Puppy Training

[2chatter]

Tell me all your favorite tricks!

The girls came home last night (5 month old Great Pyrenees mix sisters) and I slept in the room with their crates - they STTN! My alarm woke me at 6:15. Amazing. They’re 5 months old and super smart - last night they learned stairs (up) but I’m worried about down (treat excitement motivated them up but worried they will tumble down).

Tips on kids and commands? I want to tell the younger two NO commands at all until they are trained so as not to confuse the dogs; anyone have experience?

I’m relieved they are crate trained because I am presenting on a call today and will need silence and no distractions.

They are house broken. Amazing.

[mommyatty]

The biggest thing to teach kids is the order of commands, and the exact words you want used. For example, “Muffy, sit!” And NOT “Come on, Muffy, here girl! Will you sit down for me? Come on, sit down for me!” Dogs can learn words, but not figure out which words in a conversation matter. Also, the vet I worked for highly recommended, especially with big dogs, that you get the dogs immediately used to taking commands from the kids. They need to see the kids as betas in the pack leadership structure and themselves as gammas. Otherwise, when the kids do start giving commands, the dog is less likely to follow them because they think the dogs occupy the same or a higher level in the pack hierarchy as the kids.

Also, if the kids don’t know, point out the crate is the dogs’ safe place. When the dog chooses to go to the crate or is in the crate on command, pretend they are a bear in a cave. Don’t disturb them. Let them be.

[2chatter]

Yes! DS talks and talks - and throws out commands - then repeats commands they don’t know over and over and over. I think this is a very temporary problem because they are learning quickly but it’s already making me crazy.

The pack hierarchy totally makes sense! And we had the crate convo. Fingers crossed.

[callmekd]

I want to see a pic of these puppies!

[2chatter]

Here they are....

[callmekd]

2chatter THEY ARE SO CUTE! is one bigger?

[2chatter]

callmekd - the one in the foreground in the top pic has about 5 pounds (at 5 months) on her sister. I’m dying to know actual for real breed. The smaller one definitely looks different for body composition.

[186momx]

Are you going to teach hand signals at all. We taught our border collie/lab hand signals as a puppy so when we had DD a few years later and she got to the toddler age she could say sit and we would do the signal behind her so that the dog did what she was supposed to.

This might help with your DS just talking and throwing out commands. Are you planning on taking them to puppy school? If yes, I would arrange it so the whole family goes so everyone is on the same page. I know a lot to get your whole crew free at the same time.

[2chatter]

We do plan on puppy school for sure - I need to call and talk to them about best approach. Trying to avoid littermate syndrome AND juggle our schedules is a little BSC, so I may go for a trainer who comes to us ($$$ but sanity).

My old dogs were hand signal trained but I don’t remember HOW I did that. It was easy, because they were smart, but that’s all I’ve got.

[callmekd]

2chatter the smaller one looks border collie mix to me.

[sandandsea]

We did puppy training classes and then advanced and agility classes with or dog so she did 3 total. I’d highly recommend classes as it gets the puppy socialization and used to crowds and other people too.

[librarychica]

Oh my gosh, they’re adorable!

I can totally see the hierarchy thing with the kids. That may explain why my dog, who was 4 when our oldest child was born, mostly ignores her attempts at giving commands even though she is doing it the same way I do.

The only tip I have is not to let them develop bad habits that are cute on puppies and awful on dogs. I let my pup go crazy around water, nip at it, etc. Now she’s banned from a friend’s pool parties after knocking over one too many beers, she ate my screen door when the babysitter was inside the pool with the kids, that sort of thing. It is her one flaw.

[2chatter]

librarychica - yes! the big one (Grayton) gently puts her paw on your arm or leg when she wants attention. It’s sweet and super super cute but will be awfully annoying in a big dog. They got chipped yesterday and she is projected to be 107 lbs, so I am trying to think through everything that’s sweet when she’s her current 35 pounds and bad at over 100.