How Many Things Do You Work On At Once?

[LeviTheOutlaw]

Right now we are working on several different things. I try to keep it about 5 to 10 minutes and switch it up. Right now we are doing "through" my legs (I want to progress it to a figure 8), laying down and waiting while I work with my other dog, loose leash walking, waving, and the ones he knows well that he likes to do are touch (his nose to my hand) and spin.
Also when he seems bored and hyper in the house we play a game that a trainer taught in a class we took. I put him in sit and he has to wait while i walk about 20 feet away and put a treat on the ground. then I walk back to him and tell him go get it. he races to get it and races back. As soon as he sits in front of me he gets another treat. He loves that game.

 

[Amateur]

I guess the trick is not to let the training sessions go too long that they get bored ... maybe more sessions of only 5 -8 min may be more suitable and try to end on a high note.

 

[Dogster]

That does sound like a fun game!!!! It's also a GREAT way to practice recall!!!! Boy, you're busy with many things!!!!

 

[LeviTheOutlaw]

I think I finally figured out why Levi starts spinning in the middle of training a different trick. I think it's because he gets confused about what he is supposed to be doing and starts spinning. Maybe cuz if he doesn't know exactly what I want him to do at least he knows spin and knows it makes me happy which will maybe get him a treat... lol

 

[jodetoad]

Thanks for describing your game. I'm going to try it with Chloe. She is very hyper and impatient, and it could help teach her a little self-control.

 

[LeviTheOutlaw]

Yeah it really works. He is the same way. I started out using a paper plate and set it only a couple of feet in front of him. He had to sit while I placed the treat on the plate and came back to him and until I told him "go get it". Then he runs to get it and runs back and has to sit in front of me to get the other treat. As he got better at it I started slowly moving the plate further away.

 

[Pawtential Unleashed]

How is the training going now? Is Xena more interested?

 

[Adrianna & Calvin]

Hi

re: the restless non-trainee

Have you seen Crate Games? It's a great DVD (you can also rent from bowwowflix) showing how you can get your dog to love his/her crate. It's ideal for dogs who get very amped up! I had a wishy-washy crate user (Calvin) and I started Crate Games, and when we got to stage 3, practicing in and out of the crate, I had a hard time with it because he wouldn't come out of his crate--he'd quickly learned that good things come to dogs in crates! It's worth a look. Since your boy loves to train, using the Premack Principle you can get him to love his crate by associating it with his own training sessions (after a stay in the crate, woohoo training time! so a stay in the crate gets 'tainted' with that happy excitement).

Also I wanted to mention for Xena, yes to higher value treats! I train many things just using Cheerios with Calvin, since he's a chow hound, and I sometimes forget to break out the bigger guns as often as I should. Also, if Xena is toy motivated, that's another way to reward her.

Best of luck and I'd love to hear how it goes with your two.