# Molly's training at 16 weeks



## Molly's Mum (Apr 1, 2011)

I haven't taken photos in a while but did a short video today showing some of the things Molly has learnt to do. We started learning "on your mat" yesterday with the clicker so that's still very new for us. As she gets more confident I'll start moving the mat further away from us. Her sit and down stays can be longer too (about 15 - 20 seconds) but I kept them short for the video to save on time. "Wait" is a very difficult one for Molly when we're using a tasty treat like today (sausage) so I again kept the wait time very short, if a less tasty treat is used we can make it longer. Hope you enjoy the video


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## elly (Nov 21, 2010)

Way to gooo Molly!! She should have 10 certificates for that!! Great! Shes done sooo well! So has her Mamma!


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## Ruby'smom (Feb 4, 2008)

wow she is fantastic
wont take her long to do all her good citizen awards at the rate she is going 
well done to both of you


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## mamabear (May 17, 2011)

Great work, Molly (and mum!)


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## vcm5 (Apr 20, 2011)

Such a great video! Except it made me feel a little bad about Riley haha!!


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## davebeech (Feb 11, 2006)

Molly is doing brilliant, and wow hasn't she grown !!


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## Wimbles (Mar 25, 2010)

My my Miss Molly, what a clever girl you are and so beautiful too!

Love the roll overs, especially the one when she runs out of space for those long legs.


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## desilu (Nov 2, 2006)

She is doing so well! Great job!


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## Benlora (Sep 25, 2009)

She is so good. I am very impressed.

Eileen


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## Tammy (Jul 7, 2011)

Very good job to you & Molly! How long each day do you work on her training? I'm hoping to get Dusty into puppy class in Aug since all of the vacations will be over by then & hope he does half as well as your Molly!


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## Discoverer (Feb 3, 2011)

Molly is beautiful and very smart girl. Well done! Does she have a solid recall when outside?


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## Molly's Mum (Apr 1, 2011)

Tammy said:


> How long each day do you work on her training?


I try to keep the training sessions short and do at least one session each day, sometimes we do up to three sessions a day. The sessions are each about 5 minutes but I don't time them, about the length of that video is how much I'll do at one session maybe slightly longer. I always try to pick a time when she's not too hungry or tired. After each training session we'll play or take a relaxed walk. Sometimes I do a training session during a walk so that we can practice outside away from home.


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## Molly's Mum (Apr 1, 2011)

Discoverer said:


> Does she have a solid recall when outside?


In the garden yes she comes when called. Outside of the garden we are working on recall still so I don't trust letting her off leash just yet. Sometimes she comes perfectly but if there is a big distraction then I know she won't come, we're working on that still.


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## Tanyac (Jun 18, 2008)

So lovely to see how much Molly has grown. She's doing so well with her training, you're doing a great job with her.

Well done Molly and well done also to her human mum


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

she's a very pretty girl, and a smart one too. Great job training her. She is doing fantastic.


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## vcm5 (Apr 20, 2011)

I wish Riley could do that thing where you put the food on her feet and tell her to wait and she eats it off them. If I put my hand out with food in it he will look at me and wait for the command to eat it. But what steps should I take to bridge the gap between waiting to eat out of my hand and waiting to eat off his paws??


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## Molly's Mum (Apr 1, 2011)

vcm5 said:


> I wish Riley could do that thing where you put the food on her feet and tell her to wait and she eats it off them. If I put my hand out with food in it he will look at me and wait for the command to eat it. But what steps should I take to bridge the gap between waiting to eat out of my hand and waiting to eat off his paws??


I started out by training her with lower value treats, we have these tiny heart shaped biscuit treats that she'll eat but she's not super excited about. The higher value the treat the harder it is to practice self control. I started by asking her to sit or lie down and then would tell her to "wait" and place one treat about one foot infront of her on the floor. If she went for it I'd quickly snatch it up and say "no" in a calm voice and make her sit or lie down again and start over. I started by only asking her to wait about 3 seconds before giving her "okay" so that she could get the treat. If she waited until I gave the cue and she did it right I'd make a fuss and give her another treat with lots of praise. Keep it short and limit it to about 10 goes then stop and move onto something else or have some play time. I worked on this about once or twice a day, just a few minutes each time.

Once your dog is consistently getting it right then move the treat closer. If he starts getting it wrong then back up and move the treat further away. Eventually you'll get to being able to put it on his paw, just one treat. Once he's mastered that then try two treats, one on each paw. Then try higher value treats. If he takes the higher value treat before cue then try putting the treat further away from him and slowly work closer towards his paw. Our next step will be balancing the treat on her nose.

If you find your dog is getting to the treat before you then try moving the treat further away from your dog so that you have more time to get there before he does. If your dog is in the lie down position it's harder for him to get to the treat before you. If your dog still doesn't understand and he won't wait at all then try putting a lightweight training line or a leash on him and hold him back the first few times so he gets the idea that he must wait where he is until you say that he can go get the treat.

But as you say he can already wait for the treat in your hand so most of this he should already know. I'd start by putting the treat infront of him on the floor and then moving it closer each time until it's on his paw. Don't try to get onto his paw in the first session, take it slowly over a few days and it shouldn't take him long.

Remember lots of praise when he gets it right and stop before he gets bored or gives up, you want this to be fun for him


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## vcm5 (Apr 20, 2011)

Thanks for the tips!! I'm definitely going to try that with him today using his breakfast!! I'll let you know how it goes!


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