What do you consider important?
Kuma is a 12 1/2 week old American Akita and of course we are working on training- house training, sit, stay, come, leash, etc. and she is doing great!
She pulls a lot on the leash when another dog is in front of us and we are working on that. Other than that she does fantastic on the leash.
For some reason she has started peeing on the floor in the dining room (has had 4 accidents) but she drinks a LOT!!!! So I am sure she just cannot hold it ( I take her out about every hour or so during the day because she urinates so frequently- vet says she is fine) She goes all night with no accidents and then wakes me up around 5:30 a.m. to go out.
What do/did you consider the most important things to teach them at this age and beyond? What are you techniques/rewards? How do you correct them when they make a "mistake" ?
I have not found a treat reward that Kuma likes yet. We have tried several different ones and she seems to be quite picky about her "snacks" lol
She pulls a lot on the leash when another dog is in front of us and we are working on that. Other than that she does fantastic on the leash.
For some reason she has started peeing on the floor in the dining room (has had 4 accidents) but she drinks a LOT!!!! So I am sure she just cannot hold it ( I take her out about every hour or so during the day because she urinates so frequently- vet says she is fine) She goes all night with no accidents and then wakes me up around 5:30 a.m. to go out.
What do/did you consider the most important things to teach them at this age and beyond? What are you techniques/rewards? How do you correct them when they make a "mistake" ?
I have not found a treat reward that Kuma likes yet. We have tried several different ones and she seems to be quite picky about her "snacks" lol
Comments
ChoCho and Goro are food junkies so they'll take just about anything for treats... even kibble, but when we're in training class give them something yummy. I've used Zuke's minis. Zuke's works great, but since other people had smellier treats my dogs would run to them instead! Lol So I bought Natural Balance beef and lamb rolls (petco sells small samples for 99¢ each),and they're amazing! I slice them and then dice the slice into small bite size. Don't buy the Turkey roll, it's too crumbly.
For treating while treating we give them a treat when they've done what we've asked them to do. For correcting we try to not say "no" and do the "A-a" sound... not sure if that's clear. If you're practicing drop it, we would trade the thing we want them to drop with another thing or treat.
I'd rather have a strong release word and a dog that sits to ask for something, than a strong "sit" command but otherwise unruly or unable to stay. Rewarding the stay and release with a full meal seems to reinforce and "stick" a lot better than rewarding a sit with a few treats. My dogs /always/ wait for permission to eat; they don't necessarily always listen to other commands.
Drop it is also huge. If he gets a hold of some forbidden food item, he gets told to drop it. Amazingly he does.
Come. I wouldn't be able to have an off-leash Shiba if he didn't come when called. He is always rewarded for coming even the shortest distance.
Stop. This one is very handy for all sorts of stuff. If I call him and he keeps walking forwards, he gets a stop. If he's bugging me by jumping up, he gets a stop. It's also how I end a game that is getting too rough.
Sit, because a sitting dog is always nice to have.
Those are about it. I teach commands with positive reinforcement; lots of praise, TONS of really good treats, and sometimes a clicker. If a leash is involved, it's tied to my belt, not in my hand. (I am a former leash-popper. Doing that prevents any urge to use the leash in such a manner.)
If I have to, a strong, firm, but not mean "NO" can be punishment. That is usually enough. If not? Time-out in a very boring room.
Two of my dogs sit before food. If they don't sit, there is no food. The other is polite enough and doesn't hang around while I'm preparing it that I have to call her over. The other two would eat from the bowl before it even hit the ground, and I really don't like that, so they've got to sit first.
On-leash manners... I'm pretty lax here, except when it comes to meeting people or other dogs on a walk. The dogs are allowed to range somewhat, stop and sniff a bit here and there, but when a person or other dog is approaching they either heel or are put into a sit. Juneau is terrible with meeting other dogs so if I've got her with me I will usually cross the street.
The thing I really worked on with my AA was recall. He loved to follow me anyway so i wanted to make sure he had a good recall as the Shiba sure don't. I came up with a special word (to me!) so I knew he would come to that, even though usually, I just say "lets go" as a command to either follow me politely on the leash (which he doesn't really do) or to just walk along with me in the yard (which he does quite well). "To me" is the serious recall when I really need him to come, and though we haven't tested in a high distraction situation in a long time, he's very good with it.
I do wish I'd worked harder on leash manners. He was so good up to adolescence that I was a bit slack on it and then he wasnt good and now he's well over 100 pounds and pretty hard to manage, so I wish I'd worked harder on that. I'd say work on rewarding all loose leash walking A LOT and keep up on it.
My boy loves food now (he's 2) but wasn't crazy about it as a training reward as a pup. But he ADORES squeaky toys, so I had a collection of small toys that he only got during training, and that worked well with him. (He still prefers tiny toys which looks pretty silly since he's so big).
Also, my boy was pretty slow to housetrain. Good in his crate overnight, but he also drank a lot and peed in the house. He couldn't get the hang of letting us know he had to go, and his signs for me to watch for weren't as clear to me as with some dogs (like my current pup, a Kai Ken, who is very clear when he needs to go). I remember he was 4.5 months old and I was saying "he'll never be housetrained!" and of course people pointed out how young he was. I think he developed bladder control at a slower rate than the smaller dogs, honestly. (he was pretty uncoordinated for a long time in general). Just keep at it, and watch her signs and take her out if you see her start to pee in the house, and know that eventually it will stop.
I did have to limit water, though, which always makes me nervous, but he was the kind of pup who would drink ALL the water! So I gave him a reasonable amount than took it up, and took it up at about 8 at night too.
Good luck! Have we seen pics yet? Probably I just missed the thread.... (I did! I found it! She's gorgeous!)
For example, I learned that Gojira is very agile and loves doing agility "for fun" (she is too stubborn to do it for competition) and that Mosura might have the makings to do rally obedience at a competitive level.
The "stop" is a great idea and I think I will incorporate that into our dogs vocabulary. I like that a lot better, I think I use "whoa" but sometimes think that is too similar to "no" and I want "no" to be withheld for very serious issues (I don't like to use it a lot but catch myself getting caught up in it sometimes) We also used to use "wrong" more, but it didn't stick really well.... we got that from Mirra's puppy class....
I also found this weekend when we were picking up Kunai that I need to brush up on Mirra's leash manners...lol We do so much off leash that every once in a while I get a reminder that we need to brush off the dust. Leash manners are important to me because you never know when you and your dog might be put into a situation where they are necessary for safety. ie: picking up a puppy in a strange (to the dogs) town....lol
Ki is still learning so she's still a work in progress - but our emphasis is basically the same as written above!
I'm finding that with our two new dogs that it's refreshing to be starting with a broader knowledge (still a lot to learn and old habits to break) of positive training... I feel like poor Mirra was the guinea pig for it but hopefully will help Ki and Kunai benefit from her helping us learn....
The one thing I would add that is important to us is "Go to Bed" this is a kinda time out type thing. Basically, things are getting crazy and everyone/someone needs to chill out... But if everyone is in good humor and it's getting crazy they just get let outside to wrestle and run...lol
-why? being a bigger dog (JA), you can't throw them in a crate. Toki is at that questionable age where he might behave outside the crate while we are gone, or he might annihilate the pillows. So it is a useful thing to teach them for that puppy stage that, who knows how long it will last.
manners....for instance, utilizing "sit". Toki needs to learn that he should be patient and cooperative to get what he wants. And that is by sitting. He can't jump on the counter while I prepare his food if he is sitting
Hinata, I will try the roll and slice and dice for rewards and see how that goes. She is crazy about the meat part of her diet so I am sure she will like that. Thanks!!
poeticdragon, the release word is great! Thank you for reminding me of that! I used a release word with my Doberman's in the past (I used to take in abused/neglected/abandoned/unwanted Dobe's) and it worked great so I will work on that too
Shubamistress, I will definitely start working on a special recall word- fantastic idea, thank you! She does great with "come" but sometimes she takes her sweet time getting to me so a "right now" recall would be good. Thank you! I think she is gorgeous, too and she is amazing
Losech, thank you! We have been using "leave it" and it works.... most of the time. I am so glad you pointed out how important that one can be and I will work at it more because you have a valid point and it could prevent big problems. "stop" is another good one!
CarabooA, "go to bed" is one that I cannot believe I overlooked haha! I have to have a "go chill out" command
I do use the command "wait". I used it for years with the Dobe's because they would charge through the door when I opened it and I had been knocked down and trampled too may times so I taught the dogs to "wait" and it has worked well and is easy. I don't care who goes throught the door first just so long as no one gets broken in the process haha She will sit and wait for me to open the door and then I say "go ahead" and she does.
I am sorry for the LONG post! Thanks, everyone!
How is training a dobe different than an Akita?
(not to hi jack your thread though, hehe)
I do not have any Doberman's right now but, up until recently, have had at least one Doberman but usually 2 or 3 (and sometimes more if one needed immediate placement) for the last 18 years. My most beloved companion was a Dobie girl that passed away a year and a half ago at 14 years old. All of the Dobe's we have had were rescues and had health or behavioral issues and/or both but with Akita's this has not been the case so that may be the reason I said the breeds are so different to train/raise.
Now that I really think about it this is the difference:
The training is different simply because a hurt/broken/damaged/sick Doberman is pretty easy to train (most of the time) once you earn their trust and a healthy, happy, well rounded Akita puppy can be more challenging (but I am not saying that in a negative way! I wouldn't change a thing and you will not hear a complaint out of me haha!). That is just my personal experience and in no way a negative statement about either breed. I love both breeds dearly!!!
They are really really great dogs in their own right. I will always have a special place in my heart for Dobermans. I didn't have experience with any that had been rescued, but the easiest way to describe the differences are that they are not "drivey" so you don't have that to deal with. They are not as independent in general like most NK's seem to be.
Basically, their goal in life is to do your bidding, to please and protect you at all costs. They are very emotionally needy (not in a negative way). Would prefer to be touching you in some way most of the time. A 60-90lb dog that thinks it should always be able to sit in your lap. Very easily trained and thrive in obedience classes. That's been my experience with them.
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If she is playing with another dog it is as if she does not even hear my voice lol If it is time to move on or if she is getting too rough I have to put everybody in timeout just to give her a few minutes to unwind and relax because she gets really wild lol (timeout consists of a few minutes upstairs with me while the other dogs are downstairs or maybe even "nap time" in her crate if she is really over excited. It is not a punishment and she gets her bone or a nice petting before her nap
Any tips on recall would be great! She is either in the back yard (it is fenced) with me/us or on a leash walking the neighborhood or the park (not the dog park). She is great on the leash and she does great in the back yard. She plays well with other dogs, children, and most people we meet at the park.
Thank you!
Next thing is and I know it is hard but she needs to be in a small crate when u can not watch her.
Another thing is to give her water as needed, then set a timer and at 15 to 20 minutes let her out. And watch to make sure she pees.
Take water away at minimum an hour before bed time and let her out before bed.
Always go strait from the crate to the yard when u let her out.
After house broke, then Recall is the most important, cuz it could an probably will save her life, one day.