Liz CA Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 ...so after the untimely death of our mastiff, we were able to get another mastiff through mastiff rescue. My behavioral requirements are pretty basic: I want the dog to come when called, sit, lie down, stay and heel. Anything beyond that is gravy. I have heard of the clicker method in dog training but don't fully understand it. Has it worked for anyone here? My new baby sits, lies down (not always, sometimes need more "encouragement") does NOT come reliably when called, stays and heels fairly well considering we have just been working together for one week. I am also using hand signals for the first time when training. Any and all suggestions will be considered. :001_smile: Please be specific with explanations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 What a cute dog! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 Well, to work on recall, I got a long lead (like feet and feet long... my dog is decently big, too..) and would let him run out and then kinda "click" on his prong collar and say "Come". I would then get him to come to me and sit in front. (Reason was given in training that coming to you... but shooting right past... could lead to them running in the street.... they had an example of a "dead dog" story that had happened to someone they knew) Anyway, this worked, and while he's not perfect... even 3 years from then... I can tell I worked with him. I need to get out and start doing it again... (lazy on my part) I don't mind a prong collar because I'm not jerking it around... and I have a german made one... (good quality) and also because I was "taught" to use it properly so it isn't for hurting... It's merely a bit of a pinch. You could probably mix clicker training with it, but I'm not great at that... PS, it has saved us... he literally spun around and came back after starting in a mad dash to go "see" a dog down the street.... he came back when a squirrel was near... and he was chasing it out of the gate... and maybe once more... :) Who can leave a good dog alone??? You haaaaaddddd to get him :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 ...so after the untimely death of our mastiff, we were able to get another mastiff through mastiff rescue.My behavioral requirements are pretty basic: I want the dog to come when called, sit, lie down, stay and heel. Anything beyond that is gravy. I have heard of the clicker method in dog training but don't fully understand it. Has it worked for anyone here? My new baby sits, lies down (not always, sometimes need more "encouragement") does NOT come reliably when called, stays and heels fairly well considering we have just been working together for one week. I am also using hand signals for the first time when training. Any and all suggestions will be considered. :001_smile: Please be specific with explanations. No suggestions...only congratulations! He's a handsome boy! What's his name? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Researcher Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 I like any of the books by Karen Pryor and another book titled Control Unleashed. Congrats on the new family member! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 he's ADORABLE!!!! I'm so glad you rescued him!!! I would give him a reward (treat) every time he DOES come and that will encourage him to come back more regularly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 (edited) For really important safety commands, like coming when he is called, I would use cut up hotdogs (cut in half first), cheese cubes, or meatballs cut into fourths. You can buy frozen meatballs for this - they are already cooked. To a dog, these may be higher value treats than plain old dog training tidbits, especially if you do not feed him people food ordinarily. He is a beautiful dog! What is his name? Edited March 26, 2011 by RoughCollie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 So handsome!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buterflysbeauty Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 I personally use and LOVE Cesar Millan and his philosophy of dog training. I have a 3 year old mutt that we have used Cesar's methods with and they have worked. As soon as he understood we were the pack leaders and not him we had no problem with him being off leash running around our backyard. Before he would take off for the neighbor's house and their dogs but not now. I found his book in the library and used that instead of buying it, although it is worth the money! HTH. Here's his website http://www.cesarsway.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 No suggestions...only congratulations! He's a handsome boy! What's his name? My dh started calling him Ted Bear, I will probably call him Teddy, ds thinks that we should have named him Samson because he is 126lbs. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 For really important safety commands, like coming when he is called, I would use cut up hotdogs (cut in half first), cheese cubes, or meatballs cut into fourths. You can buy frozen meatballs for this - they are already cooked. To a dog, these may be higher value treats than plain old dog training tidbits, especially if you do not feed him people food ordinarily. He is a beautiful dog! What is his name? Is this little one in the pic your new baby??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 My dh started calling him Ted Bear, I will probably call him Teddy, ds thinks that we should have named him Samson because he is 126lbs. :001_smile: Aww. I like Teddy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer3141 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Liz, I just adopted a Great Dane. Want to joing my, "This is a great dog but what the %$#%$# have I done?!?" club? Membership is free to anyone who has gotten peed on at 12:43 in the morning because you made your own pit stop first. :D I have clicker trained dogs and parrots and we all loved it. I'm going to be doing that and also researching another book by a police dog trainer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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