your stride as training partners, the sky's the limit :-)

As far as what your dog knows to do in the house -- does she really know it? Will she "sit" wherever she is when you say it, or will she walk in front of you and then sit? Will she respond to the "sit" cue if you raise both arms above your head? Wave them around? What if you're sitting, or not facing her? If (for now) she's too out of control outdoors, work on your indoor stuff so that you know she really knows it. [Important! A lot of people mistakenly think the dog is being defiant when she doesn't 'sit' on cue -- unless you've taught her to sit while you're waving your arms, she's not being defiant, she just doesn't really understand what 'sit' means!]

"Stay" exercises are a great way to start to teach self control. Teach her to stay put while you prepare her food, while you get her leash, while you put your shoes on to go out, etc. You may need to start with less exciting times, but you'll work your way up to having her stay while you open the door to the outside (while on leash, of course). She'll learn that good things come to dogs to wait :-)

For other resources, see Leslie McDevitt's "Control Unleashed" puppy book; Sue Ailsby's Training Levels (this is VERY detailed, step by step training plan, if you're interested in that), Pat Miller's Power of Positive Dog Training, and kikopup on youtube.

Best of luck and, as others mentioned, if you have specific questions, please feel free to ask.
 
MaryK

MaryK

Honored Member
Hi and Welcome:) Jackie, along with Adrianna and Calvin have given you very good advice. Echo's beautiful and a very smart breed of dog, so follow what they say.:) Plus start a new thread giving us all exact details of what Echo's doing and we can help you more. She's certainly one very sweet doggy, so no problems there:)
 
Linda A

Linda A

Experienced Member
Welcome! I'm so glad to see you are trying to get help with training your dog. It breaks my heart to see all the people who simply give up and get rid of the dog. Bless you for hanging in there and seeking help!!
 
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