# Training at 4 months--what can I expect?



## dotndani (Mar 19, 2007)

Duncan knows how to sit,and will jump up for a treat(what dog wouldnt)I can't get him to give me his paw?Should I use,"shake","give paw"or High 5?
I may be going about it all wrong.Any advice?Also,how do you get them to do other little tricks???
Thanks all!!


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## ECudmore (Jun 5, 2007)

*training*

Racquet is 18 weeks old. He can sit sit/stay/down/ down and leave the treat.
Fetch/leave it-to drop the leash or item. I work with him daily and he has to sit for everything. Out the gate/door, food, to put on his leash, etc.
He also knows when he has couch time at night, he must stay. 
He loves to eat and loves treats so he will do anything to get the treat.
He goes to puppy school every Saturday morning. He also is very good on the puppy agility course but this is nautral for this breed.
Hope this helps you.


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Dot,
It sounds like he is doing very well! You can use any command you want for a behavior. Pick what you like and try to pick commands that down sound similar. Anything I want to train them I break it down just like how you probably taught down was to teach Duncan to sit first and then go down. 

An easy way to teach shake is to teach touch with the paw since many dogs give this behavior naturally. Get the dog to tough things with his paw-say like a toy or a treat. Then I would say "yes" to mark my behavior, "good shake" and treat. Make sure you do this immediately so he understands exactly what you are marking. I usually add in the command of what I want them to do to clue it- "shake" and then follow up with yes and good high five when he does it.

Hopefully that gets you off to a good start!
Amanda


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## radar_jones (May 6, 2007)

My wife uses "Shake-A-Paw" with Radar. It seems to work pretty good sometimes when he feels like it...:biggrin1: I have him Sitting/Lie Down/ Stay (leave the treat) and he Knows the Phrase "Down" if he jumps on me when I get home. It's Priceless because He'll be laying there with the treat in front of him and I say "Stay" I point at him as I say it. He sometimes gets anxious and will lunge for the treat to test me. If he gets too close to it I will say "Nooo" and he backs off. If he gets too close and I feel like he's going to eat the treat I grab it and we start all over again. I go for a full five to ten seconds with just sitting there mesmerized by the treat. I then say "OK go ahead" with a waving motion with my hand and then he goes for the treat. It works pretty well.

Derek


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## Eileen Marshall (Apr 6, 2007)

You are all doing great. It is such fun to train a dog that is so smart. Have any of you had any experience with clicker training? I travel around a lot in the summer and we just came from a place that is not very populated to a small city in north of Boston. Ben is 18 weeks and I thought all my training was lost but I found that "No bark" and telling him "these people live here it's OK. " HE probably hears BLaBLA BLA OK. I think he understands everything I say:biggrin1: I don't want to make him afraid of anything. We just went through the car wash and he took that in his stride. Any suggestions for new experiences.


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Lots of socialization!

One thing I regret waiting for Dora to meet and it was accidental was horses! My in laws have horses, my sister in law trains and shows them for a living and now when we visit Dora goes absolutely crazy when she sees them in pasture. Isabelle was introduced to them as a puppy so no big deal. When we got Dora we moved out of state so she wasn't introduced (there aren't many in downtown columbus!) and I totally forgot about how dogs can react to them. When we visit them though is when we have issues! I had a scary incident when I forgot about their old gal Shala being right outside where I let Dora out. I let Dora out and she ran under the fencing right into her pasture area. Shala just kind of stared at her and Dora charged her barking and going crazy. Luckily, I was able to grab Dora before anything happened. Shala was known to be very territorial when she was younger. She has her own pasture right near their home and my in laws had to rehome a goat who Shala launched in the air a few years ago.

It just goes to show that the more experiences and understanding they have, the better. I think I may have posted a puppy socialization chart similar to the one my training club hands out where it has a checklist of experiences, socialization, and introduction for a puppy.

Here is something like the one they hand out in the class
http://www.healthyfoodforpets.com/puppysocialization.html


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