House-training should prove no problem if you’re quick and alert to your puppy’s needs. He will need to pay frequent visits to his spot in the garden: after each meal, after a sleep and any time you think about it in between. Always pick him up and carry him to the spot. Give him a command. I use the words ‘busy dog‘. Don’t dump him and retreat back to the house and close the door. He hasn’t a clue what he’s been put in the garden for. You must stay with him, repeating your commands over and over again. Whether it’s hailing, blowing a gale or a snowstorm’s on, you must persevere. As soon as he’s been a ‘busy dog‘, give him lots of praise, tell him how clever he is, pick him up and return him to the house. If you are diligent and watch your puppy closely, you will know when he needs to go out. A sure sign will be when he puts his nose to the ground, his tail up in the air and runs round in circles. That is your cue to move speedily with him into the garden. (more…)
The golden rule of training is never to let puppy make mistakes. My own Labradors love doing Stays, probably because, as a breed, they are basically idle, but I did come across one or two problems with Katy. While I was in full control of the situation teaching her Stays at home or in the park, everything went well and Katy had every confidence in this new command. But once she was old enough to be entered in Obedience shows, her Stays became a misery to her and, for a while, I couldn’t understand where I had made my mistakes. Each time I took her into the Stay ring, her ears went back and her body went stiff and I could tell from the expression on her face that she was extremely worried about the exercise and, although she never actually broke the Stay command at a show, she was never relaxed or happy once put into a Sit or Down-Stay. (more…)
The biggest problem most dog owners have is getting their dogs to return to them on command once the dog is off the lead. But so many owners cause their own problems on this exercise, I’m not surprised their dogs don’t wish to return to them. Let us first view the faults, in the hope of preventing you from making the same mistakes.
Why your dog won’t come back to you
The first and simplest reason your dog will not return to you on command is that you haven’t trained him thoroughly in the garden. If he won’t come when called in the confined space of his own home, he certainly won’t in the freedom of the fields. In the main, owners with untrained dogs are full of excuses. (more…)
