Tips from Pet-Lovers
Here are some tips and stories from everyday dog owners that might help you on your training endeavors.
“We definitely used treats to help our dogs learn. And we made them do the trick before they received the treat. We would help them do it [the trick] before they learned how to by themselves like holding their paws to shake and pushing their butts down to sit. And the younger the dog the better.”
Christine Sciarrino, owner of two West Highland Terriers
“I trained my dog using ice, mainly because I knew it was going to take a lot of treats to get it done. And it worked! He gives paw, sits, gets his bone/toy and gets his leash for you when we go on walks. The key is to start as early as possible and use lots of praise when they do it right so there isn't always food to go with doing stuff. Use short commands and words such as 'bone,' 'leash' and 'walk'; and be consistent, so every time they know what you are talking about. We got Oliver to bark when he wanted to go out by having him sit in front of the door. He woudl start getting agitated so he would bark, and every time he did, we opened the door and let him go out. They are pretty good about getting the hint, but you definitely have to let them know you are the leader. I didn't do such a great job of because my dog gets away with a lot these days.”
Brittani Carr, owner of a Labrador Retriever and a Border Collie/lab mix
“I taught our Maltese to ring a bell when he needs to go outside to do his business. When we first started, I would take him to the bell hanging from the door and rub his nose on it and praise him while I was taking him outside. I would do it five times every day since he was still really young. On the third day, I heard the bell ring and went crazy excited for him and gave him a treat after he did his thing. Now, anytime or anywhere there is a bell on the door, he will ring it to let us know he's got a present waiting for us.”
Tim O’Reilly, Maltese owner
“We trained our two dogs to sit and come with treats. When teaching the pups to sit, we would give them the command and move the treat slightly past their head so they sort of had to sit automatically. It worked, and our puppies sit pretty well. To discipline them, we made sure to be stern when saying ‘no’ and ‘come.’ Teaching them to go outside was just a matter of bringing them out regularly and rewarding them with affection when they peed outside, very tricky potty training puppies.”
Melanie Davis, owner of a two Welsh corgis
“My fiance's German Shepherd was taught to shake for a treat and on command. She was taught when she was only a few years old, so she's used to it. Ilsa can shake with both paws. He taught her by just pointing to a certain paw and holding the treat. The treat has to be held where she can see it though. It's bad because now she's so used to a treat being associated with it.”
