A few things I need help with

[ServiceDogOwner]

I have a male 16 month old yellow lab, and there are a few things that I need help with.

1) Getting him to immediantly follow commands like sit, down, and stay, without the use of treats. With treats, he's very quick to respond, but without, it takes a little more work.

2) Getting him to stay until I release him. Sometimes just a few minutes after I give the command, he'll get up and wonder off.

3) Getting him to be more gentle around kids. My mom does daycare, and today I let him outside when some of the kids were out there, and he was jumping all around and running in to them.

4) The last one, that I can think of at the moment, is getting him to stop eating poop. I feed him Sensible Choice Lamb Meal & Rice Reduced Calorie Dog Food, 1 cup at around 8:30 a.m. and 1 cup at around 8:30 p.m. He also gets treats during the day. We try to keep an eye on him when he is outside so we can see where he poops, but we can't watch him all he time.

Thanks for your help.

[Freedom]

First, have you considered taking him to obedience classes? That will help you learn how to communicate with the dog, and help the dog bond with you so he wants to do what YOU want him to do.

Following commands with no treat does take longer for them to learn. You should reward proper behaviour, even with no treat. Start with a nice rub under the chin and down the chest to abut even with the front paws. And a "Good Girl, Spot!" Then work to just "Good Girl Spot" so you can give the command and get the action without being next to the dog.

I don't have any ideas for the other two things you mentioned. I am sure other PT'ers will! Good luck!

[agilityk9trainer]

Freedom is right. You really should consider an obedience class. Your trainer can easily help you with all your behaviorial problems.

The biggest problem with food-based training is that most people don't know how to "fade" the treats properly. This may well lead to a dog who doesn't work unless treats are available. (BTW, I am a treat-based trainer. It is a powerful method, - if done correctly). To fade your treats, have treats (just biscuits are great) in your pocket at all times. When you ask for a behavior, sometimes you will give a treat, and sometimes you will give another type of reward. Rewards come in many different forms. Food is only one. What other rewards you might use will depend on what your particular dog enjoys. If your dog enjoys being petted, do that. If you dog enjoys playing with toys, do that. Always give your dog verbal praise along with the other reward.

I've used some pretty interesting rewards. For my American Eskimo, I have used digging. She loves to dig, so I gave her a hole in the backyard that she's allowed to dig in. I also put her digging behavior on cue. When I'm in the backyard, and she does something great for me, I will release her to go dig in her hole. I'll be yelling, "Dig to China, Laika!" (her digging cue), and she'll joyfully dig up clumps of dirt. She loves it. Great reward! No treat!

This is an example of knowing your dog, and knowing what rewards other than treats you can use. One thing about rewards - they must be delivered within three seconds of the behavior, or you will lose the power of the reward. So, find things your dog likes. Even play can be a great reward.

Over time, you will be feeding the treat less and less for the behavior, but always replacing it with some other reward. With treat-based training, you never will completely dispense with the treat. You will always occassionaly give a treat for a good behavior.

As far as #2 goes, one of the biggest problems I see with students and the stay is that the students don't give a "negative marker." A negative marker is just a word that lets the dog know they are doing something wrong. It should NOT be loud. It shouldn't be harsh. In a simple, soft voice, you just mark the wrong behavior with something like, "Thats wrong." Remember, soft, quite voice.

The trick is the timing. You have to give your negative marker the INSTANT your dog breaks the stay. When I'm working a stay on a green dog, the moment I've given the command to stay, I have the negative marker on the tip of my tounge, ready to be uttered the instant the dog breaks the stay.

This helps the dog know what they're doing wrong. Dogs really don't seem to understand that after staying a while, moving is a bad thing.

Also, make sure you're using a release word. This is another important part of the process of teaching stay, and most people don't realize the power it holds. Your dog should learn to never move until they hear the release word. I use the word, "OK." My dogs are taught that I can say anything - their name, come, here, - anything, and they are not to move until I say, 'OK." This solidifys the stay. It helps your dog understand there is a clear beginning (the command stay) and a clear ending (OK). Do not use a praise word as a relase word. You will be using the praise word for other behaviors. The release word is only used for stay or wait or behaviors where you demand control and no movement.

As for nuumber four, try Deter from Petsmart. It's a pill that makes their poop taste bad. It does not work for all dogs, but I have had success with it. This is a normal behavior, so don't be too upset by it. Food motivated dogs are often the ones that eat poop. The box of Deter says to contact your vet before dispensing, so you might want to do that.

As for number three, this will take more work with a professional trainer. This is where your obedience class will come in handy. Getting your dog to obey not only the basics, but beyond, will help you learn how to handle a high-energy puppy in these situations.

Good luck. Find a class ASAP.

[bugmom]

for #3 - until that can be addressed properly by a trainer - take the dog for a walk or run first. that will burn off some of the excess energy so he won't be quite as "boundful". also stay with him and correct his behavior - "no jump" etc. remember that this behavior could be adversely affecting the kids too....big dog jumping - scary to see through kid's eyes.

for #4 - amazing! i feed my dogs the same things and one of them is a periodic poo eater too. I have been trying LOADS of ideas to break this. unfortunately none have worked. I keep coming back to the possibility that there is something missing from his diet that he craves. Tomorrow i start weaning them over to another dog food to see if that will help fill the need. i understand that this behavior is normal in canines, but his habit is out of control and extremely excessive....its like an adult on pain killers and then addicted...

[tikeyas_mom]

1) Getting him to immediantly follow commands like sit, down, and stay, without the use of treats. With treats, he's very quick to respond, but without, it takes a little more work. Have you ever considered an ulternative to treats? like a toy? or clicker? Clicker training can be very handy, if you are out on a walk, or if you dog happens to wander in an off leash pack etc.. Puppys NEED reinforcement, if you dont use Somthing (including alot of praise) you are'nt going to have an obiendient dog.

2) Getting him to stay until I release him. Sometimes just a few minutes after I give the command, he'll get up and wonder off. Okay firstly you need to realise your puppy is ONLY 16 weeks of age, and making him sit and stay for more then 5 min is a little bit Far Fetched... Puppies naturally have a VERY short attention span. Plus he is a Lab too, wich is going to make him a little bit more difficulat to train (due to stubborness).


3) Getting him to be more gentle around kids. My mom does daycare, and today I let him outside when some of the kids were out there, and he was jumping all around and running in to them. I'm assuming you did your research before you bought this puppy, so You should know that Lab puppys are VERY hyper (especially around children).. Now that isn't a bad thing, you just need to know how to focus your puppys attention when there are children around... Have you introduced your puppy to the children, put him into a sit command, and let the kids pet himget to know him. keep him on a leash when there are small children around. If you just let him run out into the yard with a bunch of kids running around, of course he is going to run with them.

4) The last one, that I can think of at the moment, is getting him to stop eating poop. We try to keep an eye on him when he is outside so we can see where he poops, but we can't watch him all he time. this behaviour is very common with young pups. They will often outgrow it. Sometimes dogs do it for nutrients they are lacking in their diets, inless you are feeding a good quality food..

Most of the time it is just because it smells "yummy". You can try putting tabasco sauce on the piles, but honestly, if you are right there, the best solution is just to pick it up right away. I would think you would do it anyways since there are small children running around your yard just s willing to eat the poop lol.

I hope helped a bit.

[agilityk9trainer]

1) Getting him to immediantly follow commands like sit, down, and stay, without the use of treats. With treats, he's very quick to respond, but without, it takes a little more work. Have you ever considered an ulternative to treats? like a toy? or clicker? Clicker training can be very handy, if you are out on a walk, or if you dog happens to wander in an off leash pack etc.. Puppys NEED reinforcement, if you dont use Somthing (including alot of praise) you are'nt going to have an obiendient dog.

2) Getting him to stay until I release him. Sometimes just a few minutes after I give the command, he'll get up and wonder off. Okay firstly you need to realise your puppy is ONLY 16 weeks of age, and making him sit and stay for more then 5 min is a little bit Far Fetched... Puppies naturally have a VERY short attention span. Plus he is a Lab too, wich is going to make him a little bit more difficulat to train (due to stubborness).

3) Getting him to be more gentle around kids. My mom does daycare, and today I let him outside when some of the kids were out there, and he was jumping all around and running in to them. I'm assuming you did your research before you bought this puppy, so You should know that Lab puppys are VERY hyper (especially around children).. Now that isn't a bad thing, you just need to know how to focus your puppys attention when there are children around... Have you introduced your puppy to the children, put him into a sit command, and let the kids pet himget to know him. keep him on a leash when there are small children around. If you just let him run out into the yard with a bunch of kids running around, of course he is going to run with them.

4) The last one, that I can think of at the moment, is getting him to stop eating poop. We try to keep an eye on him when he is outside so we can see where he poops, but we can't watch him all he time. this behaviour is very common with young pups. They will often outgrow it. Sometimes dogs do it for nutrients they are lacking in their diets, inless you are feeding a good quality food..

Most of the time it is just because it smells "yummy". You can try putting tabasco sauce on the piles, but honestly, if you are right there, the best solution is just to pick it up right away. I would think you would do it anyways since there are small children running around your yard just s willing to eat the poop lol.

I hope helped a bit.

First off, this is a siteen MONTH old puppy - not a sixteen week old puppy. This dog is old enough to be holding a stay for as long as the owner wants.

Secondly, and most importantly, the click in clicker training is NOT a reinforcer in and of itself. The "click" doesn't mean anything to the dog UNLESS you follow it up with a reward. The click isn't rewarding at all. It becomes rewarding when paired with a treat/toy or other reward. So carrying around a clicker and clicking without a reward is useless. As all the material on clickers will tell you, it's c/t. C stands for click. T stands for treat. Done properly, you should NEVER click without the treat. That's why they are together: c/t..

Just FYI.

[ServiceDogOwner]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond.