Roco confuses me at times.

[JulioA]

Roco is a 4 month old Bull Terrier and has been with me since two days ago. Weve gotten the sit command down.

He sits everytime and quite quickly now. He used to come every time Id yell "Roco come", but now its a different story he only comes when he feels like it, and only plays fetch when he wants to. I have not practiced these as much as the sit but I have spent quite a bit of time on them.

The one Im worried about right now is the shaking hands/paws command, I say "hello Roco" and shake his hand but he doesnt really get it. When I then put my hand out and say "hello Roco" he just stares at me, and I give him time because at first wehn learning sit Id say sit, hed take a little while but eventually sit and Id reward him. With the shaking hands/paws we take up to 10 min and no response. I would really like to have him really responsive to everything I say so please help. Thank you.

 

[shepluvr]

first of all never tell him to come unless you can enforce it, and never call him when you need to do something he does not like. Everytime you call him it should be something pleasant.

You have only had him for 2 days...don't expect so much so soon. you should not go on to the next command until he has gotten the 1st one down. when you teach him, give him a command and if he does not do it, show him. Do not say for example: sit, sit, sit and then make him sit. Say sit and if he does not do it right away, place him in the sit position and reward him.

To teach the shake hands, I would give the command "Rocco Hello", then pick up his paw and reward him. Keep doing it until he gets it. you can switch the order of the words later. My dog's command was give me five, But when I started teaching it, it was "Kaia five" The other words came later. Hope this helps!

 

[Mordy]

If he doesn't respond reliably, he doesn't quite understand yet just what exactly is expected of him.

I've found it easier to first teach a behavior until it is solid and then attach a name to it rather than confusing the dog by saying a word (command) that doesn't have much if any meaning yet and then expecting the dog to perform. This way you lose many, many chances for reinforcing wanted behavior in order to make it more solid.

 

[JulioA]

He sits everytime without a problem and comes when called almost every time unless theres a really big distraction. I hope to get shake hands as fast as we got sit, but if it doesnt happen I want to be sure I doing it right.

Roco comes over I tell him to sit, he does, I then say "hello Roco", grab his paw and shake it up and down. I then meanwhile shaking say "very good" and give him a treat.

 

[Semaru]

If he doesn't come and play fetch with you when you ask, perhaps you should work on that before the shaking paw command?

 

[Fuzz Puppy]

It's good that he'll come unless there's a big distraction. A lot of dogs don't come when there's a big distraction. It seems like he gets it though. Have you concidered teaching a command for emergencies where Roco comes immediately using a word that's out of the ordinary for him? It's like teaching a new trick, but Roco has to come to you immediately. Good luck.

Hannah

 

[Doberluv]

I think if you work only on one trick, a dog can tend to get bored with training and you want training to be fun and interesting. I think you could work on 2 or 3 tricks. And that was good advice you got....never give a command you can't enforce. Look on the forum for recall training. There is a good bit of info there. Don't say the word, "come" if you can't enforce it. If the dog blows you off, he just learns that "come" is meaningless. Get your dog to come by other means first. Then start adding the word, come when he is positively coming.

Shake....are you picking up his paw and rewarding him with a treat and praise? If you show him what you want, he'll catch on. Be sure to not forget praise and a treat. That reinforces behavior well.

I'd work on one thing for several repititions and then go onto something else. You can even break up the training session with a little romp or some fun and come back to it. Make the sessions short and fun. Young dogs have trouble with attention spans. There are training tips links in one thread here on this forum. Read those. They're a great help.

happy training.

 

[JulioA]

Today I got home from school and Roco was in the back yard snoozing I just got site of him and called out the command, he came right to me so that is good. The one of an emergency call seems very difficult but I bet further down the line we will try it. Im going to buy some books for school today, can you recommend any training books that you know for a fact are very good help, preferably one with many tricks?

 

[Doberluv]

Today I got home from school and Roco was in the back yard snoozing I just got site of him and called out the command, he came right to me so that is good.

Actually, it's not good. I'll explain why: You were lucky this time. He came. That's all fine and dandy...good for him! This time. But what if he hadn't come, then what? Until he's reliable with the recall, my recommendation is that you put off using the come command to call him but instead use enticement and fun to get him to come and only then...when he is positively coming...almost to you do you say the command, "come." Keep doing this for a long, long time and then test him with a long line, using the word, "come." That way, if he disobeys, you can help him along with the line which you have in your hand. While he's still not solidly trained, I highly recommend that you do it this way. It's a shame to even once have him blow off a command. Then you lose him. The command is no good anymore. You'll have to find another one to use as that one loses it's meaning.

Do a search on this forum. There is a thread somewhere with a book list.