# Advanced training for 7 month old pup



## hubert (Oct 5, 2009)

Hi All,

Our Golden retriever puppy is now about 7 months old. We have been training her pretty diligently and she has mastered all the basic commands like

Sit
Stand
Down
Rollover
Shake (shake hands)
High Five
Stay
Come
Walk/Follow (walk beside us)
Watch

I feel our training sessions are getting a little boring and would like to train her new/useful/fun commands. Any suggestions on what to train her to do, and please also give suggestion how to do it. 

Thanks a bunch.

Hubert


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## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

It sounds like you've got a real handle on things. More advanced obedience training continues with the basic commands, but with complications and distractions. Sit and down-stays for longer times and with distractions like kids running by or rolling a ball on the floor in front of the dog, for example. Or recall with added distractions like other people, other dogs, or something else that may be more interesting than you. At 7 months, your dog is also at the beginning of their adolescence which means that there will be times when they seem to have completely forgotten all of their training, and you will have to go back to basics and re-inforce everything. You could also teach "back up," "wait" (which is different than stay...stay means they stay put until you return to them, wait means they stay until you release them from a distance), "trade" (to get them to drop what's in their mouth), "leave it" (which is invaluable to stop them from picking up something undesirable), "crawl", "touch" (they touch their nose to your extended hand).


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Why don't you try:

Sit pretty/Beg
Fix (Dog untangles himself from leash by stepping out of it rather than you bending over)
Balance Cookie on Nose
Retrieve
Hold
Try doing the stuff your dog knows but mixing it up. Practice with hand signals only, then verbal only, etc.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Most goldens love walking backwards once they learn how.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

Work on recall around distractions. Important life saving behavior!


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## hubert (Oct 5, 2009)

Thanks for the suggestions. I do have some difficult doing recall under distraction. How would you suggest to train them to recall when they are distracted. Thanks!

Hubert


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

How about" Over" for hopping over a log in the woods, ""Find It" for sniffing out anything from a treat to her leash, "Speak" and "Whisper", and heel with all kinds of slow/fast, left right variations including about turn?


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