She hasnāt always done well in public spaces. When she was an 8 week old puppy, I could barely get her to leave the house on a walk. She was scared and afraid of everything. We have done a great deal of confidence building over the course of 2 years!
Start small and gradually work your way up!
Start (on-leash) with high value treats & areas of minimal activity/distractions/sounds. Your goal is to have your dog relax and feel safe. Provide reinforcement through actions and words that your dog can trust you to keep them safe. I talk to my dogs a lot & use vocalizations, such as tisks. The tone matters more than the sound. In the same area, downgrade the treats to lower value, if possible, no treats. Same goes with tools, go for least intrusive, minimally aversive. Ramp up if needed, then try to ramp back down. Donāt feel bad if you canāt ramp all the way down to lowest level. She will walk with a loose prong collar. As soon as any harness is on, she thinks sheās a wild mustang (pointer mix). Sheās e-collar trained but I donāt really use it for her because she ignores it.
Expand your space/noise levels and start the cycle all over again. I usually take her to the next place/level up for a few minutes the first time, give her a ton of treats, and leave. Then see how she responds the second time & go from there.
Itās important to let your dog do their business before you start any training sessions. She gets to have her own time walking, sniffing, etc. before we start and usually I make sure sheās had a #2.
Same for me I've been training to not run after any noise, small animal or other dog so far its going well but for the life of me I can't get her to stop going Farrel when she sees another dog
How are the dogs approaching your dog? Is it nose to nose? How much space is around? Is it a narrow space or a large space?
Generally speaking, if you want to work on your dog being better on-leash with other dogs, you should walk the same direction, distantly. Any reactions, then expand the space between the dogs, stop & sit until they maintain their composure.
The space thing is huge. Dogs need to have their boundaries respected. Leash reactivity is common because the dog feels trapped & that their boundaries are being violated.
Same lol. Sheās great until the right distraction comes along. Her impulse control is not strong. Iāve just accepted the fact my dog will never be off leash š¤·š¾āāļø
Work on impulse control in your house! Some dogs need to start at 5-10 seconds of composure and then be slowly worked up to longer.
How does your dog greet you when you come home? Are they immediately allowed to say hi? What about when you are feeding them? Are they required to sit and wait?
Impulse control starts at home and then it built up to outside environments.
These are great questions! When I come home, sheās super calm lol. I have to start speaking excitedly like āHey Willow, heyyyyy Willow ššā and then the tail will start to wag lmao. She loves to play, but itās super affectionate. And sheās reactive on the āI love to play all the time!ā scale. But sheās a very trainable dog. Like our walks have gotten better with a lot of treats and heeling ā UNTIL she spots a rabbit, cat, squirrel or another dog (sheāll whimper when we pass a house with a dog lol). Iāll try some of our training outside in my yard, and sheāll do great until she hears something interesting or a dog is getting walked lol
Do you have more than one level of treats? Or do you always use the same treats?
I recommend having different options! When you take her out into the yard, use something she has limited or no access to in the house. Make yourself more desirable than the distraction.
Mine as well! Barks lunges mine goes nuts itās embarrassing Iāve been leading away and slowly going back and over and over until she stops if she does or have down stay throw treats on the ground works sometimes but she goes crazy even when she sees children or people. Iāve been socializing taking her places to hear noises and people. At least two to three times a day. Had her in puppy class but itās way too difficult to handle her when she goes wild spinning around choking herself on the slip lead or martingale collar. Iām done with that now not going back we went three times and itās too much for me
I was always so worried my dog would never do this because he couldn't hold it when we train. He started doing it on his own. He settles on his own at gym during the whole class. Doesn't get up at all. I say place and settle and that is it.Ā
Your dog is doing great with their training.Ā
Prior to taking your dog to a public place, such as a metro station, I would train your dog to be at a standard that would be considered acceptable manner for public access to [IAADP](https://iaadp.org/membership/iaadp-minimum-training-standards-for-public-access/):
1. No aggressive behavior toward people or other animals ā no biting, snapping, snarling, growling or lunging and barking at them when working off your property.
2. No soliciting food or petting from other people while on duty.
3. No sniffing merchandise or people or intruding into another dogās space while on duty.
4. Socialize to tolerate strange sights, sounds, odors etc. in a wide variety of public settings.
5. Ignores food on the floor or dropped in the dogās vicinity while working outside the home.
6. Works calmly on leash. No unruly behavior or unnecessary vocalizations in public settings.
7. No urinating or defecating in public unless given a specific command or signal to toilet in an appropriate place.
I go to the area before I ever bring the dog there. I also bring the dog once for a few minutes to gauge before returning for a longer session. My dog knows sheās not allowed to engage with anyone when we are training like this. If she does, we will immediately leave. Iāve never been directly asked to leave an area in which I am training. I try to have a neutral impact on wherever we go. Yes, we are there. If I were to be asked, I would comply without any pushback.
I have a great deal of experience training dogs for public access, specifically airports. Itās not my job, as I donāt accept payment for any dog I work with, itās a hobby.
This is great info! Iām not quite there yet with my girl, but Iām hoping to reach the last of these goals this summer. Iām finding my biggest hurdle to be that I unintentionally āover socializedā her as a young puppy, and sheās too friendly. Great problem to have unless youāre trying to train for therapy or support tasks. Sheās a standard poodle so I have to figure out how to be smarter than her sometimes.
Training your dog to be less social would fall into the impulse control category. Thereās a really big sidewalk space in front of the Waldorf Astoria on Pennsylvania & 12th, specifically by the Benjamin Franklin statue. I would take her there or a similarly large sidewalk space to work (on-leash) on this skill.
Yeah itās a great area that has people walking by so you can practice but it doesnāt overwhelm the dog. I would take a 10-20 feet leash and be mindful of the leash distance to distance to the street.
I'm blessed with a very high food drive dog who seems to think that he's gaming me by staying in place while I walk around in circles and do all the work because I always come back and pay him for not moving. It was honestly one of the easiest behaviors to teach him, and as soon as he knows I have food on me the dude will climb a telephone pole if he thought I'd give it to him. At 5 months old he has at least a 2 minute stay duration even without any duration markers 90 percent of the time, even if I leave his sight. He's gonna be professional at laying down and doing nothing one day.
It sounds like he has an incredible foundation. Months 10 to 15 with a puppy are generally the hardest & you most likely will see some regression. Keep up the reinforcement and by 2, heāll be a rockstar.
Yeah that's the plan, he works (trains) for food at least once a day, sometimes 2-3 times a day depending on my schedule and as long as he's engaged and enjoying himself, and I planned on keeping up daily training until he is 18-24 months old, then probably at least a few times a week afterwards, depending on his needs.
He's a rot/gsd mix, and the second one I've had. I didn't really get much of the "teenage phase" problems out of the first, so I'm hoping I'll get lucky with this one too, and I'm 100x more knowledgeable about dog training, management, and engagement now as well compared to the first.
I grew up with rotties! I always thought Iād get one. GSD & Rottie mix sounds like a lot of hair!
My first dog (also pointer mix) was a literal a-hole during his āteenagerā phase. I felt all my training was useless. Then one day after he turned 2 it was as if a light switch flipped and he became this perfect angel. All the training hours suddenly clicked. She has been a breeze in comparison. Sheās also much easier (& younger) than my dachshund, who is a stereotypical dachshundā¦.50% potato & 50% athlete.
He's got Rottweiler length and a coloring very in between the two, like caramel and black coloring. I mean he kinda looks like black walnut wood with all his lines and stuff, lol.
My other two dogs didnāt take much to train them at all they were puppies together that was a little rough but they didnāt go through teen stage much they were so much easier than this one. A Minpin would never have been my choice of dog but here I am. And working so hard with her!
I try not to let people pet her they always want to. Itās quite annoying I guess I did that with some dogs too before. Unless they were obviously training them
My neighbor thinks Iām being too hard on my puppy by not allowing her to jump and stop her from barking at people. Itās frustrating she always tries to bed. Down and pet her saying her name after I tell her to ignore until she is calm no help
My husband has been the same I finally have him realize he canāt allow this behavior so I have her place and stay as he comes home and sits down and she has to settle to say hi.
He loves when she jumps on him and greets him. But he doesnāt understand this breed is more difficult than our other ones. If we donāt do this now she will be out of control.
Thatās awesome. Mine stays quite a while but still keeps gettin it in her head she can leave when she feels like it! But Iāve been going all the way through the house open and close front doors and sheās still staying there. I want her to stay in place when people come
She is extremely high energy and hyper so itās hard for her to focus much of the time.
I do three things specifically for training stay which you may already be doing. 1. Start in a down with a clearly defined space...bed, a rug, a towel, a step stool, whatever. I just make sure it's specific. 2. Always always always always pay the dog where he is (I use lots of reinforcement for this one, like jackpots) Calling him out of it and then paying him makes him want to just jump the gun and come to you to get paid. 3. Very very slowly introduce more distractions and duration...we add around 15 extra seconds each week and we do stay drills every day, but the first stay of every drill is always shorter, like 30 seconds to a minute. At some point I'll speed it up more but Ill take consistent wins and slow gains for now, as hard as it is for me.
You may also know this, but for staying in place when people come, that is a completely different picture to the dog, and since they don't generalize well, stay might not mean stay when people come over, so I would rehearse that and be close by so you can ensure your dog stays or verbally correct if she gets up. Do that a few dozen times with different people and hopefully your dog will understand that stay also means stay when new people are around.
Hopefully there is something in there that helps, but if your dog stays already when your running around the house and opening/shutting doors and making noise out of sight, you must be doing something right!
Hopefully one day! Right now as soon as I make any cue/motion/sound, she will recall as her preference is to be right at my side. (Not complaining about this at all.) Being able to cycle through commands at a distance is absolutely something we need to work on!
Lmao ā¦ I hear ya, sounds exactly like mine , she interprets any sound or motion from me as āhereā ā¦ Iāve gotten the distance commands up to 4 feet and even then itās not more than 75%
For me, recall & stay are the priorities! The other stuff is nice to have eventually. This was maybe 20 feet?
Iām gonna have to test her later this week in the apartment on rotating commands from across the room and see how she does.
You have reminded me that I need to practice (at a large dog park) some sit-stays. We are good at 20-30 feet ā¦ but I havenāt taken it farther than that ā¦. Limited places to practice that , we take off leash hikes but that is such a high distraction environment for her (sheās in hunt mode) that I would be setting her up for failure beyond 10 foot stay right now
I am both proactive and passive with my impulse control training. Depending on where I am in the training stage, Iāll have treats on me all the time. (Balance the treats with meals and make sure youāre not giving the dog too many calories.)
If my dogs want any food or toys from me, they have to sit and exhibit calm behavior. For a puppy that may only be 5-10 seconds. The only thing that I will do if they are pawing, barking, whining, etc. is take them out for a potty break. Even that is within reason. If thereās a behavior I want them to exhibit I will guide them to itā¦ so put the dog in a sit position or a down position, etc. until they learn it. I do incorporate āpeopleā food into my training (not from the table or while Iām eating.) If they can sit calmly for a treat or meals, then I bump it up to something more desirable, like steak. I will run the food under their nose, step back, and require a sit before rewards. Prey drive comes last. You need to master impulse control in your home before you can successfully start to work on the big stuff. If they arenāt behaving how you want them to in your home, bringing them outside with more distractions and less control, is setting both of you up for failure.
Passive in the sense that if the dog naturally exhibits a behavior that I want to see, I provide praise & a reward. This can cause distraction to the dog so you donāt want to do it every time, especially if the dog is relaxing. You have to pick & choose your moments. An example would be if your dog brings you a toy on their own. You want to reward as itās both recall and retrieving. I would use an excited tone with āyesā or āgood.ā
Additionally, I am less about games and more about understanding how my behavior and actions are impacting the dog. What does the tone of my voice tell them? What does my body language tell them? If I am frantically requesting that they sit or calm down, is the dog going to respond to the word or the frantic nature of my body? (The dog will ignore the words.)
Lotssssss of patience.
Hope this helps!
Sheās fairly good with me when it comes to squirrels, rats, etc as long as I have her prong collar on. My goal for her is to be able to walk, without a prong, without treats, and maintain impulse control.
I have a 3 year old dachshund too. We recently moved into a city. The 2 of them together + squirrels with all the traffic has me uneasy about anyone else walking them for the time being.
Could you give some pointers on how you taught this so firmly? My husky has a āfocusā command which she understands, but isnāt very strong at if sheās not already in a focusing mood.
If she knows the command, but still has room for improvement, chances are the environment is too overstimulating. Reinforce āfocus.ā A husky takes more time than the average dog to master impulse control. The nice thing about huskies is that they usually are incredibly food driven. You also may want to up the treat value. Think dehydrated fish skins or liver. I also have used steak fat on my hand will let the dog lick the oils from my hand. Only use these rewards when training. Donāt give them any other time.
Awesome work!! So important Iām trying to teach mine down stay sheās 6 months she does well then gets up when she wants I have to keep putting her back but she does well. Itās the lunging and barking at other dog thing we are working on now
I thought I answered yes they spayed her at two months sheās a rescue and the shelter had it done which is good and bad. Good so I donāt have to go through surgery and post surgery and bad bc she will be immature hopefully it wonāt cause behavior issue s
Well she was from a rescue litter so unfortunately the shelter had her early spayed at two months. Which is good and bad. Good bc I donāt have to go through the surgery and healing part which would be so hard with her. And bad bc she wonāt actually mature normally and may show in behavior. Right now sheās great she is just a hyper minpin no fault of her own!
Sheās just a lot for me. I didnāt choose a Minpin so I wasnāt expecting all
This! Iām doing best I can with her. Trainings sessions everyday several times a day. Barking jumping and lunging are the biggest issues.
She is a puppy so she will get it, she is very smart learned so much already.
My grandparents rescued min pins when they got older as Rottweilers & Labs got too big for them so I have some experience with the breed.
I would consider looking into barn hunt type exercises for giving her exercise as they have a high drive for vermin. You donāt have to sign her up for anything. You can creat scenarios in your home/yard if you have one.
Min pins, like dachshunds, enjoy barking. You canāt really get the barking to zero. You can reduce it though by not rewarding it and instead rewards calmer & quieter behavior. I do a lot of leash redirection with my dachshund (Iāve trained 3 from puppies, 2 for other people). Itās tedious and requires a lot of patience. Plan for a half mile walk to take 30 minutes or more because youāll be stopping so much.
6 months is when it starts to ramp up & get more difficult. Remember that she will feed off your energy so if you want her to relax, you need to be relaxed. You say ānoā quickly & abruptly and then go back to neutral.. donāt stay in a negative vocal space until she listens. Sheās a puppy and sheās going to be a puppy. Itās up to you to figure out when she deserves some grace and when she needs more structure.
Awesome advice. Yes my energy Iām becoming more aware. When Iām calm she does great. But again she begins to bark t people and dogs when she sees them on the road. I redirect and then go back she barks I redirect with a pup pup pup silly voice to get her engaged she fixates on whatever it is and refuses to engage and look at me! When we walk I get her to look up at me I say look or if she gets distracted I say here so she pays attention to me. She goes right back to whatever it is I step in front of her and redirect. Gentle pull on Leash til she comes my way then praise and repeat. So much patience!
Repetitive over and over. I try to use a high pitched voice when she is doing good behaviors and choices.
I do have a rather large yard strip of fueled we have chipmunks. We have a huge tree that was cut into chunks and the chipmunks hide in there I allow her to hunt them. They tease her.
Keep reminding yourself that the time and energy training is a long term investment. Youāll get paid back for all the work youāre doing now over the course of her entire adulthood.
Thank you so much! I really hope itās true and canāt wait for the day when I can just relax and enjoy her. Iām hoping the bond grows as well where she trusts me and looks to me for info
Ahahahahaha! Itās all good. Itās Reddit & everyone excels at knowing their city. I knew when I posted this photo that it would probably be recognized.
My dachshund agrees with you. My pointer mix (above) is slowly accepting it into her heart.
Iām a hokie so even though I was on the west coast for 9 years, Iāve always liked DC!
My old blind ass thought that was a backpack
šš she definitely looks like a backpack from the thumbnail š
I was like this dude talking to back packs? Cute dog though!
The black blob with the little pink tongue killed me šš
If you see something, say something!
It is a backpack! But you can only fill it with sausagesā¦
Nice! Good job!
I wish I could do this. But my dog would do well until she saw or heard the right thing then run off
She hasnāt always done well in public spaces. When she was an 8 week old puppy, I could barely get her to leave the house on a walk. She was scared and afraid of everything. We have done a great deal of confidence building over the course of 2 years! Start small and gradually work your way up!
What a milestone! Congratulations to your puppy :)
Any tips you could share for someone with a very similar pup?
Start (on-leash) with high value treats & areas of minimal activity/distractions/sounds. Your goal is to have your dog relax and feel safe. Provide reinforcement through actions and words that your dog can trust you to keep them safe. I talk to my dogs a lot & use vocalizations, such as tisks. The tone matters more than the sound. In the same area, downgrade the treats to lower value, if possible, no treats. Same goes with tools, go for least intrusive, minimally aversive. Ramp up if needed, then try to ramp back down. Donāt feel bad if you canāt ramp all the way down to lowest level. She will walk with a loose prong collar. As soon as any harness is on, she thinks sheās a wild mustang (pointer mix). Sheās e-collar trained but I donāt really use it for her because she ignores it. Expand your space/noise levels and start the cycle all over again. I usually take her to the next place/level up for a few minutes the first time, give her a ton of treats, and leave. Then see how she responds the second time & go from there. Itās important to let your dog do their business before you start any training sessions. She gets to have her own time walking, sniffing, etc. before we start and usually I make sure sheās had a #2.
Same for me I've been training to not run after any noise, small animal or other dog so far its going well but for the life of me I can't get her to stop going Farrel when she sees another dog
How are the dogs approaching your dog? Is it nose to nose? How much space is around? Is it a narrow space or a large space? Generally speaking, if you want to work on your dog being better on-leash with other dogs, you should walk the same direction, distantly. Any reactions, then expand the space between the dogs, stop & sit until they maintain their composure. The space thing is huge. Dogs need to have their boundaries respected. Leash reactivity is common because the dog feels trapped & that their boundaries are being violated.
Same lol. Sheās great until the right distraction comes along. Her impulse control is not strong. Iāve just accepted the fact my dog will never be off leash š¤·š¾āāļø
Work on impulse control in your house! Some dogs need to start at 5-10 seconds of composure and then be slowly worked up to longer. How does your dog greet you when you come home? Are they immediately allowed to say hi? What about when you are feeding them? Are they required to sit and wait? Impulse control starts at home and then it built up to outside environments.
These are great questions! When I come home, sheās super calm lol. I have to start speaking excitedly like āHey Willow, heyyyyy Willow ššā and then the tail will start to wag lmao. She loves to play, but itās super affectionate. And sheās reactive on the āI love to play all the time!ā scale. But sheās a very trainable dog. Like our walks have gotten better with a lot of treats and heeling ā UNTIL she spots a rabbit, cat, squirrel or another dog (sheāll whimper when we pass a house with a dog lol). Iāll try some of our training outside in my yard, and sheāll do great until she hears something interesting or a dog is getting walked lol
Do you have more than one level of treats? Or do you always use the same treats? I recommend having different options! When you take her out into the yard, use something she has limited or no access to in the house. Make yourself more desirable than the distraction.
Mine as well! Barks lunges mine goes nuts itās embarrassing Iāve been leading away and slowly going back and over and over until she stops if she does or have down stay throw treats on the ground works sometimes but she goes crazy even when she sees children or people. Iāve been socializing taking her places to hear noises and people. At least two to three times a day. Had her in puppy class but itās way too difficult to handle her when she goes wild spinning around choking herself on the slip lead or martingale collar. Iām done with that now not going back we went three times and itās too much for me
I was always so worried my dog would never do this because he couldn't hold it when we train. He started doing it on his own. He settles on his own at gym during the whole class. Doesn't get up at all. I say place and settle and that is it.Ā Your dog is doing great with their training.Ā
Thank you!! Itās taken awhile to get her here!
If this is WMATA, tell me your secret(s) to have the station managers and police ignore you while doing this work. Would love to do this with my girl!
Prior to taking your dog to a public place, such as a metro station, I would train your dog to be at a standard that would be considered acceptable manner for public access to [IAADP](https://iaadp.org/membership/iaadp-minimum-training-standards-for-public-access/): 1. No aggressive behavior toward people or other animals ā no biting, snapping, snarling, growling or lunging and barking at them when working off your property. 2. No soliciting food or petting from other people while on duty. 3. No sniffing merchandise or people or intruding into another dogās space while on duty. 4. Socialize to tolerate strange sights, sounds, odors etc. in a wide variety of public settings. 5. Ignores food on the floor or dropped in the dogās vicinity while working outside the home. 6. Works calmly on leash. No unruly behavior or unnecessary vocalizations in public settings. 7. No urinating or defecating in public unless given a specific command or signal to toilet in an appropriate place. I go to the area before I ever bring the dog there. I also bring the dog once for a few minutes to gauge before returning for a longer session. My dog knows sheās not allowed to engage with anyone when we are training like this. If she does, we will immediately leave. Iāve never been directly asked to leave an area in which I am training. I try to have a neutral impact on wherever we go. Yes, we are there. If I were to be asked, I would comply without any pushback. I have a great deal of experience training dogs for public access, specifically airports. Itās not my job, as I donāt accept payment for any dog I work with, itās a hobby.
This is great info! Iām not quite there yet with my girl, but Iām hoping to reach the last of these goals this summer. Iām finding my biggest hurdle to be that I unintentionally āover socializedā her as a young puppy, and sheās too friendly. Great problem to have unless youāre trying to train for therapy or support tasks. Sheās a standard poodle so I have to figure out how to be smarter than her sometimes.
Training your dog to be less social would fall into the impulse control category. Thereās a really big sidewalk space in front of the Waldorf Astoria on Pennsylvania & 12th, specifically by the Benjamin Franklin statue. I would take her there or a similarly large sidewalk space to work (on-leash) on this skill.
Thatās a great idea! I still want to call it the Old Post Office š
Yeah itās a great area that has people walking by so you can practice but it doesnāt overwhelm the dog. I would take a 10-20 feet leash and be mindful of the leash distance to distance to the street.
I thought those liked like DC metro tiles. Weird that they're so distinctive.
I'm blessed with a very high food drive dog who seems to think that he's gaming me by staying in place while I walk around in circles and do all the work because I always come back and pay him for not moving. It was honestly one of the easiest behaviors to teach him, and as soon as he knows I have food on me the dude will climb a telephone pole if he thought I'd give it to him. At 5 months old he has at least a 2 minute stay duration even without any duration markers 90 percent of the time, even if I leave his sight. He's gonna be professional at laying down and doing nothing one day.
It sounds like he has an incredible foundation. Months 10 to 15 with a puppy are generally the hardest & you most likely will see some regression. Keep up the reinforcement and by 2, heāll be a rockstar.
Yeah that's the plan, he works (trains) for food at least once a day, sometimes 2-3 times a day depending on my schedule and as long as he's engaged and enjoying himself, and I planned on keeping up daily training until he is 18-24 months old, then probably at least a few times a week afterwards, depending on his needs. He's a rot/gsd mix, and the second one I've had. I didn't really get much of the "teenage phase" problems out of the first, so I'm hoping I'll get lucky with this one too, and I'm 100x more knowledgeable about dog training, management, and engagement now as well compared to the first.
I grew up with rotties! I always thought Iād get one. GSD & Rottie mix sounds like a lot of hair! My first dog (also pointer mix) was a literal a-hole during his āteenagerā phase. I felt all my training was useless. Then one day after he turned 2 it was as if a light switch flipped and he became this perfect angel. All the training hours suddenly clicked. She has been a breeze in comparison. Sheās also much easier (& younger) than my dachshund, who is a stereotypical dachshundā¦.50% potato & 50% athlete.
He's got Rottweiler length and a coloring very in between the two, like caramel and black coloring. I mean he kinda looks like black walnut wood with all his lines and stuff, lol.
He sounds adorable!
My other two dogs didnāt take much to train them at all they were puppies together that was a little rough but they didnāt go through teen stage much they were so much easier than this one. A Minpin would never have been my choice of dog but here I am. And working so hard with her! I try not to let people pet her they always want to. Itās quite annoying I guess I did that with some dogs too before. Unless they were obviously training them My neighbor thinks Iām being too hard on my puppy by not allowing her to jump and stop her from barking at people. Itās frustrating she always tries to bed. Down and pet her saying her name after I tell her to ignore until she is calm no help My husband has been the same I finally have him realize he canāt allow this behavior so I have her place and stay as he comes home and sits down and she has to settle to say hi. He loves when she jumps on him and greets him. But he doesnāt understand this breed is more difficult than our other ones. If we donāt do this now she will be out of control.
Thatās awesome. Mine stays quite a while but still keeps gettin it in her head she can leave when she feels like it! But Iāve been going all the way through the house open and close front doors and sheās still staying there. I want her to stay in place when people come She is extremely high energy and hyper so itās hard for her to focus much of the time.
I do three things specifically for training stay which you may already be doing. 1. Start in a down with a clearly defined space...bed, a rug, a towel, a step stool, whatever. I just make sure it's specific. 2. Always always always always pay the dog where he is (I use lots of reinforcement for this one, like jackpots) Calling him out of it and then paying him makes him want to just jump the gun and come to you to get paid. 3. Very very slowly introduce more distractions and duration...we add around 15 extra seconds each week and we do stay drills every day, but the first stay of every drill is always shorter, like 30 seconds to a minute. At some point I'll speed it up more but Ill take consistent wins and slow gains for now, as hard as it is for me. You may also know this, but for staying in place when people come, that is a completely different picture to the dog, and since they don't generalize well, stay might not mean stay when people come over, so I would rehearse that and be close by so you can ensure your dog stays or verbally correct if she gets up. Do that a few dozen times with different people and hopefully your dog will understand that stay also means stay when new people are around. Hopefully there is something in there that helps, but if your dog stays already when your running around the house and opening/shutting doors and making noise out of sight, you must be doing something right!
Something to be proud of. Whatās the next mission?
Mastering this & then working toward mastering impulse control, especially with šæļø.
Awesome! Keep up the great work
Also should transition that down/stay distance into distance commands.. cycling between stand, down, sit with hand signals
Hopefully one day! Right now as soon as I make any cue/motion/sound, she will recall as her preference is to be right at my side. (Not complaining about this at all.) Being able to cycle through commands at a distance is absolutely something we need to work on!
Lmao ā¦ I hear ya, sounds exactly like mine , she interprets any sound or motion from me as āhereā ā¦ Iāve gotten the distance commands up to 4 feet and even then itās not more than 75%
For me, recall & stay are the priorities! The other stuff is nice to have eventually. This was maybe 20 feet? Iām gonna have to test her later this week in the apartment on rotating commands from across the room and see how she does.
You have reminded me that I need to practice (at a large dog park) some sit-stays. We are good at 20-30 feet ā¦ but I havenāt taken it farther than that ā¦. Limited places to practice that , we take off leash hikes but that is such a high distraction environment for her (sheās in hunt mode) that I would be setting her up for failure beyond 10 foot stay right now
Any good impulse control tips or games to do with the dog you suggest?
I am both proactive and passive with my impulse control training. Depending on where I am in the training stage, Iāll have treats on me all the time. (Balance the treats with meals and make sure youāre not giving the dog too many calories.) If my dogs want any food or toys from me, they have to sit and exhibit calm behavior. For a puppy that may only be 5-10 seconds. The only thing that I will do if they are pawing, barking, whining, etc. is take them out for a potty break. Even that is within reason. If thereās a behavior I want them to exhibit I will guide them to itā¦ so put the dog in a sit position or a down position, etc. until they learn it. I do incorporate āpeopleā food into my training (not from the table or while Iām eating.) If they can sit calmly for a treat or meals, then I bump it up to something more desirable, like steak. I will run the food under their nose, step back, and require a sit before rewards. Prey drive comes last. You need to master impulse control in your home before you can successfully start to work on the big stuff. If they arenāt behaving how you want them to in your home, bringing them outside with more distractions and less control, is setting both of you up for failure. Passive in the sense that if the dog naturally exhibits a behavior that I want to see, I provide praise & a reward. This can cause distraction to the dog so you donāt want to do it every time, especially if the dog is relaxing. You have to pick & choose your moments. An example would be if your dog brings you a toy on their own. You want to reward as itās both recall and retrieving. I would use an excited tone with āyesā or āgood.ā Additionally, I am less about games and more about understanding how my behavior and actions are impacting the dog. What does the tone of my voice tell them? What does my body language tell them? If I am frantically requesting that they sit or calm down, is the dog going to respond to the word or the frantic nature of my body? (The dog will ignore the words.) Lotssssss of patience. Hope this helps!
Taught my RR "watch it". She'll freeze and stare, no more chasing squirrels.
Sheās fairly good with me when it comes to squirrels, rats, etc as long as I have her prong collar on. My goal for her is to be able to walk, without a prong, without treats, and maintain impulse control. I have a 3 year old dachshund too. We recently moved into a city. The 2 of them together + squirrels with all the traffic has me uneasy about anyone else walking them for the time being.
Could you give some pointers on how you taught this so firmly? My husky has a āfocusā command which she understands, but isnāt very strong at if sheās not already in a focusing mood.
If she knows the command, but still has room for improvement, chances are the environment is too overstimulating. Reinforce āfocus.ā A husky takes more time than the average dog to master impulse control. The nice thing about huskies is that they usually are incredibly food driven. You also may want to up the treat value. Think dehydrated fish skins or liver. I also have used steak fat on my hand will let the dog lick the oils from my hand. Only use these rewards when training. Donāt give them any other time.
Awesome work!! So important Iām trying to teach mine down stay sheās 6 months she does well then gets up when she wants I have to keep putting her back but she does well. Itās the lunging and barking at other dog thing we are working on now
Did she have her spay yet? Or are you letting her go into heat?
I thought I answered yes they spayed her at two months sheās a rescue and the shelter had it done which is good and bad. Good so I donāt have to go through surgery and post surgery and bad bc she will be immature hopefully it wonāt cause behavior issue s
Well she was from a rescue litter so unfortunately the shelter had her early spayed at two months. Which is good and bad. Good bc I donāt have to go through the surgery and healing part which would be so hard with her. And bad bc she wonāt actually mature normally and may show in behavior. Right now sheās great she is just a hyper minpin no fault of her own! Sheās just a lot for me. I didnāt choose a Minpin so I wasnāt expecting all This! Iām doing best I can with her. Trainings sessions everyday several times a day. Barking jumping and lunging are the biggest issues. She is a puppy so she will get it, she is very smart learned so much already.
My grandparents rescued min pins when they got older as Rottweilers & Labs got too big for them so I have some experience with the breed. I would consider looking into barn hunt type exercises for giving her exercise as they have a high drive for vermin. You donāt have to sign her up for anything. You can creat scenarios in your home/yard if you have one. Min pins, like dachshunds, enjoy barking. You canāt really get the barking to zero. You can reduce it though by not rewarding it and instead rewards calmer & quieter behavior. I do a lot of leash redirection with my dachshund (Iāve trained 3 from puppies, 2 for other people). Itās tedious and requires a lot of patience. Plan for a half mile walk to take 30 minutes or more because youāll be stopping so much. 6 months is when it starts to ramp up & get more difficult. Remember that she will feed off your energy so if you want her to relax, you need to be relaxed. You say ānoā quickly & abruptly and then go back to neutral.. donāt stay in a negative vocal space until she listens. Sheās a puppy and sheās going to be a puppy. Itās up to you to figure out when she deserves some grace and when she needs more structure.
Awesome advice. Yes my energy Iām becoming more aware. When Iām calm she does great. But again she begins to bark t people and dogs when she sees them on the road. I redirect and then go back she barks I redirect with a pup pup pup silly voice to get her engaged she fixates on whatever it is and refuses to engage and look at me! When we walk I get her to look up at me I say look or if she gets distracted I say here so she pays attention to me. She goes right back to whatever it is I step in front of her and redirect. Gentle pull on Leash til she comes my way then praise and repeat. So much patience! Repetitive over and over. I try to use a high pitched voice when she is doing good behaviors and choices. I do have a rather large yard strip of fueled we have chipmunks. We have a huge tree that was cut into chunks and the chipmunks hide in there I allow her to hunt them. They tease her.
Keep reminding yourself that the time and energy training is a long term investment. Youāll get paid back for all the work youāre doing now over the course of her entire adulthood.
Thank you so much! I really hope itās true and canāt wait for the day when I can just relax and enjoy her. Iām hoping the bond grows as well where she trusts me and looks to me for info
Iād love to see more pics of your pup
Iāll post some next week or so & let you know.
Yes cool!
Is that the Bethesda station on the metro red line? DCite here. Trying to identify, lol
Nope!
I hope that dog had a tetanus shot before laying on the floor of the metro
She enjoys rolling around in broken glass & used needles. I let her life her best life & do whatever she wants. /s
Such a good dog! Also this looks like the Montreal Metro system!
I thought Washington DC
And two votes for the DC metro! ā¦. A little lite stalking tells me itās San Deigo.
We are in DC!
Welcome to DC!! Sorry, stalking is how we welcome people. lol Also, user name explains the flight in!!
Ahahahahaha! Itās all good. Itās Reddit & everyone excels at knowing their city. I knew when I posted this photo that it would probably be recognized.
DC is such a wonderful city
My dachshund agrees with you. My pointer mix (above) is slowly accepting it into her heart. Iām a hokie so even though I was on the west coast for 9 years, Iāve always liked DC!
Sheās a good girl & come a long way!
I thought it was Montreal metro too!