What are the top 5 skills should you teach a dog?

[ramijj8]

Tl;Dr : I am trying to train the family dog because everyone else has given up on him, and I want to know what are the top 5 foundations of training we should work on.

Backstory:

I have been away from the family home for a few years. During that time the family dog that we had since childhood had past, my family thought it was a good idea to run and get a new one (which I was COMPLETELY against but no one listened to me).

The problem is everyone was expecting the dog to have the exact temperament and behavior as the previous one...but they are different breeds and have different backgrounds. So they kinda just label him as a bad dog/think he's "too much" and do the absolute bare minimum for this poor guy. Without understanding training is not something a dog just picks up out of nowhere.

His name is Milo, he's around 2ish years old and I am unsure of his breed (I think he's a German pinscher mix, I'll update this when i have a better guess). He's very energetic, super affectionate, and food motivated. Within the first few months of meeting him I've taught him how to sit, lay down, not jump on me (still working on other people), and how to gently take treats, not pull on the leash or bark at every car that passes us. He listens to hand gestures and verbal queues from me. Out of my family of 5 he seems to only seems to like/listen to me. I try to keep him under my wing because of this because my family usually yells at him or undo my rules/training.

I am living at home temporarily but when I leave i plan on taking him with me because I don't feel like my family is capable of meeting his needs. Milo is an awesome dog but has things to work on. I would love any tips or advice of things we should be working on. How did y'all go about training your dog? Anything helps!

 

[julie3685]

@ramijj8 Impulse control and the ability to settle is what I will focus on for my next puppy.

One nobody thinks about is poop/ pee on command. Like if I send my dog out to poop she knows exactly what I’m expecting. Also making sure all dogs have peed in a timely manner before I leave for a few hours is great.

If you have multiple dogs, I like to get them all on the same poop schedule so I can keep track of who I should keep my eye on.

Also a solid recall.

 

[jdsenn]

@julie3685 Training my Shibe to potty on command has been a life saver for when theres loads of snow and he wants to play.

 

[peter95faith]

@jdsenn We have a shiba too! How'd do manage potty on command?!

 

[jdsenn]

@peter95faith Starting when we got him at 8 weeks we have said the word potty during #1 or #2. Eventually we started using it to encourage him to go. It's not foolproof but it works 75% of the time. We don't use that word outside of him going and encouraging him to go.

 

[kimmarqy]

@ramijj8 -Place command
-Impulse control: toss a ball and make him wait to be released
-Sit before he gets to do anything
-Recall on a longline
-Heel on command

 

[andz_evz]

@kimmarqy How do you teach your dog these things

 

[kimmarqy]

@andz_evz I can provide links to these commands for your reading pleasure

Place: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/teaching-go-to-your-place/

Denials and sit before doing anything creating a steady dog:

https://www.cornerstonegundogacadem...s-early-how-to-stop-a-retriever-from-breaking

Recall on a longline: https://www.dogtrainingtherightway.co.uk/recall-long-line-training/#:~:text=The%20purpose%20of%20the%20recall,or%20trying%20to%20run%20off.

Heel: https://www.sfspca.org/sites/default/files/dog_commands_heel.pdf

 

[darryl2359]

@kimmarqy Damn thank you!

 

[andz_evz]

@kimmarqy Never mind here they are. Thanks so much

 

[kimmarqy]

@andz_evz I hope all the links showed up for you.

 

[andz_evz]

@kimmarqy They didn’t

 

[solidarity]

@andz_evz Impulse control...
Treats.. put a treat just out of their reach say leave it and reward with a different treat after removing the original treat. Make the time they leave it longer and then close the distance. Then start practicing with other objects. This is often taught after sit and stay.

Stay is similar. Have them sit, don't reward yet - you want to stop rewarding when you're trying to add a new instruction so they focus (so they must have a good handle on sit), say stay and when they don't move reward. Then increase the time they stay for. Then start to increase the distance between you and the dog. Also your body language is read well by the dog so use a hand signal (like the stop sign) for stay. Be consistent with it, eventually you may be able to use just hand signals or just voice commands but dogs tend to do better and learn faster when you use both.

Recall... have high value treats and reward everytime they come back. Make sure to give an instruction after saying their name. You use their name for many things, you need an instruction after it for recall eg come or come here. Always give the treat. If its a difficult recall e.g. they are distracted then jackpot them... give them extra treats for doing what you wanted.

Walking close to you on a lead.... get their attention with a treat and say close or heel and when they are walking next to your knee give them the reward. Again, increase the time between the instruction and the reward. If you are uk based primula (cheese in a tube) is great for this as its quick to dispense, they think they get a reward just for licking the tube and it keeps your hands clean/stops them getting distracted when you inevitably drop small treats.

OP for high energy dogs also consider sniffing activities - they are great for tiring them out especially on hot days when walking isn't safe. You can scatter feed or use a snuffle mat too and it is mental stimulation for them.

We taught ours off (different to down as down is used for lie down) to get them off furniture or to tell them to stop jumping. The best way to stop them jumping up was to just turn around and ignore. Sometimes any noise, even no is a reward for them that enjoy attention

 

[ramijj8]

@kimmarqy Thank you!

 

[valpal1123]

@ramijj8 Recall. Wait. Leave it. Drop it. Stay.

 

[williemac]

@valpal1123 What’s the difference between, wait. And stay.? Couldn’t you use stay in both instances?

 

[mgunn0103]

@williemac Wait can be used to wait for a particular thing, such as food, a toy, crossing the street, etc. Stay is more generally used as “don’t stop doing what you’re currently doing”

 

[williemac]

@mgunn0103 Ok great. Thank you

 

[nate10213]

@williemac I use wait to mean "hold on, I'll do what you want in a second" whereas stay is "stay there"

I taught him this by accident, but it worked out, because he's a very impatient puppy. But "wait" usually gets him to calm down when he's excited to go on his walk or get a treat.

 

[kendalgeo]

@williemac I use wait as "wait here until my next command" and stay as "stay right here until I come back to you", that way they know if they should be getting comfortable or listening for another command