Post by aheller on Mar 19, 2007 11:38:06 GMT -5
Hello,
So Charlie is making great progress with his training so far. He can sit, lay down, give paw, come (usually), drop it (takes a little doing, but he's getting there), leave it (he's better with this than " drop it"). He will even go into the crate on command, which is wonderful. We're working on heel now and "fetch" (or "get it") is coming along.
However, I find that sometimes it takes him awhile to obey the commands and I am curious if there is something I should be doing to get him to respond more quickly. Or if that's even necessary and I should just be happy that he understands and obeys the commands at all.
Here are a couple of situations that we typically go through (I use "sit" in these examples, but you could replace it with just about any of the commands we regularly give him):
Situation 1 - I tell Charlie to sit (with a treat in hand) and you can almost feel the shockwave through the floor from his butt hitting the ground so fast
Situation 2 - I tell Charlie to sit (no treat in hand), he kinda looks at me, holds my gaze for a couple beats, then sits (maybe 5-10 seconds)
Situation 3 - I tell Charlie to sit, he averts my gaze and slowly looks out the window, at the ceiling, at the floor, around the room, then looks back at me for a few seconds and then sits (this can take up to 30 seconds or more)
Situation 4 - I tell Charlie to sit, and (similarly to Situation 3) he looks around the room and eventually just lays down on the floor and puts his head down
Situation 5 - I tell Charlie to sit, he doesn't sit and then just walks away a few moments later
How should I address these situations?
I have read that people shouldn't repeat their commands, that the dog knows what you want, but is testing you. Also, I have read that you should not allow the dog to NOT obey your command and you should make sure that he eventually does what you ask. But how do you do that? Do I say the command and just watch him indefinitely until he complies? If you say "sit" and the dog doesn't listen to you and walks away, how do you force him to obey your command?
Is this just a puppy being a puppy and with more time and experience, he will be quicker to respond to my commands? Or is there something we should do to let him know that we expect him to respond more quickly?
Thanks once again!
So Charlie is making great progress with his training so far. He can sit, lay down, give paw, come (usually), drop it (takes a little doing, but he's getting there), leave it (he's better with this than " drop it"). He will even go into the crate on command, which is wonderful. We're working on heel now and "fetch" (or "get it") is coming along.
However, I find that sometimes it takes him awhile to obey the commands and I am curious if there is something I should be doing to get him to respond more quickly. Or if that's even necessary and I should just be happy that he understands and obeys the commands at all.
Here are a couple of situations that we typically go through (I use "sit" in these examples, but you could replace it with just about any of the commands we regularly give him):
Situation 1 - I tell Charlie to sit (with a treat in hand) and you can almost feel the shockwave through the floor from his butt hitting the ground so fast
Situation 2 - I tell Charlie to sit (no treat in hand), he kinda looks at me, holds my gaze for a couple beats, then sits (maybe 5-10 seconds)
Situation 3 - I tell Charlie to sit, he averts my gaze and slowly looks out the window, at the ceiling, at the floor, around the room, then looks back at me for a few seconds and then sits (this can take up to 30 seconds or more)
Situation 4 - I tell Charlie to sit, and (similarly to Situation 3) he looks around the room and eventually just lays down on the floor and puts his head down
Situation 5 - I tell Charlie to sit, he doesn't sit and then just walks away a few moments later
How should I address these situations?
I have read that people shouldn't repeat their commands, that the dog knows what you want, but is testing you. Also, I have read that you should not allow the dog to NOT obey your command and you should make sure that he eventually does what you ask. But how do you do that? Do I say the command and just watch him indefinitely until he complies? If you say "sit" and the dog doesn't listen to you and walks away, how do you force him to obey your command?
Is this just a puppy being a puppy and with more time and experience, he will be quicker to respond to my commands? Or is there something we should do to let him know that we expect him to respond more quickly?
Thanks once again!