Dog Training

[TheViking]

So now we all know who of us bring their dog with them when out and about. What I would like to know now is what you've taught you dog(s)?

Let's have some ideas.

I've learned mine sit, lie down, give paw, "give me five" (quick and higher give paw), lie flat down (like a pancake), stop, bring stuff, walk around water and other obstacles, stay, play dead, jump up, etc. :chill:

 

[bambodoggy]

Blimey....you've been busy with your mutt Andy ):

Right, here's what Samson can do:

Sit (he sits)(he'll sit for over 10 minutes with or without me staying with him)
Down (he lays down) (he'll do this at distance too....within shouting range)(he'll stay down indefinately with or without me staying with him)
Stand(he stands still and waits for next command - up to 5 minutes - this is VERY hard to do as they always want to sit or wonder off)
Stay(he stays where he is indefinately with or without me staying with him)
Wait (different to stay in that he will maintain in whatever possition he is in when given the command)
Up (he either jumps up to me (paws on shoulders) or whatever I point to - or jumps/climbs onto something I point to)
Leave (he will drop whatever he has in his mouth or pass it to me if I hold my hand out)
Hold it (he will keep hold of whatever/whoever he has in his mouth at the time)
Paw (how embarracing that he knows this....my wife taught him!)
Empty (yes, he actually goes to the loo on command!!!!)
Come (obviously he comes to me)
Heel (he walks with his nose by my left knee and keeps pace with me walking or running)
Seek (he will start to track and follow whatever trail I have set for him)
Find him (he will search an area inside or out for a person or people)
Watch/Watch him (this is his command to spark up and bark at an agressor and watch them ready for a possible bite)
Take him (the realse command to actually go in for a bite or to chase and bring down a target)
Out (command to release the person he has biten and is holding)
Gently (used for numerous situations from walking slower to gently taking a biscuit...it means just that "be gentle")
Away (I want him to move away from me and then lay down - he goes about 10 metres) (been trying to teach him to go left or right but we're having trouble with that)
In your bed (very important command, sends him straight to his bed where he stays until told otherwise - his "bed" can be his normal bed at home or if out then the boot of the car or a blanket on the floor)

I think that's about his lots..... clearly from the above he's a very clever doggy and has been very well trained....I'd like to take credit for all of the above but to be fair he was trained by the police....I've just kept his training up.... I'm also working on "Stop chasing that Bloo** squirrel" but he's just not learning it somehow!!!! ):

 

[tenbears10]

OK you two have covered just about everything there. Do either of you use whistles? My Spaniel will come, sit and change direction with different types of whistle blasts.

The only thing he does which you don't mention is when he is in the boot of the car if he sits too close to the back, the boot hits his head as it closes so when I tell him to 'mind your head' he moves his head further into the boot and I shut it. People look at me like I'm daft when I say it but then he moves his head out of the way and their expression soon changes.

All the things he can do took hours of daily training for about 6 months solid every morning before work whatever the weather. People don't realise that if your dog is well disciplined it is because someone has put in a lot of time and effort, as with everything these days people think it comes for free and then wonder why their dog will P**s off in the park and not come back.

Bill

 

[Buckshot]

Mine is a working gun dog, so yes he's trained.

He works to voice, whistle, gun fire (he sits to shot) and hand commands. I agree TB10 it's taken a lot of hard work to get him to this standard, he's not brilliant by any means - but he doesn't discrace me on a shoot day.
Which is more than most of the guns that I've seen can say :roll:

Cheers

Mark

 

[tenbears10]

Aah, I should have said, he is disciplined on a good day but has managed to disgrace me once or twice. What you have to remember is that it is YOUR fault. If your dog doesn't listen to you it is because you are doing the wrong thing or not being consistent it is hardly ever the dogs fault.

It can be very helpful to get professional advice and then build on that advice in your own time. I'm not suggesting sending your dog away for 6 months (and paying a lot of cash) but a couple of hour lessons with a dog trainer and then using that on your own works wonders often and doesn't cost much.

Bill

 

[tomtom]

i think mine is the acception there.. its just tooo DAM stupid!!

of course then i realised the person who sole me a "jack russle" had actually sold me a large tri-colour rat!

 

[bambodoggy]

Samson will look up at me for a whistle but doesn't do anything about it as he's not been trained to.
I have trained him with hand signals but only the basics, two arms in the air means "come", and a flat hand sweeping to the ground means "down" and these work at distances of up to about 30-50 metres away from me.

I've got a clicker for him but I haven't used it as he works well enough on voice commands and I don't want to confuse him.

When I first got him he could also speak German.....sounds daft I know but he can still sit, down and come in German. Quite a lot of protection dogs are trained in german, russian etc so that they will not be able to be controlled by others. I've seen a well trained dog stop dead after being released on a dummy baiter who stood his ground and shouted "DOWN" in a stern and authorative voice. The dog didn't know the baiter but heard the tone and complied....that's rare but clearly does happen.

My mutt has learned to duck his head from the boot too which is cool....but what's even cooler is that if I reverse the car, Samson lays down out of my view without being asked. I used to tell him "Down" every time I put the car into reverse and now he just does it on his own.....bless him ):

It certanly does take a long time and hard work to train your hound but it's also just as important to keep up the training and refreshing it with them.

The rewards are amazing though, I get so many comments on how good my dog is and because of that he is allowed to go far more places than he otherwise would. He goes to the local pub where all other dogs are banned, he always comes with us if friends invite us over for dinner to the point where they question us if we leave him. We've walked through our local shopping centre which is no dogs and the security teams see him walking closing at heel and concentrating only on me and they let it go and so the list goes on....a well behaved dog is always a welcome dog :dog:

 

[TheViking]

Do either of you use whistles?

Voice and handsignals, though it's more effective with voice on mine. But he know a few hand signals too. :biggthump

 

[bambodoggy]

Came across this a little while ago....I believe it was taken at a Police dog training centre.....how's that for self control and trust!!!!!

If the above doesn't work...sorry, it's the first time I've tried adding directly to a thread!!!! ):

 

[bambodoggy]

Nope.....it didn't work....I'll put it in my own gallery and then everyone can see it..... :wave:

 

[george]

Well both of mine are so well trained that they know to look sheepish when they've run off to raid the bins at the local deer larder!

george

 

[maddave]

Right, here's what Lollop can do:

Sit (he sits)
Down (he lays down) )
Stay(he stays where he is )
Wait (he waits)
Up (he either jumps up to me (paws on shoulders) or whatever I point to - or jumps/climbs onto something I point to)
Leave (he will drop whatever he has in his mouth or pass it to me if I hold my hand out)
Paw (I know!)
Shake (If he's been swimming or rained on, he shakes before coming inside)
Heel (he walks with his nose by my left knee and keeps pace with me walking or running)
Find (he will search an area inside or out for a person or object)
On Guard(this is his command to spark up and bark at an agressor and watch them ready for a possible bite and also when we leave the house or vehicle and he's left to look after it)
Gently (used for numerous situations from walking slower to gently taking a biscuit...it means just that "be gentle")
In your bed (very important command, sends him straight to his bed where he stays until told otherwise - his "bed" can be his normal bed at home or if out then the boot of the car or a blanket on the floor)
Treecats (chase that squirrel)
Trust (when an item of food or something he wants is left within his reach, he doesn't touch it until he is told to "Go on then")
NOooooooooooooooo (the sound I make when I catch him rolling in fox poo or dead fish)
Lollop can also count to four on command

:

I've edited Bamboodoggy's cuz I'm lazy :biggthump

 

[bambodoggy]

Lol...nice one Dave... :rolmao:

I was going to try to get Samson to learn to "guard" stuff but haven't got round to it yet and I think it's maybe too late to try now. There is a seperate disaplin in working trials for guarding and it's alway interested me. You have a two metre circle with a pushchair/pram in it and the dog....you then have people approach the pram and the dog sparks up and still staying within the circle itself guards the pram, the dog is only to make a bite if the person enters the circle and is to release when they are back outside it.
The dog is not allowed to chase the person as they naturally want to but must instead stay within the circle and continue to guard the pram. If anybody gets to the pram or the dog leaves the circle or bites somebody who is still outside the circle then they lose points in the trail. As the competition moves on they will use more and more baiters to try to lure the dog out of the circle and away from the pram so that another baiter can get in and take the pram. I've seen good dog's guard against 4 or 5 baiters trying to take the pram at once.
It's a very impressive trial to watch as the dog is doing all this without the handler being there....i.e the dog has to make judgements for itself and not just follow commands, once the handler has put the dog in the circle and given the comman to guard then he/she will leave the arena completely.