Cygni and Me

As Cygni gets older I find the need to teach her basic commands more and more.  So far she is doing very well with sit, but her other commands need some work.  Here are some tips about basic puppy training.

1.  You need to know what motivates your dog.  Most people would think that all dogs react to food, but some dogs, like my Cygni, seem to respond better to praise and affection.  Try seeing which your dog gets more excited for or holds their attention more.  You and praises or a small piece of cheese.

2. Some commands are most easily taught in sync with one another.  Some of these are Sit, Stay, and Come.  Others like Down require Sit first.

3. Sit – to teach sit hold your treat, or your hand over the puppy’s face and slowly move it back towards the puppy’s tail.  The puppy should follow your hand and have to sit down to keep looking back, and remember to couple the word SIT with the action of moving your hand back.  If your puppy tries to jump up you may be holding the treat too high.  As soon as the puppy sits say “Good Sit” and give your puppy its reward.  This command takes many recitations and as you continue to teach this to the puppy use the reward more and more sparingly.  Its good to remember to teach the puppy to sit near the front door and on walks when you stop as a car passes.  This will ensure that your little furball isn’t a jumper when you have guests and remains safe on walks on roads.

4. Down – Start with your puppy already sitting and this time take the treat and move it down between the puppy’s paws as you say DOWN.  If the puppy has trouble going all the way down then move the treat between the paws and give your puppy time to get down towards the treat.  Don’t forget to praise them. For some puppies (like Cygni) the Down command is very difficult.  You can also try moving the treat down and away from the puppy rather than between the paws.  If this does not work try sitting on the floor with your legs straight out ahead of you with your knees slightly bent.  Hold the treat beneath your knees and as the puppy follows the treat  move it further under your knee so the puppy lies down as it follows.  Remember to practice this command in a various of starting positions and locations.

5. Stay -  Young puppies can stay for short periods of time and only can the time be increased with gradual training.  Begin with the puppy sitting in front of you and command STAY with taking only 1 step back.  If the puppy manages to stay still for 1-2 seconds then you may reward the puppy with its treat or praise.  Do not give the reward if the puppy stands to receive it or you will be rewarding them for getting up, not staying. As you continue training this command you can start taking more steps backwards and expecting your puppy to stay for longer amounts of time.  Teaching Stay takes a good amount of time and as you practice further distances remember to keep the puppy on a leash so it won’t go running off.  Stay is a good command to prevent the puppy from running into any danger or hazardous situations such as running out the door, into traffic, or jumping onto company.

6. Stand – Teaching your puppy to stand is fairly simple.  Start with your puppy in the sit position and move your hand above the dog so it stands to follow. Remember to stop when the puppy stands to award its treat.

7. Come – This command is the most important one for your puppy to know.  Naturally young puppies will come to their guardian, and in many cases food or toy is not needed to prompt them to come to you.  As the puppy ages though it will grow more independent and may need more reward for coming when called.  Remember to never call your dog to you to discipline it.  To teach the Come command just stand 1-3 feet back from your puppy with a treat or reward and call the puppy’s name and COME, use a happy and inviting tone of voice for this command.  When the puppy comes praise them lavishly and repeat the process, moving further and further back with practice.  Try not to call your puppy when it means ending something it enjoys, such as being outside or before having to go into its crate.  When practicing in areas where the puppy has a chance of running off remember to use a lead and always practice with many different environments and distractions.

8. Follow – This command will help prevent your puppy from being a dog that pulls and lunges on walks.  Start in an environment with litter distraction and begin with the Sit/Stay command. Always have the leash on so that you may control how far your puppy gets from you.  As you leave your house the dog should wait for you to being walking and follow you on the leash.  If they attempt to run ahead just pull up on the leash and put the dog back into the Sit position and have them wait before you resume the walk.  Practice this often with varying distractions to ensure perfect dog walks and a perfect mannered dog in front of guests.

There are many different ways you can train your dog and even more different tricks and commands to teach them.

If you are concerned about your dog’s behavior problems check out books by Caesar Millan.

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