[Sophie15]

I do have a couple of questions for everyone. My shepherd, Sophie, will be 2 months old on the 17th of July, so I know we are still in the beginning process of training. On that note:

1) I have an older dog (a black lab) that likes to take her daily naps and Sophie tends to want to "play" all the time meaning: tugging on her ear or biting at her paws... :crazy: What is the best way to tell Sophie NO? I usually pick her up, say "NO," and move her away. But of course, Sophie goes back..

2) What are some "quick" treats for training (brand name)? I want to start clicker training with her, but when I do start the training she tends to use most of her time chewing on her treats.

3) As for walking, she is perfectly fine off the leash, but as soon as I put her on the leash, she sits down and does not budge. What is the best kind of collar/harness/etc to use? Right now I'm just using a normal collar, but she tries to slip out of it and wants nothing to do with it.

Thanks for all of the help! :help:

 

[ten3zro]

I do have a couple of questions for everyone. My shepherd, Sophie, will be 2 months old on the 17th of July, so I know we are still in the beginning process of training. On that note:

1) I have an older dog (a black lab) that likes to take her daily naps and Sophie tends to want to "play" all the time meaning: tugging on her ear or biting at her paws... :crazy: What is the best way to tell Sophie NO? I usually pick her up, say "NO," and move her away. But of course, Sophie goes back..

2) What are some "quick" treats for training (brand name)? I want to start clicker training with her, but when I do start the training she tends to use most of her time chewing on her treats.

3) As for walking, she is perfectly fine off the leash, but as soon as I put her on the leash, she sits down and does not budge. What is the best kind of collar/harness/etc to use? Right now I'm just using a normal collar, but she tries to slip out of it and wants nothing to do with it.

Thanks for all of the help! :help:

1) It really can be unfair to allow a young pup to interact with an older dog. Think about it like this - would you put a high energy child with an elderly adult? Nope...it would be very stressful for the older adult. The same holds true for your pup and the older dog. It's not fair to the older dog, and I would keep them separated in large part until your pup matures and settles down (which will be a while).
2) Depends on whether you want treats you buy pre-packaged or some high value treats of your own. Tiny bits of hot dog work great. Really, tiny bits of just about any meat is usually a win.
3) Two months is still very young and make sure you have realistic expectations of this pup. There are ways to get her accustomed to the leash. Mike Ellis has some great videos on how to do this. One of my pups did this and when he did I would simply get a little bit of an excited tone in my voice and say "come with me" and lure him over with food to get him moving. I have also heard of people giving some very very light leash pops (3-4 in a row) to sort of get him in drive, but I think most people would agree that is not a preferred method if you can get him moving just with food or your voice.

 

[Sophie15]

3) Two months is still very young and make sure you have realistic expectations of this pup. There are ways to get her accustomed to the leash. Mike Ellis has some great videos on how to do this. One of my pups did this and when he did I would simply get a little bit of an excited tone in my voice and say "come with me" and lure him over with food to get him moving. I have also heard of people giving some very very light leash pops (3-4 in a row) to sort of get him in drive, but I think most people would agree that is not a preferred method if you can get him moving just with food or your voice.

Oh I do have some realistic expectations, she is still a puppy. I just wanted her to get use to it by just walking around the back yard.

 

[ten3zro]

Oh I do have some realistic expectations, she is still a puppy. I just wanted her to get use to it by just walking around the back yard.

At her age a flat collar should be more than sufficient. Motivate her to walk/follow you with food.

 

[Anergyne]

For your first issue, I would recommend teaching your puppy the command "leave it". It can be used for a lot of things, from your puppy picking up bad things, to him/her bothering the elder.

This video gives and intro to clicker training as well as teaching how to leave it.

How to train a dog to "Leave it" - YouTube

I was so happy that I taught Chief this at an early age. When I visited my parents for the first time with him, he met their older dog. She was a blind and deaf pomeranian shih tzu and Chief was already a 25lb hurricane at the time. After a quick correction not to pounce and a stern 'leave it', he didn't bother her at all.

 

[lmuns349]

1) We always made sure our senior dog had a place to get away from the pup and have a safe zone. She didn't want to interact much, which I can't blame her for, she just wants to enjoy her "retirement"
2) pieces of cheese are good too, and hot dogs. Our pup was/is so food motivated, a lot of times we just used his kibble or bought a small bag of some other kibble to use. They also have pre-packaged treats for training at pet stores which our dog loves. We try to switch it up, even in the same training session... Keeps him motivated because he never knows what he's going to get.
3) We motivated him with food. Every time he walked with us on a leash he would get treats at that age. LOTS in the beginning, then less and less.

Leave it is definitely a good command, but I've learned the value of a difference between "wait" and "leave it". I initially trained leave it allll wrong. I always let him have the thing he was "leaving" as a reward. If you want an anxious, neurotic, "everything I want is mine eventually" dog, do what we did. Otherwise, NEVER give your pup the thing they are "leaving" as a reward!


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[mspiker03]

Also try running backwards (you are facing your pup) and see if that works (it has worked for us). My pup still does this at 16 weeks, but she is much better than when she came home at 10 weeks. We have also used food as a motivator, but the running seems to work well when she gets "stuck." Also, when our pup came home, we had her run around the house with the leash attached for several days to get her used to it.

Our trainer recommended Natural Balance rolls (you can cut them up) for training treats.