Training more than one at a time?

[Oskar der Drachen]

Right. next question!

I want to train on various commands both my dogs at the same time. Fred the older one knows a lot of this stuff already, but he is a submissive type. Bear is not, definitely dominant.

What I have seen already: When I am trying to train Bear around the other two is that he will pay attention to the training but as soon as there are food treats he will react to the others watching him by charging and paw slapping at them. "Mine! My Treats! My Training!" even if the other two have done nothing but watch.

What I have done to counter this: Going to a very simple sharing exercise. Having Fred and Bear sitting next to each other and simply feeding one at a time, alternating. The rules are that you sit, stay and behave while the other dog is getting fed. Then I will do simple commands, Sit, Down, Shake with the dogs next to each other.

Challenges: Fred was reluctant to get involved, getting slapped at was something he wasn't enthusiastic about.

Any suggestions?

[Cassidy's Mom]

Originally Posted by Oskar der Drachen

What I have seen already: When I am trying to train Bear around the other two is that he will pay attention to the training but as soon as there are food treats he will react to the others watching him by charging and paw slapping at them. "Mine! My Treats! My Training!" even if the other two have done nothing but watch.

Do not allow that! I prefer to train NEW commands separately, with the dog I'm not working with put away out of sight and sound. But at some point it is good to work with them together, just to reinforce that they must tune each other out and pay attention to YOU. I only do this with simple stuff that they both know well, like sits, downs, and focus.

What you've been doing, having them sit next to each other while you alternate giving treats for sitting calmly and waiting patiently, is good, but in addition to that I'd put Bear on a leash while you work with them at the same time, so he's not able to get in Fred's face. You can drop the end on the ground and stand on it, so you'll still have both hands free.

[Oskar der Drachen]

Mmmm.

I am reminded of another post I had seen recently where it listed the Rules of "Mine" when it comes to GSD's.

In training this new family member it has made me appreciate more how clever Fred is. Super patient, super careful he is. I just wish he wouldn't let Bear crawl all over him *quite* so much. Being tolerant of Puppy is a good thing, getting chewed on is another.

I am doing training mostly separately because the third dog, Vixen, is such a bitch! She is the 13 year old Fox Terrier, a sneak thief, no sense of humor, and NO patience. Not a good training companion at all. Sweet girl, protective of us, and very loving one on one, but not a good training companion. If we were still out in the country she could teach Bear about the bloodthirsty and ruthless killing of rodents though.

I'm going to work more on Stay before I go back to side to side training.

Wold you ever use one command for both of them?

Instead of commanding each separately, say "Boys, Sit" and expect action from both of them? I would like to do that.

Tips & Tricks?

[Cassidy's Mom]

Originally Posted by Oskar der Drachen

Wold you ever use one command for both of them?

Instead of commanding each separately, say "Boys, Sit" and expect action from both of them? I would like to do that.

Sure, my global command is "everybody", as in "everybody - sit!" As I said, not for teaching NEW commands, but for sure just getting them used to paying attention to you in the (much more distracting!) presence of each other.

If both are together I will use the name of the dog right before I say the command. I haven't done a whole lot of that kind of thing though, so my dogs are still more likely to both do whatever I say even if it's not directed at both of them. What has worked better for me if I want to give different commands to each of them while they're together is to point at one and give a hand signal, then point to the other and give a different hand signal. For example, I may hold out my hand in the universal traffic cop signal of "stay" to one of them, and then point and beckon to the other dog with my other hand. Because I haven't worked on this 'together but training separately' thing very much, if I said "Keefer, come!", Halo would probably respond to the come command too. Sometimes I'll have one dog hold a sit before being released to eat, and a down for the other, and even switch back and forth between the two commands. Hand signals have worked well for this.

I don't think you need to work on stay more before working with them together, management (the leash) is perfectly acceptable for keeping Bear from mugging Fred, and you won't need to do it forever, just long enough for him to figure out that staying put and doing what you want is going to earn him a LOT more treats! If I were doing this I'd use a negative marker ("ah ah") if he tries to go towards Fred (and of course he won't be able to, the leash will stop him), and then "good" when he makes the right choice to stay where he is and work with you.