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How to speed up obedience to commands?


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What do you do if the dog DOESN'T come or takes forever to look at you??

 

I would lower the criteria until the dog had the idea and was ready to work in that particular location.

 

Or takes off after something??

 

That would be difficult for the dog to do on leash.

 

By the time I would work with the dog off leash in an open, unfenced area, I would have both a reliable recall (if I should need it) and the dog would know the structure well enough that he or she would be highly unlikely to do that. But if he or she did, I would use the recall.

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FYI: I have used the method that Root Beer outlines (part of the Give Me a Break game in the CU book) with my dog and several others and it works very, very well. It has allowed my completely over-the-top squirrel obsessed dog to learn to focus and work agility sequences in my squirrel infested backyard and sharpened up his reaction time to recalls from the yard.

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I'm beginning to realize this may be more my problem than Cerb's. Thinking about dangerous occurances in the past, each time Cerb has snapped right to. Last spring Cerb was trotting ahead on the trail and walked right up to sniff a three foot rattlesnake. He must have heard the stress in my voice because he was immediately back at heel. This has happpened other times too. I think I'm often too casual, or afraid of being dubbed the "guy who yells at his dog", and I tone things down too much.

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FYI: I have used the method that Root Beer outlines (part of the Give Me a Break game in the CU book) with my dog and several others and it works very, very well. It has allowed my completely over-the-top squirrel obsessed dog to learn to focus and work agility sequences in my squirrel infested backyard and sharpened up his reaction time to recalls from the yard.

I also used a similar idea to teach my young dog his recall, I did mix cookies in then there as well. We started the game in the yard, I would use his name and ran away, and he would always chase me, gradually building this up to parks, fields woods etc, where I never needed to head in the other direction. He is 2 1/2 and has the most amazing recall I have had on a dog. I also put the rider, I raised him to be my agility partner so he is very focused on me in general. I have though started my fosters on the same program for recall and they all left with the beginnings of good recall.

 

Even during the beginning stages there would be times he would not be released and a leash would go on, or we go back in the house, just like not rewarding with a cookie every time it is not going to hurt the end result.

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I would like to add to the somewhat initial mention of the difference of "formal" training vs. what I used to call utility training. My utility training had nada to do with any title! It simply meant that around the ranch you did come at an appropriate speed, you did leave the animals alone, you did sit and walk on lead. Very simple but non negotiable.

About 8 years ago I got into protection sports. As most things for me not to go overboard or even trial but for fun as I had the right dog. Most important there is obedience. I however hated the super stylized ob which is almost painful for me to watch. As is AKC ob. On the other hand as a trainer, I can appreciate the hard work, focus and total devotion that goes into that type training. But it is not really me.

Be that as it may, I ended up with a very high drive, intense and somewhat nervy (as in action first then think later!) dog who is without a doubt one of my most favorite dogs but was also a major challenge due to her reactivity. She was of course thrown right into formal positive ob training.

The difference in this dog to my previous, even to just live with, is amazing. How much of it is just her and her innate desire to work and how much her very consistent training with a very distinct goal? No way to know.

But add my recent ability to attend structured agility lessons in the past years (not currently) and for the first time to work with a consistent instructor on stock rather than just winging it, I can not help but notice the difference in just overall life with my guys.

My previous dogs where very nice. But this is different. And frankly, I think almost 80% of it is me and my handling. Anything from clarity, understanding, consistency and of course the ability to work different sports, breeds and mostly methods has changed my partnership with my guys tremendously.

So long story short - don't knock a bit of formal training for everyday life.

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  • 1 month later...

I would practice having him sit at random times during the day when he is not in "training mode".

 

Also, raise the requirements for what counts as a sit. So, for example, if you ask him to sit and it takes longer than 3-5 seconds for his butt to hit the ground, it does not count as a sit. Just say a simple "good boy", call him forward, and have him repeat it until he gets it right. Once he has done a good sit you can treat, praise, play, or whatever you think he would like.

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This may not be possible for you, but to get a faster response time I make it a bit of competition between the dogs. The first dog to get to me when I call them gets treated (or a jackpot of treats)...slow poke just gets a pat on the head; first dog to sit gets a treat, slow poke gets a 'good boy/girl' but no food, etc. The second time I call them, you can bet they both come running as fast as possible hoping for that jackpot.

 

I do this just at random, not in 'formal' training sessions. I would not do this with food aggressive dogs. It does require that (1)you have treats handy and (2)both dogs know what behavior is expected and (3)the slow poke has to witness the speedy dog getting treated and then have an opportunity to be faster the second, third, or fourth time (repetition). Do take into account the dogs capabilities. Bear can't come close to matching Meg's speed, so as long as he doesn't dawdle I reward him anyway.

 

So if we're on a walk with the dogs off leash or I'm out doing yard work, I'll call them. Reward the fastest to get to me. Then say 15-20 minutes later (when they're back to sniffing and wandering, not staring at me in anticipation) I'll call them again and likely reward both because chances are they both came as fast as they could.

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