# Things every puppy should know



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Walk Nice (loose lead walking)
Come
Sit
Down
Stay
Stand
Give/Drop it

The above are the biggies.

Other than that -

*Wait* (some people don't bother teaching this, but when I tell dogs to "stay", it means that they do not move until I go back and release them. When I tell them to "wait", they know I'm going to call them to come from a distance away).

*Stand/Steady* - I use two different words, because Stand is what I use when I want him to stay (like in show ring). Steady is the word I use when I'm just grooming and want him to stand up, but don't expect him to hold the position. 

*Take It* - It means the same thing whether I'm giving the dog something by hand or sending him out to retrieve something. He takes it in his mouth and holds it until I release him. 

*Heel* - This is listed seperately from "walk nicely", because I don't think the average dog owner needs to put their dog into a heel when they are out walking. A relaxed walk is the dog walking wherever next to the owner. A heel is a specific position (dog shoulder in line with your leg) that the dog must hold until released. 

That's the basics. I'm sure there are others I'm not thinking of right now.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

'Kennel-up'...or 'Go To Bed' if you dont crate...
'Off'...


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

It depends on the dog and on the owner. Some teams need more behaviors on cue than others. Some people have different goals. Rowdy dogs can benefit from more cues...if the owner wants more control.

I appreciate a dog that does not jump on people, can easily be handled/groomed, a dog that walks well on a leash, and a dog that can respond to his name.


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

Mabye some tricks? Not essential but fun and makes other people happy. Roll-over, shake a paw, spin. For Therapy Dogs, they actually like them to know a lot of tricks.

Also the quick heel (getting in position for heeling).

I also like to teach them over (jumping over an object), under, in, and on.


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## DianaM (Feb 18, 2010)

At what age do they need to do these things without treats? Gracie will do most of those but I still need to bribe her with treats. She will not do a down without the treat to the ground motion. It drives me nuts!


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

DianaM said:


> At what age do they need to do these things without treats? Gracie will do most of those but I still need to bribe her with treats. She will not do a down without the treat to the ground motion. It drives me nuts!


I think that depends on your and the program you are with...? 

For example, to wean off the treat for the down, you need to "hide" the treat behind your thumb so the dog doesn't always know there is a treat there. 

Then the distractibility of the dog needs to be factored in. 

So it could be within a few weeks. Or it could months. Or it could be a year? Or years.

I know people who are still trying to teach their 2 or 3 year old dogs decent stands. 

And *cough* - I had to go back to scratch in teaching and reinforcing sit and down stays. My dog has fear issues that complicated things for us. He's almost 3.


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

Penny STILL thinks she too good for the down position...too subordinate.

Don't think of it as bribing, think of it as positive reinforcement for job well done! You way of thinking totally changes the energy you give to your dog. Bribe = negative, reward = positive.


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## DianaM (Feb 18, 2010)

Haha yea I guess bribe wasn't the right word. I don't think of it as a negative thing. Our trainer always says that treats are good right now because she is just a puppy. I was just wondering if there was an age that we "should" aim for. We don't really have a program that we're following. We are in advanced puppy now and just registered to take it again. We are expecting her to go into heat within the next couple months so didn't want to take the CGC class yet (plus I think she's still too young and has a lot more to learn) but don't want to just sit around and wait. We will advance to the next class early next year. We just want our girl to listen to us and be well behaved. I also might try to get her into agility classes since she seemed to enjoy the puppy course they had set up in her first puppy class.


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

I expect Cosmo to do any of the commands he knows without a food reward. If he gets one, it's an added treat! There was a period when he was really little when he would simply refuse to do it without a treat, but since about 3 months old he's been good without them. Clicker helps us. We still use treats all the time for learning new things and rewarding difficult things like recall.


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## Dixiesmom (Oct 6, 2010)

Can anyone tell me how to use a clicker to train. I don't want my dog to get addicted to treats. True, she's only eight weeks old and doing great with the sit, down, and paw command but I've seen people talk about using a clicker. I am totally unfamiliar with this method and how/why it works.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

The clicker = use of treats. Lots of treats at first. 

When you are starting with a puppy. You generally click when the dog performs the desired behavior and immediately give a treat. The point of using a clicker is it is the same response every single time your dog does something good. Because it's initially tied in to rewards (treats), the dog quickly learns which behaviors produce results, etc... As time goes by you wean off the flood of treats but still use the clicker. 

That's the basic gist of what I learned - but I know there are people here who would be much better at explaining. From what I could tell from the clicker session we took (obedience 1), the clicker does not replace the food. It replaces the necessity of verbally praising the dog. The teacher explained that's because it has the same sound every single time, unlike our voices (especially when we are tired, etc).

That said - I found it a lot easier using the "YES" alternative. Because I was too slow pulling treats out after clicking. Whereas with the "YES", the treats were already in my hand.


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## Chelseanr (Oct 3, 2010)

We're teaching Rowan HALT! for if he ever runs off into a dangerous situation so he immediately stops what he's doing and comes back no matter what, kind of like a 911 word that is only used in emergency situations instead of just "come!"


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