Training and Treats-Toys-Praise

There are at least three good ways to reward your puppy for correctly responding to a command: Treats, Toy play, and Praise. Treats definitely work best while your puppy is young. I think that to begin with a treat should be offered every time a correct response is exhibited. Playing with them and their favorite toy(s) is a close second. Praise is a third way to reward for a job well done

As your puppy ages, you can use treats less frequently perhaps giving a treat every other time for a job well done, then every third or fourth time. Do not be in a hurry to switch to using treats less frequently as a reward. Perhaps by the time they are seven months old you could scale back to every other time. Only you can be the judge for 'when' to start decreasing frequency of treat reward. Vary the kinds of treats you use so it doesn't get boring or predictable.

It looks to me like Wodin may be a 'self stacker'. What do you think?

If responses to commands become slower, then you have to pique their interest more. You can do that by varying the kinds of treats within a training session, by not repeating the same old boring command every time, by changing the pitch of your voice to pique your dog's curiosity, by keeping training session short, by interspersing play time and training time within each session, by changing the location of your training sessions (don't always train in the same room or the same building or even inside/outside).

Try very hard NOT to repeat a command. If you repeat a command like, for example, the command "Sit!" by saying "Sit! Sit! Sit!", the dog hears the command as if it were one word - Sitsitsit - and will learn to sit only after the sequence is completed. It's better, especially to start with, to say the command once and then help them, physically help them.


By that what I mean is, say "Sit!" only once and be ready immediately to actually use your hand to apply light pressure on the butt pushing it down, while using the other hand with a treat in it to keep the head and forequarters up and then immediately rewarding with a treat from that other hand. 

To start with, I would always help them to sit. (Have I ever mentioned that you actually need three hands to do obedience work? Ha!) Over the succeeding weeks, try and help the dog less and less. After several months, you should be able just to move your hand towards his/her butt and maybe finally even just point with your finger to the butt, and your dog should sit. The final goal is to simply use the word "Sit!" without physical help or visual cues to get the correct response.


Or, as another example, when you call your puppy, you need a leash attached to his/her collar. Use your dog's name first (to get your dog's attention) and then say "Come" or "Front" or whatever command you are going to use to get your dog to come to you. At the same time you say "Rover, Come!", jerk slightly on the leash to get your dog started in the right direction moving towards you. (If your dog moves sluggishly towards you, turn away from him/her and run away from the dog. Remember? Dogs love to chase.)


The point is: you say, "Rover, Come!" ONCE. Tug on the leash and, if necessary run away from the dog. Always reward for correct responses especially for puppies and for many weeks to come. You have three ways to reward. As your puppy matures into an adult, the Praise will work almost as well as the Treat. However, as long as they are puppies it's FOOD first then Toys followed distantly by Praise!


I had a question about a puppy biting the trainer's hand when the trainer was trying to hold its mouth closed while trying to teach "No Bark!" and "Be Quiet!". I didn't observe what was happening so this is a guess. Merely a guess.


Some dogs do NOT like it when someone approaches their head from above. That puts the human in a position of too much dominance for some dogs. Approaching from below or from the side might work better. Be sure the dog knows your hand is coming, slowly coming. It might take the onus off the trick, "No Bark!" and "Be Quiet!" Gently but firmly hold the muzzle closed. Don't put pressure on the muzzle. You do not have to squeeze it shut. The idea is that you are reminding them that what you want is a closed mouth. It's hard to bark with a closed mouth.

Escape from the position. Don't keep your hand where the dog doesn't like it to be. Some dogs do not like being petted. Watch closely how your dog responds to being petted. Some simply don't want that. Scratching? Yes, maybe that's better. Often a dog that does not like being petted will love it when you gently touch, stroke, and soothe the chest area between the two front legs using a finger or two.  Watch your dog's body language, if it gives you a
sideways look as if it's saying, "I really love that", while you're doing it, then that's a thing you should keep in your bag of tricks for praise and reward.