New Pup

[sgkoether]

I'm new to this board. I have had quite a few dogs before and a couple of very good ones. The last two dogs I had were from one specific line and we did not get along at all. I thought I was a good trainer before this, but these dogs have made me rethink everything. They have gone to someone who could do more than I and I have a new pup. This dog is a nephew to the best dog I ever had and I have high hopes. He was born in April and I just got him a month ago. When he arrived he was scared and I worked very hard at bonding him. He and I get along good now and he is a quick learner. The only thing I am worried about is that he does not have a good "come". When I first got him he was timid and almost afraid of people. Now that he is used to us he likes being petted, but if I try to call him to do anything including pet him he will make a bee line the other way. I put a short line on him in my basemant where he couldn't go very far and practiced letting him explore then stepping on the line so he couldn't get away and calling him in. When he wouldn't come I would give a jerk and then release pressure immediately. Then call again until he came tward me or I had to jerk the line again, when he reached me I would give lots of praise and "goodboys". I don't know if this was the best way but it seemed to work. ??? Then I put him on a long line and tied it to me when I did chores. Now he likes to come with to do chores. However, he knows if I drop the line or if it is out of my reach and he will still follow along and have fun, but if I try to call he will turn and go tward the house, which is very aggravating. I follow him all the way to the house and pick up the end of the line and call him and tug once and he will come and I reward him with lots of petting and "goodboys". I don't know how I am going to bridge the gap from long lead to off leash when he is excited and after stock. I thought about a down or sit but what are your reccomendations on what I have done and what I should do?

[RMSBORDERCOLLIES]

I'm new to this board. I have had quite a few dogs before and a couple of very good ones. The last two dogs I had were from one specific line and we did not get along at all. I thought I was a good trainer before this, but these dogs have made me rethink everything. They have gone to someone who could do more than I and I have a new pup. This dog is a nephew to the best dog I ever had and I have high hopes. He was born in April and I just got him a month ago. When he arrived he was scared and I worked very hard at bonding him. He and I get along good now and he is a quick learner. The only thing I am worried about is that he does not have a good "come". When I first got him he was timid and almost afraid of people. Now that he is used to us he likes being petted, but if I try to call him to do anything including pet him he will make a bee line the other way. I put a short line on him in my basemant where he couldn't go very far and practiced letting him explore then stepping on the line so he couldn't get away and calling him in. When he wouldn't come I would give a jerk and then release pressure immediately. Then call again until he came tward me or I had to jerk the line again, when he reached me I would give lots of praise and "goodboys". I don't know if this was the best way but it seemed to work. ??? Then I put him on a long line and tied it to me when I did chores. Now he likes to come with to do chores. However, he knows if I drop the line or if it is out of my reach and he will still follow along and have fun, but if I try to call he will turn and go tward the house, which is very aggravating. I follow him all the way to the house and pick up the end of the line and call him and tug once and he will come and I reward him with lots of petting and "goodboys". I don't know how I am going to bridge the gap from long lead to off leash when he is excited and after stock. I thought about a down or sit but what are your reccomendations on what I have done and what I should do?

 

Hi there. It would appear to me that he had a few learned behaviours prior to you getting him, that being a little game of test the handler on his recall. Your long line will have to be attached to you for a while until you have control of him. Sometimes a month is not long enough to establish a good bond with a pup if they have been with another family for a while which this one has. I see you use "come" as a recall instead of "here" so you must use a "go bye" for your clockwise flank. Is that correct? When teaching a dog a recall it is important that you back away from the dog at all times when asking him to come to you. This will induce the dog to want to be with you more if you are getting away from him. Use a coaxing voice, very happy, and start short so he gets the picture and can get it right. Keep the line on him so he can't do it wrong and praise when he gets to you. It would appear that he hasn't been taught a proper recall at his former home and may have been spoiled a bit also so you have some bad habits to overcome and you need to persever with his recall training. Don't let him off the line until he has it down pretty good so you don't have to start all over again if he breaks control. Your line should bew at least 50 feet long and preferably longer if possible. You need to establish whether he knows what you want him to do and is just playing with you or if he doesn't know and just needs more training before you go to correcting him for not coming. So be sure that you know that he knows what he is supposed to do before starting to correct him. You should try and make the recall a happy thing if at all possible as this will last the rest of his life and he should really want to be with you when he's done working. Teach the dog a good "lie down" also as dogs will take commands more readily when they are in that position. So try lying the dog down and then recalling him and if that works continue with that and the recall from whatever else he might be doing. Get back to me and let me know how things are going and we'll go on from there......Bob

[sgkoether]

I appreciate the advice. I do use "Go Bye" as a clockwise command and come as a recall. Should I? I understand what you mean about the dog wanting to go with you when you move away. I hadn't looked at it that way before, but when I walk away from this pup he will be eager to follow me. If he knows I am trying to catch him he will keep the lead out of reach. If he doesn't think I care he will walk close and if I start to praise him often I can bend over an pet him without him moving away. The problem has been when there is pressure on him to do something else for example stay in the yard and play. Or if he see's me heading out to the goat yard to do chores he will run to the gate to come with but if I call him to catch him before he can get through the gate he will head back so I won't be able to catch him. I live at the end of a dead end road so I let the dog out with or without a lead to go to the bathroom. He does very well at staying in the yard so me or my wife will let him out to run around the house different times during the day. It is getting cold out here so if I open the house door he will always call to me to come in the house. Do you think I should only let him out tied to me? I will get a 50' lead mine is only 12'. I think at his former home he still had some litter mates to run with and he was not expected to come unless all the dogs were going somewhere. His actions lead me to believe that at first he may not have understood but when he did recognise what was going on it quickly became a game because he was willing to come when he wanted to come. For example comming in the house. I'll work at starting a lie down on him. Do you have any problems teaching sit after you have taught lie down? Should sit come first? I had a dog that learned down and then learned sit but would never stay sitting. Just sit for a second on the way to lieing down.

[RMSBORDERCOLLIES]

I appreciate the advice. I do use "Go Bye" as a clockwise command and come as a recall. Should I? I understand what you mean about the dog wanting to go with you when you move away. I hadn't looked at it that way before, but when I walk away from this pup he will be eager to follow me. If he knows I am trying to catch him he will keep the lead out of reach. If he doesn't think I care he will walk close and if I start to praise him often I can bend over an pet him without him moving away. The problem has been when there is pressure on him to do something else for example stay in the yard and play. Or if he see's me heading out to the goat yard to do chores he will run to the gate to come with but if I call him to catch him before he can get through the gate he will head back so I won't be able to catch him. I live at the end of a dead end road so I let the dog out with or without a lead to go to the bathroom. He does very well at staying in the yard so me or my wife will let him out to run around the house different times during the day. It is getting cold out here so if I open the house door he will always call to me to come in the house. Do you think I should only let him out tied to me? I will get a 50' lead mine is only 12'. I think at his former home he still had some litter mates to run with and he was not expected to come unless all the dogs were going somewhere. His actions lead me to believe that at first he may not have understood but when he did recognise what was going on it quickly became a game because he was willing to come when he wanted to come. For example comming in the house. I'll work at starting a lie down on him. Do you have any problems teaching sit after you have taught lie down? Should sit come first? I had a dog that learned down and then learned sit but would never stay sitting. Just sit for a second on the way to lieing down.

 

As far as I am concerned as long as the dog stops, whether in a sit or a lie down is fine. If you get the dog trained to stop and stay, it will give you an opportunity to go over to him and put a lead on him if he won't come to you. Once you get the stop you will have much more control on the dog and we can then go from there to proceed to some work training after that. Start working on his recall (come) right away and the lie down or sit whatever you choose. To start on the recall put the long line on him and start very close, just a few feet with the line on. Lie him down and tell him to stay by pushing your hand at him as you back up. Just go a few feet and then call him to you and tell him to sit in front of you when he gets there. Don't worry about how he sits as we are not training formal obedience just manners. When he comes to you and sits give him a little pat and tell him he's a good boy and do it again a couple of times and quit. You can do this as many times during the day as you have time provided he gets a good rest from it in between. As he progresses you can just keep moving further away if he is doing it right. Don't move out further until you are sure he has it down pat. Leave a line on him for now ( a short one) so that you can get hold of him if you need to and be determined that he will not beat you at his little game any more. In other words don't give him a chance to do anything wrong while you are teaching him that you are the boss and must be obeyed at all times. You don't have to be mean just firm. He has missed about 4 months of time that he could have been in training and it is a very important time in his life as far as what he learns about how he is to behave for the rest of his life. The period between 3 and 8 months is very important in the development of learned traits in a dog and he has missed some of it so you need to give it back to him now. Keep in touch and don't hesitate to come back for more help if needed..........Bob

[sgkoether]

As far as I am concerned as long as the dog stops, whether in a sit or a lie down is fine. If you get the dog trained to stop and stay, it will give you an opportunity to go over to him and put a lead on him if he won't come to you. Once you get the stop you will have much more control on the dog and we can then go from there to proceed to some work training after that. Start working on his recall (come) right away and the lie down or sit whatever you choose. To start on the recall put the long line on him and start very close, just a few feet with the line on. Lie him down and tell him to stay by pushing your hand at him as you back up. Just go a few feet and then call him to you and tell him to sit in front of you when he gets there. Don't worry about how he sits as we are not training formal obedience just manners. When he comes to you and sits give him a little pat and tell him he's a good boy and do it again a couple of times and quit. You can do this as many times during the day as you have time provided he gets a good rest from it in between. As he progresses you can just keep moving further away if he is doing it right. Don't move out further until you are sure he has it down pat. Leave a line on him for now ( a short one) so that you can get hold of him if you need to and be determined that he will not beat you at his little game any more. In other words don't give him a chance to do anything wrong while you are teaching him that you are the boss and must be obeyed at all times. You don't have to be mean just firm. He has missed about 4 months of time that he could have been in training and it is a very important time in his life as far as what he learns about how he is to behave for the rest of his life. The period between 3 and 8 months is very important in the development of learned traits in a dog and he has missed some of it so you need to give it back to him now. Keep in touch and don't hesitate to come back for more help if needed..........Bob

Bob

I went home last night with a long line. I've been working at my job a lot of hours so now is a difficult training time for me but I took a few minutes and called the dog when I came walking up the drive. He came immediately and acted as though he was looking forward to my attention. That made me excited. I put the long line on to do chores with and it was a little difficult to handle but as I walked around I would look for opportunities when the dog was behind me a little ways then call him as I slaped my leg and walked away and he would come right over. I'll start spend my evenings working on sit and lie down and come. He seems to be a fast learner. I appreciate your help. I'l be in touch.