Class # 1 for Finn

Actually, the first class today was just for the moms and dads, although Chris was the only dad! :) There were three other ladies and they all seem really cool. One lady has a six month old Westie, one has a mixed breed, and, one has a three month old rat terrier. The mixed breed is apparently really shy around all people besides the lady and her family. So, it should be interesting to see if he progresses over the next eight weeks! The class was really informative, and, fun. The instructor seems really nice and is all about positive reinforcement, no yelling, no physical punishment, etc. We were given a little bit of homework for the next week, so, I started on it when I got home. I read all of the paperwork, and, I'm really excited! Basically, what she wants us to be able to do is position our puppies to one side of our body. To train him to come to your side, turn around and sit down. I worked with Finn on it tonight for about ten minutes. He really caught on fast. I still have to help guide him physically on the "turn around" part, but, he comes when I ask him to and sits, also. :) Any suggestions on teaching him this technique would be appreciated. I'm also trying to work on him walking down the stairs. He goes up the stairs no problem. But, he's terrified of going down. Anyway, thought I'd share that with you guys. :)

Congrats on puppy class. :) I hope he does really well!

Going down the stairs can be really scary for a little puppy. I wouldn't force him, or he might become traumatized by it. Cocoa, or Shih Tzu mix, fell down the stairs once, and for years after that we'd sometimes hear her crying at the top of the stairs until we encouraged her down gently, or carried her down. Once he's a bigger dog he shouldn't have any trouble, but it can be really scary going headfirst down a flight of stairs when you're little. :)

That class sounds great! Wow, they sure are expecting a lot more from the students than many Puppy K classes I'm familiar with which still seem to focus primarily on socialization and a few very basic commands, like "come" and "sit." Finn is so young, and like toddlers, their attention span is limited and they tire easily. For practicing at home, I'd start with short sessions. Once you lose their attention, forget it, nothing sinks in!:D You might try exposing him to some not so scary stairs to begin with, a few broad steps, such as the entrance to your house, then gradually add more steps as he becomes more confident. I did that with Star. I placed her maybe 3 or 4 steps before the landing and with her leash and collar on, walked down with her, taking it slowly.. of course, lots of praise and a treat would follow. Each day I increased it another step or two. Before long she was zoooooming down! But be very careful if your stairs aren't carpeted! As for the sitting after the come...do you mean the "finish?" I believe there are two techniques. One is where the dog comes, stands or sits and when you say "finish," he/she will come around the right side of you and sit to the left. I think you're talking about them doing immediately doing a little spin around right at your left side? I taught Star the first techniquie by hiding a small piece of kibble/treat between two fingers of my right hand, holding it right under her nose and then guiding it around my right side and back till she came all the way around to the left. I had another treat in my left hand. When she completed the turn I gave the "sit" command and rewarded. Make sure you encourage Finn to sit as close to you as possible before rewarding. Ugh, hard to explain! I think you might try the same tech. in teaching him to do the turn around (a little spin) at your left side without going around the back of you. After he comes, and is directly facing you, (encourage him to come right to your feet) guide him around in a tight circle to your left with a treat in hand then, after he's made the turn and is tight by your side, give the command to sit and then reward. If Star sat too far out, I would slap the side of my thigh and say "close" and she slowly learned to wiggle over and lean right up against me. Of course, just as in the pesky "down," you may need to use a little manual manipulation till they get the idea!:D I definitely think you need to give that command a name, as opposed to the simple "come" becasue sometimes you will want to differentiate between the two. We were taught that to be "finish." But I guess any word would do. I hope I made some sense...it's hard to explain without a demo:) Good luck, Finn!

That sounds like a lot of fun for you and Finn! I don't have a lot of advice to add, as it seems to me you have gotten really good advice from those who have responded already :)

I will add that I got my RB collie, Cody, when he was 9 months old, and he had never been exposed to stairs before! He was terrified of the deck stairs and wouldn't go up or down without a lot of encouragement and help at first. We just had to do it the same way as introducing a new puppy to stairs until he gained confidence and soon was zipping up and down like a pro :)

Thanks for all the advice! I'm taking everything into consideration. And, yeah, I stop with the training sessions way before Finn gets bored. But, I have to admit, I do try to tire him at during the day before I go to work, so, that he sleeps well while we're gone. I have multiple training sessions, they're just all short ones. He is loving it, though. I was in the kitchen preparing food for him and Lock, and, he was sitting just outside of the kitchen on the living room carpet, so, I clicked and treated. I did that for about ten minutes, about every five minutes or so. Even a few hours later, he wouldn't even put a toe on the linoleum. :) He is really scared of the stairs, so, I took him to the very bottom and he was ok with the first stair and ok with the second. but, ay yay ay. That third stair is the worst! ;) i'll just keep working with him. I don't see it being an issue at all when he's bigger, though. :)