Dog Training

[Poster formerly known as jthutch]

The best trick my dog knows is "move" Like when she is laying in the doorway to the bathroom and I need in there quickly I yell move and she does because she knows she may get kicked or pooped on depending on the time of day or dire need to be in the bathroom.

[tdaver]

my dog brings in the newspaper

[asava]

my dog brings in the newspaper

that is pretty sweet. how'd you get him to do it?

[felix rex]

my dog brings in the newspaper

that is pretty sweet. how'd you get him to do it?

That is awesome. Also, I no longer feel like my cat is so special or anything.

My dad trains border collies as cow dogs. He's all about being consistent and establishing dominance. His dogs are pretty smart. One of them climbs trees (but again, he did not teach her that).

[asava]

my dog brings in the newspaper

that is pretty sweet. how'd you get him to do it?

That is awesome. Also, I no longer feel like my cat is so special or anything.

My dad trains border collies as cow dogs. He's all about being consistent and establishing dominance. His dogs are pretty smart. One of them climbs trees (but again, he did not teach her that).

i watched a show where they showed one of the premier sheep dog trainers. has like 100 different commands taught through different whistles. showed him commanding the dog to put a sheep in a phone booth. insane.

[Saulbadguy]

My cats are trained not to whine at the bedroom door at 6:30 AM in the morning when they are hungry, although they fail at this sometimes and pay the price.

[tdaver]

my dog brings in the newspaper

that is pretty sweet. how'd you get him to do it?

rolled up an old paper, played fetch with it, then played fetch throwing from inside the front door out into the yard, then put it out in the yard when he wasn't watching and later opened the front door and said "fetch", used lots of treats while training

i've got a video i'll post later

[asava]

my dog brings in the newspaper

that is pretty sweet. how'd you get him to do it?

rolled up an old paper, played fetch with it, then played fetch throwing from inside the front door out into the yard, then put it out in the yard when he wasn't watching and later opened the front door and said "fetch", used lots of treats while training

i've got a video i'll post later

hell yes.

also any tips on training fetch. my dog's breed doesn't have any retriever tenancies, so he doesn't naturally do it. ideas?

[felix rex]

My cats are trained not to whine at the bedroom door at 6:30 AM in the morning when they are hungry, although they fail at this sometimes and pay the price.

This would be fantastic. Tips?

[kougar24]

Any tips on getting a dog to heel? Mine wasn't fazed by a pinch collar, so we've moved on to a gentle leader, which works 10x better, but he still insists on pulling on the damn leash.

Also, what's the foolproof command for "quit eating poop"? So far, copraphagia pills have been ineffective.

[Dugout DickStone]

Back when I was a California police detective I was paired with a totally unruly mutt named Hooch.  COULD NOT TRAIN.

But in the end, we were quite a team.

[Pete]

I had a pair of coon hounds when I was a kid.  Worked my ass off to get them.  We went on all sorts of adventures.  Loved those dogs.

The one lesson that I learned is that when they die you should have them cremated and encased in a vase inside your home.  DO NOT BURY THEM.  You'll spend hours trying to kill rough ridin' red weeds where you buried them.  HUGE pain in the ass, IMO.

[steve dave]

I had a pair of coon hounds when I was a kid.  Worked my ass off to get them.  We went on all sorts of adventures.  Loved those dogs.

The one lesson that I learned is that when they die you should have them cremated and encased in a vase inside your home.  DO NOT BURY THEM.  You'll spend hours trying to kill rough ridin' red weeds where you buried them.  HUGE pain in the ass, IMO.

I cried so hard when I watched that movie as a kid 

[Pete]

I had a pair of coon hounds when I was a kid.  Worked my ass off to get them.  We went on all sorts of adventures.  Loved those dogs.

The one lesson that I learned is that when they die you should have them cremated and encased in a vase inside your home.  DO NOT BURY THEM.  You'll spend hours trying to kill fracking red weeds where you buried them.  HUGE pain in the ass, IMO.

I cried so hard when I watched that movie as a kid  

I don't know what the shazbot! you are talking about.

Also, another thing I learned the hard way...  Spend the extra fracking money to have the god damn dogs delivered to your HOUSE from the breeder.  Do NOT try and haul those frackers back from the post office on foot.

[asava]

Any tips on getting a dog to heel? Mine wasn't fazed by a pinch collar, so we've moved on to a gentle leader, which works 10x better, but he still insists on pulling on the damn leash.

Also, what's the foolproof command for "quit eating poop"? So far, copraphagia pills have been ineffective.

pinch collar didn't work? were you pulling or giving it a quick jerk? there is a big difference in this. if you have a pull it will more than likely not work. where a quick jerk will get his attention and let him know he's not supposed to do that. pairing this with a verbal command works nicely. also, is it a pinch collar or a choke chain? you also have to use positive reinforcement when he starts to walk well. the idea is to have a flowing transfer from negative to good. you will go back and forth between the two. he should stay right at your hip, not in front of you, not behind you. right beside you. when my dog moves outside of the zone, i give him a quick tug and a short abrupt low command, i use "eh." or "easy." or sometimes "hey [redacted]."  

if that doesn't work you can do some other things. there is a method where if he starts tugging at all you just stand still. don't move until there is no tension on the leash and then when he gives slack, or even better, sits, then you can start moving on, giving praise when he doesn't pull. this takes a lot of patience and a lot of time. but he should learn that if he is pulling he goes no where. his pulling is essentially a way of telling you where to go and that you are walking with him, not the other way around. so letting him know it doesn't work is extremely important. if he gets to go somewhere while pulling he will start to understand that it is correct.

you can also carry a treat with you, cup it in your hand and place your hand on the outside of the hip. let him know its there and walk while trying to keep his nose glued to his hand. giving him praise. this is good for short training around the yard.

another thing may be your posture. keeping a tight posture, chest out, back straight, and purposeful steps add to letting him know what the rock is cooking.

its important to note that all of these have a lot of positive reinforcement involved. a dog will do things more readily when he knows that he is pleasing you, rather than pissing you off.

[Saulbadguy]

My cats are trained not to whine at the bedroom door at 6:30 AM in the morning when they are hungry, although they fail at this sometimes and pay the price.

This would be fantastic. Tips?

Kick their ass when they do it.

[AbeFroman]

My dog knows the difference between a "stick" and a "ball". If he's got them both outside and one of them in his mouth I can say the other one and he drops it and gets the other one.

He also knows "eff" and "crap" are bad/scary words from watching me watch K-State games. I can say "eff" in a normal voice now and he gets nervous, puts his head down, and ears back.

[kougar24]

Any tips on getting a dog to heel? Mine wasn't fazed by a pinch collar, so we've moved on to a gentle leader, which works 10x better, but he still insists on pulling on the damn leash.

Also, what's the foolproof command for "quit eating poop"? So far, copraphagia pills have been ineffective.

pinch collar didn't work? were you pulling or giving it a quick jerk? there is a big difference in this. if you have a pull it will more than likely not work. where a quick jerk will get his attention and let him know he's not supposed to do that. pairing this with a verbal command works nicely. also, is it a pinch collar or a choke chain? you also have to use positive reinforcement when he starts to walk well. the idea is to have a flowing transfer from negative to good. you will go back and forth between the two. he should stay right at your hip, not in front of you, not behind you. right beside you. when my dog moves outside of the zone, i give him a quick tug and a short abrupt low command, i use "eh." or "easy." or sometimes "hey motherfracker." 

if that doesn't work you can do some other things. there is a method where if he starts tugging at all you just stand still. don't move until there is no tension on the leash and then when he gives slack, or even better, sits, then you can start moving on, giving praise when he doesn't pull. this takes a lot of patience and a lot of time. but he should learn that if he is pulling he goes no where. his pulling is essentially a way of telling you where to go and that you are walking with him, not the other way around. so letting him know it doesn't work is extremely important. if he gets to go somewhere while pulling he will start to understand that it is correct.

you can also carry a treat with you, cup it in your hand and place your hand on the outside of the hip. let him know its there and walk while trying to keep his nose glued to his hand. giving him praise. this is good for short training around the yard.

another thing may be your posture. keeping a tight posture, chest out, back straight, and purposeful steps add to letting him know what the rock is cooking.

its important to note that all of these have a lot of positive reinforcement involved. a dog will do things more readily when he knows that he is pleasing you, rather than pissing you off.

Thanks.

It was a pinch collar, not a choke chain, and yes, we used quick yanks, not pulls. He didn't give a ****; just choked himself constantly on walks. Like I said anyway, the gentle leader is far more effective at correcting his direction when he reaches the end of the leash.

We do stand still if he tugs too consistently, and we carry treats to reward him when he walks with the leash slackened. The problem is, he could care less about treats while on walks; he's far too distracted by everything around him. He's extremely social, so he wants to bolt to every other human/dog he sees. This is the root of his walking problem. We've tried training him in the backyard first, but he does great at that...then the minute we take him on the street with other people/pets, he goes ape.

Also, any tips on the eating poop thing? Not harmful to him, according to our vet (he only eats his own), but extremely annoying/gross.

[felix rex]

My cats are trained not to whine at the bedroom door at 6:30 AM in the morning when they are hungry, although they fail at this sometimes and pay the price.

This would be fantastic. Tips?

Kick their ass when they do it.

Do you usually go for just throwing crap at them, or an actual get-out-of-bed-and-kick-their-ass option? Throwing crap's not very effective, but it's also less demanding.

[asava]

Thanks.

It was a pinch collar, not a choke chain, and yes, we used quick yanks, not pulls. He didn't give a ****; just choked himself constantly on walks. Like I said anyway, the gentle leader is far more effective at correcting his direction when he reaches the end of the leash.

We do stand still if he tugs too consistently, and we carry treats to reward him when he walks with the leash slackened. The problem is, he could care less about treats while on walks; he's far too distracted by everything around him. He's extremely social, so he wants to bolt to every other human/dog he sees. This is the root of his walking problem. We've tried training him in the backyard first, but he does great at that...then the minute we take him on the street with other people/pets, he goes ape.

Also, any tips on the eating poop thing? Not harmful to him, according to our vet (he only eats his own), but extremely annoying/gross.

do you do domination or submissive training at all? like saying a verbal cue and then turning him on his side and holding until he stops moving or yelping. that would probably be something you could do. when he starts getting excited immediately put him over and show him that its not ok to do that.

and the thing about the not walking tactic would be that it only works if you actually restrain from going anywhere. and i mean anywhere. like if he doesn't stop
then go back inside and put off the walk for a few hours or for the rest of the day.

as far as poop eating i have heard about the pills and apple bitter spray. you could try spraying the apple bitter on there and see if that works. but more than likely it would only work for that specific pile of poop.

does he know a leave it command? it works buy putting him on the pinch collar, which should be effective in your backyard because you say he's pretty calm, then walk him by a pile and as soon as he shows any interest in it say "leave it" and give him a fairly forceful tug. reward for when his attention is at you instead of the poop. rinse, repeat, and re-use. that would be my best guess.

[Saulbadguy]

My cats are trained not to whine at the bedroom door at 6:30 AM in the morning when they are hungry, although they fail at this sometimes and pay the price.

This would be fantastic. Tips?

Kick their ass when they do it.

Do you usually go for just throwing crap at them, or an actual get-out-of-bed-and-kick-their-ass option? Throwing crap's not very effective, but it's also less demanding.

Gotta actually get up.  Don't really have anything to throw, plus our door is closed so they can't get in anyways.

[jtksu]

I had a pair of coon hounds when I was a kid.  Worked my ass off to get them.  We went on all sorts of adventures.  Loved those dogs.

The one lesson that I learned is that when they die you should have them cremated and encased in a vase inside your home.  DO NOT BURY THEM.  You'll spend hours trying to kill rough ridin' red weeds where you buried them.  HUGE pain in the ass, IMO.

Reminds me of my childhood, growing up in the Ozarks mountains.  One time, I found a whole bunch of monkeys that had escaped from a circus train.  Man, that was one awesome summer.  I like to refer to it as The Warm Season of the Lower Primates.

[steve dave]

my sister in law had a group of school kids at the zoo and a gorilla took a crap and ate it.  Another teacher threw up.  

[kougar24]

Thanks.

It was a pinch collar, not a choke chain, and yes, we used quick yanks, not pulls. He didn't give a ****; just choked himself constantly on walks. Like I said anyway, the gentle leader is far more effective at correcting his direction when he reaches the end of the leash.

We do stand still if he tugs too consistently, and we carry treats to reward him when he walks with the leash slackened. The problem is, he could care less about treats while on walks; he's far too distracted by everything around him. He's extremely social, so he wants to bolt to every other human/dog he sees. This is the root of his walking problem. We've tried training him in the backyard first, but he does great at that...then the minute we take him on the street with other people/pets, he goes ape.

Also, any tips on the eating poop thing? Not harmful to him, according to our vet (he only eats his own), but extremely annoying/gross.

do you do domination or submissive training at all? like saying a verbal cue and then turning him on his side and holding until he stops moving or yelping. that would probably be something you could do. when he starts getting excited immediately put him over and show him that its not ok to do that.

and the thing about the not walking tactic would be that it only works if you actually restrain from going anywhere. and i mean anywhere. like if he doesn't stop
then go back inside and put off the walk for a few hours or for the rest of the day.

as far as poop eating i have heard about the pills and apple bitter spray. you could try spraying the apple bitter on there and see if that works. but more than likely it would only work for that specific pile of poop.

does he know a leave it command? it works buy putting him on the pinch collar, which should be effective in your backyard because you say he's pretty calm, then walk him by a pile and as soon as he shows any interest in it say "leave it" and give him a fairly forceful tug. reward for when his attention is at you instead of the poop. rinse, repeat, and re-use. that would be my best guess.

I do submissive training indoors; worked wonderfully to stop his air humping habit. Problem is, I'm not comfortable using it on walks out in public. Looks extremely bad even though it isn't hurting the dog, y'know?

Might have to try the pinch collar in the backyard with the "leave it" command.

[Saulbadguy]

Kick it's ass.