Dutch Shepherd Forum

Had a GREAT training session with Odin today!! YAY!!!!

Been working on making Odin's "leave it" more solid, so today we took it outside. I was actually throwing high value treats at him and he "left it" - yay!! He just sat there and looked at me as if I was

Odin needs to teach Ellie now!

She especially can't "leave" goose poop!

woohoo!!

It's a nice high, ain't it?

yes, it is a nice high!! and it's fun - we always have fun when training.

Ya know, I'm learning all this training stuff as I go, reading great books, watching videos on training and learning from all you guys. I happen to like clicker training the best, so that's what I am doing now.

Currently reading,Control Unleashed, click to calm and on talking terms with dogs: calming signals, all at the same time Oh, and we have a rule in our house - nothing is free. It helps when one has a smart dog too

A very useful command indeed!! Great Job! Odin sure lucked out when he found you guys.

Thanks! Since he is our 1st ever Dutch or shepherd, I really have nothing to compare him too, except my female mutt . I'm laughing because she is so opposite of him - standoffish, reactive to other dogs, insecure, etc. But we love her madly too!!!

My husband and I are in love with his temperment.

Yay!!! 'Leave it' is such a valuable thing for them to learn, both for their safety and your sanity. :dswink"
Way to go!

Congrats on the training sure is an awesome feeling when they pick up on a command!!

Job well done.

ok, well.........this morning was NOT a great "leave it" training session
It was like Odin didn't know any part of the word "leave it". Oh well, I guess there are days like this. Will train him again later and take it back to the beginning - bummer.

Sometimes it happens, they have stubborn days just like we do don't get bumbed out!!! He will come around.

felixone123 wrote:ok, well.........this morning was NOT a great "leave it" training session
It was like Odin didn't know any part of the word "leave it". Oh well, I guess there are days like this. Will train him again later and take it back to the beginning - bummer.

I think sometimes when they "Sleep On It", they are really trying to figure out new ways to challenge us. Just keep at it! You guys are doing a good job, it's just a minor setback.

thanks guys. He's in a weird mood thus far. I think he misses his papa, who comes home tonight from a business trip.
Will try again later. Oh, and yeah, he is being extra stubborn today.

Don't forget...forgetting is part of learning They do it, we do it, it's pure learning theory.

You're smart to back up to where he was OK with it, and move forward at his pace.

Remember too, these things take TONS of repititions.

People often think that just because their dog obeyed "sit" in the kitchen, the dog knows "sit" as a concept. Oh contraire! Dogs are very context specific, so when you're working on a new behavior, you have to start taking it all over the house (lower distractions than outside), then outside, and all over the yard, then to other outside locations, etc etc etc. When you can turn your back on your dog so they can't see your face or any other behavioral cues you inadvertently give off, and say "sit" and the dog sits, well, then they've really started to get the concept .

Don't get discouraged!!

wow - did not know this, but know it now!! Thanks for the explaining.

training does not generalize so you need to train it in all different places and different positions as well.. a big challenge for us was when my back was turned to Gwen.. she was like "I don't know what you are talking about"... leave it is a wonderful wonderful thing to teach ... she has gotten to the point where she will look at me first before she goes after something on the floor... outside if I am in viewing distance she will do the same but if she thinks I am not watching she tries to be sneaky.. we have to work on it..

leih merigian wrote:Don't forget...forgetting is part of learning They do it, we do it, it's pure learning theory.

You're smart to back up to where he was OK with it, and move forward at his pace.

Remember too, these things take TONS of repititions.

People often think that just because their dog obeyed "sit" in the kitchen, the dog knows "sit" as a concept. Oh contraire! Dogs are very context specific, so when you're working on a new behavior, you have to start taking it all over the house (lower distractions than outside), then outside, and all over the yard, then to other outside locations, etc etc etc. When you can turn your back on your dog so they can't see your face or any other behavioral cues you inadvertently give off, and say "sit" and the dog sits, well, then they've really started to get the concept .

Don't get discouraged!!

Absolutely! If you really want to challenge your dogs understanding of a command or commands, put your dog in a sit, then lie down on the floor face up away from your dog. Put your feet together, and your hands at your sides. Now tell your dog a command without moving any part of your body. Let me say, most dogs fail the first dozen or so times, or can't repeatedly get the command right. More often then not though, alot of people have a hard time keeping the dog in a sit while they're lieing down on the floor.

thanks guys!! will now start to train in different parts of the house and am interested to see what Odin does if i command him with my back and then lie on the floor.

I know we have alot of work ahead of us and I do make mistakes along the way, but the most important thing is we have fun. He doesn't know when I mess up (hopefully). I laugh and continue on making it better the next time.

Drizlaru wrote:More often then not though, alot of people have a hard time keeping the dog in a sit while they're lieing down on the floor.

What a great idea! Can't wait to try it out! (so glad you're joining in more around here, too; your explanations are so succinct )

Hehe thanks! Let us know how it went!