[jcunio82]

We just started training a few weeks ago, we have had our girl for a few months. I am so addicted to it! It feels great to finally be able to communicate some things I know she will understand, and to reward her for behaving well. Our training is a combination of lure reward and clicker training.

Once the basics are down there are some tricks I want to teach her (like sit pretty) but for now I am really focused on stay and come especially. I have little training sessions with her every night for a few minutes, and I honestly love it. My bf thinks I am the biggest dork because I have even started reading books on different training methods/dog body language/etc. It has just really sparked my interest.

Anyone else as nerdy as me?

[jillibean87]

*raises hand!!!*

It's quite addicting

[Tiffseagles]

Love it. That's what I spend all my free time doing : )

[samuel64]

I do a little each day, too. I think stay and come are very important. We're also working on loose leash walking which seems to take awhile to learn. We finished a basic class a few weeks ago and we're starting the next class starting Nov. 8th!

[ktlemonade]

Me too and I think Freida's addicted too- to the treats!

[Sweetie Darlin']

I was really into training my puppy initially but then life got a little hectic when we took on a foster but now we've got things under control, schedule, etc and we just started training again last night! LOL I’ve got two to teach now which is a challenge. I put one in her crate while I worked with the other and that seemed to work. My youngster picked up right where we left off. She's great with her tricks in the house but having her remain calm enough to do them in public is a completely different story! I guess that comes with age. LOL

[Hucklebutt]

*raises hand*

[Jazzy]

Originally Posted by jcunio82 It feels great to finally be able to communicate some things I know she will understand

That is the allure for me as well.

[Lovethypitbull]

you know its bad when your friends are there talking about something and you really don't care because its not about dogs.......yea that's me....lol

[pitgirl17]

Me too. Al I care about is my dogs and training them. I love working with them and watching them learn. They get so exited when they know they have done something right and they see that I get exited too. It is so rewarding. I don't care who thinks i am a dork I love my dogs and that all there is to it!

[amyhatcher]

Im obsessed with doing good for my dog, everyday I watch the dog whisperer on DVR and read up on whatever I can. I started dog obedience training but I made the mistake of picking a trainer that uses way too many leash corrections. Make sure all the training you do is positive, lots of praise, use treats (the results are much faster and dog will love working for treats, rather than avoid a snap at the collar) Now I can get my dog to "Sit-down-up" for a treat really fast. I can also get him to Down-stay for longer periods of time. Which is good when you are around other people. I work with him in the morning between getting ready and then at night. On my days off, several times a day we practice "yeilding", "look at me", "touch", sit, down, stay, up, and work on the leash. A new trainer showed me how to get him to pay attention to me during walks. I got a 6' leather leash, hooked up to his choke collar. I use a loose leash. I put my thumb in the loop and fold the leash up. When he stops paying attention to me, I drop the slack, do a 180 and hold the leash tight at my waist, when he turns around and I feel the slack again, I praise him up for following me. I love this, it is so much funner than constantly jerking the leash with corrections. Now I only have to give a gentle tug to get him to slow up a bit and stay next to me on normal walks. He learns so fast!

[Thrashmetal]

How do you stop treating your dog for a command? My dog never obeys me if I've nothing to treat her with.

[amyhatcher]

I mix it up, sometimes treat sometimes dont. I always ask him to sit to go potty, outside, eat etc and never offer a treat but he gets what he wants. Make sure you always give him praise for listening, show excitement unless your dog is already super high energy, then say good boy calmly. Treats are for training sessions, which are 5-15 minutes each twice a day. I dont treat for anything else except I have always given him one when he goes into the crate for me.

[Teal]

Originally Posted by Lovethypitbull you know its bad when your friends are there talking about something and you really don't care because its not about dogs.......yea that's me....lol

glad to know I'm not the only one!

My obsession with training is why Ruger can basically understand conversation, and do anything I ask of him haha. He's a patient, skilled learner and puts up with my "wanna be badass dog trainer" attitude enough to make me feel talented LOL

[YoandO]

Originally Posted by Lovethypitbull you know its bad when your friends are there talking about something and you really don't care because its not about dogs.......yea that's me....lol

lol, i feel the same way. I wish i had more friends who have dogs. Most just have kids or aren't animal people. Weird.

Thats why I try to be on here as much as possible.

[VonKromeHaus]

lol I have a friend that has horses but no close friends that are into the dog stuff. lol lol

I train everyday, high level OB and odd things. Then we have Schutzhund training on Saturdays, Tracking on sunday. I help teach CGC classes Tuesday where my dogs are demo dogs. We do night training(PP) on Thursday nights! lol lol

Yeah, I hate training....no training nerd here....lol lol lol

Courtney

[cher_bear]

Originally Posted by Thrashmetal How do you stop treating your dog for a command? My dog never obeys me if I've nothing to treat her with.

does your dog like toys? sometimes toys or noises or even pats will make a good sub for treats.i start out using treats but then after i know she knows the command i dont usually use treats anymore.or i will have her do as much as i want and then give her the treat,so she doesnt expect it every time

[YoandO]

I have done all my training with home with Lou. he is so smart, so I am currently look for intermidate Obedience classes to take him. I don't drive, so that is a problem, since the BF thinks we can just do everything at home. But i got him to agree to the Intermidate training.
I will also be learning how to drive the damn stick shift car, so that i don't have to wait on the BF.

[cher_bear]

my BF is the same way,it is nice that he has so much confidence in my ability,but i would love to do more advanced stuff.not driving is such a pain sometimes.

[YoandO]

I LOVE not driving. But I hate having to argue about this with the BF. I feel like he should want to take him to classes. So I have to learn how to drive the stick. He only has stick shift cars and I have refused to learn until now. So watch out Chicago, I will be driving. Really Watch OUT! lol!
Training at home, is easy to do, but at the same time its easy not to do it either. Because there is always tomorrow. At least when you pay for a class you know you are going to go. Well at least for me. I don't like throwing money away, plus its a chance to learn if you are doing things the right or wrong way.