Making the most of a very bright puppy

• 11-01-2009 10:36 PM

  corvus Joined on 08-01-2006 Australia (NSW) Posts 2,693 Points 80

  Making the most of a very bright puppy Reply Contact  So, I have this puppy that is incredibly bright and LOVES to train. He is creative, confident, extremely alert, and persistent. I've been clicker training him and he is tremendously good at it and can't get enough of it. I've been doing a little free shaping with him and he is excellent at it. He tries new things and he only needs a couple of clicks to figure out what he's doing right. He is fun and dead easy to shape, and he is already streets ahead of my older dog, who finds free shaping a bit stressful and likes training to be very easy. My question is, what should I be doing with him to get the most out of all these traits that make training him so fun? Are there things I can do with him to take him that little bit further? To encourage him to be everything he can be? Mourning Penny. We were going to be young together forever, but I'm glad we grew up together instead.

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• 11-02-2009 12:09 AM

  In reply to corvus

  BEVOLASVEGAS Joined on 07-11-2006 Texas Posts 7,976 Points 940	Re: Making the most of a very bright puppy Reply Contact Just keep training fun for him, & resist the temptation to push him too hard, too fast. Dogs like Erik are so fun to work with because, training wise, there is no limit to what you can teach them.  Have fun with it! Amanda Tact is for people who aren't witty enough to use sarcasm.
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• 11-02-2009 10:50 PM

  In reply to corvus

  spiritdogs Joined on 09-10-2007 Posts 11,730 Points 1,020

  Re: Making the most of a very bright puppy Reply Contact  Canine freestyle???? Regional Director for Massachusetts, International Positive Dog Training Association Director, SeniorCare Pawsitive Connections Program AKC CGC Evaluator #3669 Therapy Dogs, Inc. Tester/Observer Sioux, CGC, TDInc. Maska, CGC, TDInc. Sequoyah, CGC Fergie, Retired Lap Dog, Age 20 1/2 Dancer, CGC, TDInc. (1989-2006) #1 Heart Dog In memory of Mike, please become an organ donor today. "If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them you will not know them and what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one destroys." - Chief Dan George "The fidelity of a dog is a precious gift demanding no less binding moral responsibilities than the friendship of a human being. The bond with a true dog is as lasting as the ties of this earth can ever be." ~ Konrad Lorenz

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• 11-02-2009 11:37 PM

  In reply to corvus

  poodleOwned Joined on 01-13-2009 Posts 112 Points 5

  Re: Making the most of a very bright puppy Reply Contact Hi I would do what i do with my very bright dogs, enjoy them very much and do as much as i can with them.   With Luci i am doing TSD tracking. (Tracking and search dog ), UD obedience , AD,JD level agility and am thinking how to do freestyle and DWD with her. She is a hoot. Right now is the time to teach the basics of some of the more advanced excercises. It is way easier now.  Don't let the drearies get to you. Just as in human terms some people are really happy doing just one thing and trying hard to get that right, well some dogs do like doing that,but many dont.   The drearies will say  Train just one thing at a time ( i often train three or four things but with clear end of excercise signals) They wont like obedince after you have done tracking/agility oh dear....... I have done all three with just a few minutes break between them...   With Sam, well we are dong obedience and tracking and  agility . we do several excercises and keep it happy and fast. Dont be a heeling bore to your dogs. Develop it along with all the other stuff.  To be really honest, I would avoid most Aussie dog clubs like the plague. They are fine for socialisation but are often the last bastion of the often (very) mediocre.  There are some good ones but they are few and far between.  Learn how to proof and how to play and have fun...             Tch Cadbury CDX (RIP) Tch Nascere Bella Nera CDX Ch Jenuin Constanine

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• 11-03-2009 3:07 PM

  In reply to poodleOwned

  corvus Joined on 08-01-2006 Australia (NSW) Posts 2,693 Points 80

  Re: Making the most of a very bright puppy Reply Contact He's definitely not into working on just one thing at a time. He likes to learn tricks. He's happy to work on basic stuff like focus and stays and downs, but he brightens considerably when we do something a little more involved. So I'm just doing short sessions on the boring stuff and using the fun stuff as a break or to finish up a training session. He's so much fun! I've been thinking of taking him to a club, pO, but certainly not the local one. I feel like he could do with the socialisation, especially without my other dog. I think I would be driving for an hour to find a semi-decent one, though. Mourning Penny. We were going to be young together forever, but I'm glad we grew up together instead.

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• 11-03-2009 3:27 PM

  In reply to corvus

  Liesje Joined on 03-02-2007 Posts 9,918 Points 655

  Re: Making the most of a very bright puppy Reply Contact From my experience, I would say, encourage him to be as "operant" and "proactive" as possible, as long as possible!  SO MUCH EASIER to train a proactive dog!! Sometimes I take a break from the intense Schutzund training and just do silly stuff with Nikon.  A few weeks ago I taught him to play dead (I say "BANG" and make my hand like a gun and he flops on his side).  Last weekend I taught him to spin repeatedly in tight circles until he falls over dizzy.  http://vankelderdogs.dutchbingo.net http://www.schhmi.com

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• 11-03-2009 4:11 PM

  In reply to Liesje

  Jewlieee Joined on 03-23-2007 MI Posts 7,322 Points 4,610

  Re: Making the most of a very bright puppy Reply Contact  Sometimes I will just sit with one of my dogs (by themselves) and let them determine the direction of training. Dogs that love clicker training will throw out tons of behaviors. The challenge can be by selecting the tiniest behavior then just going with it to see what comes next.  For example, I taught Neiko to stick his tongue out just by clicking whenever he did a tongue flick during a free shaping lesson. It took him a while to catch on to that one because he was used to be clicking for more obvious movements. So he'd throw his "back up" behavior, but at the same time he'd flick his tongue because he was trying to figure out what would get him the reward (kind of like a human scratching their head..hmm). So, he had to figure out it was the tongue lick and not any other movement that actually got him the reward. That was a lot of fun to train and I felt really great that we worked out such a hard trick together! With Abbie, we just free shaped "head down" and "shake your head no" just watching what behaviors she throws and selecting one to develop.  The sky is the limit with dogs like this. I love training this way. It's soooooo much more fun than traditional methods.

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• 11-03-2009 8:45 PM

  In reply to corvus

  RubyandStewiesmom Joined on 10-23-2009 Rockford, IL Posts 64 Points 40

  Re: Making the most of a very bright puppy Reply Contact I love to do hunt and seek with my pits. I own about 10 kongs...various shapes, sizes, and such...and love to put a little schmear of peanut butter in each one of them and hide them around our back yard.  We don't have a huge yard, but I'll even put them in a crook of a tree, or things like that.  I never put them in the same place if I can avoid it for a week or so.  They just LOVE hunting.  I say "go hunt"  "go bring it to mommy" and they love to search and find them all over.  It's a good cheap thing to do...a friend of mine uses plastic water bottles with a little treat in it to hide around the yard. Especially this time of year under leaf piles and such is a lot of fun.  You might like that.  And also doing any of his tricks in places like Petsmart or Petco, or at the dogpark with distractions is GREAT! I dare you to try and take my Pitties away! Say No to Breed Specific Legislation! Ruby: Red Nosed Pitbull DOB: 10/1/2008 Stewie: American Bulldog/Pitbull mix DOB: 7/4/2009 Louis: Snarky Black Cat DOB: 3/9/2004

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