Training our dog

And while we are on the subject of training...there is the issue of simple commands. It was time for her to learn the basics, sit, stay, come, down, heel. I had absolutely ZERO experience training dogs, so I had no confidence that I would be able to succeed with her. The thought of failing or scaring her mentally was terrifying to me. Failure is not an option when you are dealing with a potentially large dog who will likely be stronger than anyone else in the family.

Casey seemed to do well with “sit” right off the bat. She would sit when we said “sit” (accidentally or purposefully I don't know) but we praised her and soon she knew sit without any problems. Now, we wanted to build on this foundation but I wasn't sure how to do it. A friend told me the next command should be “stay”, so I started with this. I had her sit and then said “stay” as I walked backwards with my finger held up to signal that she should not move. When she started to come towards me, I said, “No, sit”. She would sit back down and I would continue backing up. It took about 10 minutes of consistent reinforcement with treats and praise to get her to stay. She picked it up very quickly and even let the girls practice the command with her when they got home from school. By the following day, I could even show her a treat in my hand as I back up and she will resist the temptation to go for it. She will sit patiently and wait for the “ok” to be released and get the treat. Apparently, this is a particularly important command. Puppies who can overcome their instincts and exhibit self-discipline by listening to their owner, and resisting food, tend to demonstrate more success with obedience in the future.

The next command I taught her was “paw”. I had been instructed that the best way for this to occur was to let her sniff my hand with a treat inside my fist. She will want the treat and try to figure out what she needs to do to get it. At some point, she will accidentally exhibit the behavior that is desired. When this happens, she is to be rewarded with praise and the treat. , (Incidentally, treats should be pea-sized, moist and eaten in one gulp. They can be cut-up meat, cheese etc. Variety keeps the dog interested in obtaining the treat) I held out my hand and said “paw”. She licked my fist and sniffed it. Before long, she wound up lifting her paw. I immediately opened my fist, gave her the treat and praised her. After the second time, she caught on and began raising her paw on her own. In fact, she began alternating paws and raising them before I could even give her the command! Now, I have to get her to sit quietly with both paws down before I start asking for her paw.

After “paw”, we learned “down” and “up” using the same technique. It seems to work very well for us! I am looking forward to building on these commands in the future to teach her much more.

Our main behavioral complaint with Casey right now is jumping up. She is very excitable (as all puppies are) and she greets everyone by jumping up on them. She will also try to jump up if you have something in your hands that she would like to examine closer. I do understand that this behavior is very typical for a young dog, but I still feel it is very important to curb this now before she is any larger and can knock the children over. We consistently say “down” and either turn away or push her firmly down. However, the most effective tactic has been to remove her from the room if she does not obey. When she calms down, (usually a minute or two) we allow her back into the room. This also seems to work well when she tries to jump up on the couch repeatedly. If we close the doors to living room, she will calm down and usually circle near the couch and lie down on her bed once let back in.