For Those Of You With Dogs

[kabowman]

We used to walk our dog in the creek and when we would get to a really deep spot, throw his geode he was carrying around in and he would have the most fun finding that particular rock and come back with the right one, eventually. I don't think he has ever been happier than when we did that at our local lake this summer, in a shallow area.

[jesscarmel]

I guess it's just a puppy thing. I won't worry about it for a while.

What kind of dog do you have?

Steve - I agree with what you're saying about letting the dog know who's in charge. It's kind of like having kids. If they think they're in charge they're insecure and behave badly. Our dog is loved, but definitely getting the message that he is the DOG, not a pampered guest in our home.

we are not really sure what kind she is. we think she is in a sheppard mix. shes so cute!

[jerseyangel]

Jess,

When you get a chance, could you post a picture? He sounds cute!

[2Boys4Me]

My dog, who looks pretty much like Kabowman's avatar, is a great retriever of balls. He's not such a great dropper of balls at thrower's feet.

We got him when he was one and he loves running after balls and then running around with the ball in his mouth. I get one throw - I use it wisely. Make sure he sees me throw it, so I don't have to go and find it. Sometimes I'll take two balls, but then he'll drop one way far away from me and never go get it.

I'm a decent retriever. I don't catch the ball in my mouth though.

I met a dog at the off leash once who was trained (I wish I knew how) to drop the ball at the feet of whoever threw it. So if he stole some other dog's ball, the owner would always get it back providing the dog saw who threw it. He was a border collie.

[kevsmom]

My dog had identical food and water bowls. When she was hungry or thirsty, she would bring her bowl to me and throw it at my feet. I never knew if it was food or water that she wanted. I had to buy her weighted bowls so she couldn't pick them up. Now she just stands with her paw in the bowl and nudges it around until I notice her.

She doesn't bring me any balls though... . That's just not something she likes to do.

Oh...don't forget to wash your hands after you feed or give treats to your dog. Dog food (and a lot of treats) have gluten in them.

Cindy

[pixiegirl]

Well you've had enough info here... but I'll add my 2 cents... I don't agree with a lot of the stuff others wrote here (thats not so unusual)... I don't agree in smacking a dog... but I will tell you your puppy is too young for "formal" training.. its like trying to teach a baby.. they aren't ready for it physically or mentally. But do get your pup use to the ball (or stick or whatever your going to throw).

For a "good" dog I highly recommend watching the dog whisperer (Cesar Millan), for the most part he understands dog pack behavior very well. He does use a signal for "mistakes" always a noise or jerk on the lead but there is no real punishment involved. Nor does he use huge amounts of praise (that just doesn't happen in the pack world).

However he mostly aims for a good dog that works well in a family... walks on the leash, isn't dog or people aggressive and has no obcessive behaviors. He isn't doing formal training with dogs, i.e. obedience, agility, hunting, or scent work. I'm not a professional dog trainer but I've shown dogs since I was 8 years old (on and off) in obedience and agility trials, I've trained a wide variety of dog breeds and had to deal with all sorts of dogs (my current is a very Alpha female Airedale Terrier that has dog aggressive tendancies). And for formal training I have always use food rewards (very tiny pieces of dog kibble, thank god most dogs I've had are chow hounds) and a noise for a "mistake". My best advice is be kind and patient and never lose your temper.

I started training my current dog, Daisy the Airedale as a search and rescue dog (she did agility as a 1 year old but just for fun and bonding we never went into any trials) but as I got into it I realized with my job I don't really have enough time to do that (you have to go out all the time and do searches often far away.. in the woods, in big cities, junk yards, etc, very time consuming) and I decided I'd be far better served if I trained her in a different way.... you see I'm almost deaf so I've trained Daisy as a hearing dog.

She now has quite a wide variety of sounds she responds to.... my burgler alarm, fire alarm, door bell, knock on the door, telephone, my stove beeps, my tea pot boiling (can't tell you how many I burned up prior to teaching her this), my alarm clock. On top of that I've trained her to do a lot of silly tricks too.... she army crawls, spins, covers her eyes and knows the name of several different toys (get your lamb, get your kong). And trust me when I tell you that Terriers are not the easiest dogs to train!

So again, I'm no expert but patience goes a long way, repetition, frequent short training periods (certainly daily usually a few times a day), and for a pup I'd make sure the training I did was more fun stuff, getting use to balls, having fun with them, walking on the least, good manners (no jumping, barking etc.)

Good luck and enjoy that pup! (I so love dogs)

Susan

[VydorScope]

Well you've had enough info here... but I'll add my 2 cents... I don't agree with a lot of the stuff others wrote here (thats not so unusual)...

I agree, and either teaching method I use is pain free. If your hurting the dog your defintly doing somthing wrong. I am not familure with "the dog whisper", but his method sounds like it would also be good.

[pixiegirl]

Oh I hope you don't think I was pointing the finger at you, really a lot of people train their dogs with punishment as opposed to positive reinforcement and I don't think its a great idea. Just my opinion. Cesar Millan has a TV show on the National Geographic channel and I really like him. Also you can google Dog Whisperer and find him.

Susan!

[2kids4me]

I agree with pixie girl. Humans and dogs learn through teaching what is expected, rewarding correct behavior and stopping "bad behavior" with a short jerk on a lead - I use a gentle leader and it has been fabulous for our dog (an adult rescue, dumped in a snowbank)... also in a low voice a "NO".

Think of how we work with kids - we teach and reinforce good behaviors (manners, helping others etc).

A pet should want to do the behaviors in an effort to please, not do them out of fear.

Understanding normal dog behavior and body language helps a great deal.

Good articles on behavior: Open Original Shared Link

When we first got Katie - we threw the ball for her and she just stood there and looked at us like "ok, so you can throw a ball, uh huh and now what?" No one had played fetch with her before. So I threw the ball for the kids,. they chased it and brought it back to me..didnt take long for her to figure out it was game and what was expected. Never play tug of war with your dog, they should release balls, or sticks on command. This is important so that they drop items you dont want them to have. Our key word is "drop it"

Always speak in lower tones toa dog, high pitched sounds and baby talk are submissive sounds to a dog. The leader of the pack has low voice - think of how you listen to someone whne they speak low and slow -think Clint Eastwood "Go ahead, make my day"... now imagine how it would sound in a baby voice

A note to all as I have seen this happen enough times it breaks my heart - owners have a dog - they cant get it to come - so they call again and again, finally the dog comes and then is punsihed when it gets to the owner " I told you to COME!!, BAD DOG".. All they taught the dog is that coming to the owner results in punishment.

Food rewards work well - simply because in a pack the top dog eats first then first come, first serve rule applies after that.....