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Superhero · 08-24-2010, 03:52 PM

What would you train and in what order if you wanted a non-competition, obedient dog with excellent off-leash reliability? I'm not worried about perfect positioning etc. I just want her to listen.

I started with sit and recall, then down, then stand. I did it with hand signals, then once those were at 90%, I added the voice commands.

I was thinking about teaching these items next, more or less in this order:

Focus
Stay
Formal Recall (she can already recall from 25+ meters @ 4 months old with ~95% reliability - we'll see if that sticks when she's a bit older lol)
Heel

The reason I ask is I have had great success teaching dogs with marker words, luring, hand signals etc. I was looking for a trainer in my area to "take my dog and me to the next level", so to speak, but quite frankly I found almost all of the trainers I have talked to to be rather arrogant and ego centric. If they weren't those two things, then I found that their training was lacking in discipline and their dogs were all over the place (with a couple of exceptions of course). Many seemed to have a very strong "you NEED me, I don't care about you" attitude and I will not give my money and time to someone who needs to learn humility. Since I have had good results doing it myself, I have decided to train my dog in more advanced commands on my own. Besides, it is useful to be able to do this oneself and since I'm not looking to compete I am not worried about "perfection". If my pup downs when I say, I don't really care if her legs are off to the side a bit or not.

Any advice about what to train and when is most welcome! Also, any literature recommendations would also be appreciated.

08-24-2010, 03:52 PM	#1 (permalink)
Superhero Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 158	Training Progression What would you train and in what order if you wanted a non-competition, obedient dog with excellent off-leash reliability? I'm not worried about perfect positioning etc. I just want her to listen. I started with sit and recall, then down, then stand. I did it with hand signals, then once those were at 90%, I added the voice commands. I was thinking about teaching these items next, more or less in this order: Focus Stay Formal Recall (she can already recall from 25+ meters @ 4 months old with ~95% reliability - we'll see if that sticks when she's a bit older lol) Heel The reason I ask is I have had great success teaching dogs with marker words, luring, hand signals etc. I was looking for a trainer in my area to "take my dog and me to the next level", so to speak, but quite frankly I found almost all of the trainers I have talked to to be rather arrogant and ego centric. If they weren't those two things, then I found that their training was lacking in discipline and their dogs were all over the place (with a couple of exceptions of course). Many seemed to have a very strong "you NEED me, I don't care about you" attitude and I will not give my money and time to someone who needs to learn humility. Since I have had good results doing it myself, I have decided to train my dog in more advanced commands on my own. Besides, it is useful to be able to do this oneself and since I'm not looking to compete I am not worried about "perfection". If my pup downs when I say, I don't really care if her legs are off to the side a bit or not. Any advice about what to train and when is most welcome! Also, any literature recommendations would also be appreciated.