# Which Behaviour Are You Working On At The Moment?



## Brittany May (Feb 9, 2012)

Refreshing all of Lacey's basic manners, atm after taking a bit of a break with training. I usually do a bit of heeling each training session, loose leash walking and then we work on a new behaviour. I'm teaching her to pick things up, which it a bit more of a challenge for her - she is a very 'pawy' dog. She doesn't use her mouth for things.

She has mastered shake, high five, high ten (not a good idea with a dane's claws!), stand on a pedastal, marching, touching her paws to my knees, tapping me on the bum, running underneath my legs, and a few others. We entered an online doggie dancing comp when she was 7 months.


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## Hayley22 (Sep 21, 2011)

Online doggie dancing! Ha ha! That sounds so fun! How did you teach her to 'march'?


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## Brittany May (Feb 9, 2012)

They also organised the competition


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

*Brittany May*: That was just terrific!! You and Lacey make wonderful dance partners--so entertaining and it's a joy to see you both so happy doing it!! Thanks for sharing your training tips. I'm going to try it with my mpoo! :dancing2:


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## Quossum (Mar 18, 2011)

Sugarfoot is only 12 weeks old, and the behaviors we're working on the most (in very short sessions, lots of fun) are "foundation behaviors" with an Agility career in mind. Crate Games, self-control (It's Yer Chioice), recalls, aiming ahead, racing to a remote reward, "reinforcement zone" (heel position on the right and left), transports, and of course, _tugging!_ Fostering his tugging is about my number one priority!

We're also working the socialization angle hard, since right now Sugarfoot is somewhat reserved about people. Not so much about strange noises or sights or things, none of which bother him in the least, but he is cautious about new people, so we're going about with cookies in pockets to facilitate lots of greetings!

I think I'm going to start shaping some fun tricks soon. He loves to slap things with his paws; I can work lots of things with that. :act-up:

--Q


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## Brittany May (Feb 9, 2012)

Oh no, that wasn't us! That is honey the Great Dane & her owner Hsin-Yi!

Honey the Great Dane | drooling, dancing and a few adventures in between…

I wish we were that good, lol!

If you want to see some of Honey's dancing routines -


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## Brittany May (Feb 9, 2012)

This is Lacey and I - 

ETA link isn't working


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

Brittany May said:


> Oh no, that wasn't us! That is honey the Great Dane & her owner Hsin-Yi!
> 
> 
> 
> I wish we were that good, lol!


Well hats off to Honey and her handler!! I'm sure you and your pooch dance like stars too!:smile:


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## Brittany May (Feb 9, 2012)

Here we go

Lacey the Great Dane- DWTDS Dancing routine - YouTube


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

Brittany May said:


> Here we go
> 
> Lacey the Great Dane- DWTDS Dancing routine - YouTube


:clap2: That's my applause you're hearing! You two deserve it, and I love Lacey's tu-tu!!


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## tokipoke (Sep 3, 2011)

I love Honey the Great Dane! So smart! I've watched the videos before where she's being trained to put all her toys away.

I'm working with Leroy not to jump at the window to greet people when I take him to work. My preferred reaction would be for him to ignore the people at the window, which he's done sometimes. I'm also working with him to not be so reactive to neighborhood cats. He thinks they are SO fun and wants to chase them. It's annoying, because we'll be walking in a relaxed manner for a good bit then he suddenly lunges and nearly takes my hand with him. I hate it when he does that! I've been trying to teach him the "spin" command.


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## Hayley22 (Sep 21, 2011)

tokipoke said:


> I'm also working with him to not be so reactive to neighborhood cats. He thinks they are SO fun and wants to chase them. It's annoying, because we'll be walking in a relaxed manner for a good bit then he suddenly lunges and nearly takes my hand with him. I hate it when he does that! I've been trying to teach him the "spin" command.


I'm also trying to teach Delphi this - except she gets excited by people, dogs, cats, birds... Basically anything new and exciting! What's your method? Do you put him into a sit-stay until he's calm? I try to do that with Delphi, but it's hard when she's so young and excited about everything: it's difficult even to get her attention. I've started reinforcing her whenever she gives me attention ie. eye contact, walking close to me, recalling, so that she learns that I'm the most exciting thing... I might need better treats with all these distractions!


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

Well I have never had a dog like Maddy that simply won't listen. She's smart, she joyfully does lots of "tricks" (high-five, point to where I've hidden the treat, sit, down, stay, go to your mat, go to your crate, "who's got rabies", leave it (spits out rock or button), recall, jump, beg, wave goodbye..probably more I can't remember at this moment). But the thing is, I CANNOT get her to stay out of the cat room or to stay out of the kitchen...and I'm talking when I'm right there. And if I have a treat in my hand and say "off!" in a firm way, it simply does not matter. She will jump on the counter or run into the cat room and the only way to stop her is to physically pull her away. Her sister isn't that way, and none of the other dogs I've ever had while at home on my parents' farm or while grown up have ever been that way. I HOPE she will settle down with obedience lessons and maturity. But that's the behaviour I'm working on! Just listening to a command if there's a kitchen counter in the vicinity, or a cat. Oh, and these are OUR cats I'm talking about, that she's grown up with!


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

Jet is 4 months old. We are working on....


Sit Stay
Sphinx down in drive
Heel position
Zig and Zag, for leg circling and weaving between the legs
Tug games
Front position out of play
Between the legs position forwards and backwards
Straight line backing
Neutral to strangers
Neutral to other dogs
Beginning of attention and recall
Feet up on my leg
Alarm tone recognition
Roll over 
Prep for S.T.A.R. puppy and CGC tests, prep for Delta tests
Jump over my leg or arm cleanly
Out (Let go of toy/spit out food)
Q'ing

Probably more stuff, but I can't remember. Me and my impaired memory rely on training journals to figure out what I am supposed to be doing.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

We are working on ... (big roll of drums, fanfare of trumpets) ... LICKING! I want to do a fern test come Sophy's next season, and had the bright idea it would be easier to get enough saliva from a very small tongue if she was happy to lick a clean slide. It is known, inevitably, as the Clicky Licky Game, and as rewards are involved, both Poppy and Tilly-cat want to play too. So they all sit in a row, taking turns ...


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

fjm said:


> We are working on ... (big roll of drums, fanfare of trumpets) ... LICKING! I want to do a fern test come Sophy's next season, and had the bright idea it would be easier to get enough saliva from a very small tongue if she was happy to lick a clean slide. It is known, inevitably, as the Clicky Licky Game, and as rewards are involved, both Poppy and Tilly-cat want to play too. So they all sit in a row, taking turns ...


 Ha,ha! Sounds hilarious! p.s. I had to google "fern test"


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## tokipoke (Sep 3, 2011)

Leroy still gets excited over EVERY LITTLE THING when we are out. He's a little over a year and he still gets sooooo excited. I believe the culprit is the leash. I need to make him less reactive on it. When he can't get to something he really wants to get to, he works himself up even more, and then I get all the jumping and boxing from his paws. The high pitched crying, etc. When he is off leash and has the freedom to roam, he greets people and cats very well. Something about that leash makes him rebellious!


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## tokipoke (Sep 3, 2011)

Hayley22 said:


> I'm also trying to teach Delphi this - except she gets excited by people, dogs, cats, birds... Basically anything new and exciting! What's your method? Do you put him into a sit-stay until he's calm? I try to do that with Delphi, but it's hard when she's so young and excited about everything: it's difficult even to get her attention. I've started reinforcing her whenever she gives me attention ie. eye contact, walking close to me, recalling, so that she learns that I'm the most exciting thing... I might need better treats with all these distractions!


I've use "watch me" command, mostly firm no's, making him make eye contact with me. When he wants to fixate on something, I don't let him. I walk the other walk, physically turn his head away and I don't let him look. I then put him in a sit-stay until he's calmed down (still not letting him look where he wants to). I really wish he could greet children properly. He needs a lot of work with that (he likes to punch them).


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

Indiana said:


> Ha,ha! Sounds hilarious! p.s. I had to google "fern test"


I had to google it too!:nod: 

We're just working on continuing to live up to Chagall's long ago earned CGC designation by having him mind me and NOT jump up on people EVEN when they encourage it and say it's "okay." It _isn't_ okay with_ me_, and Chagall knows it, but he is sorely tempted by those welcoming his lightfooted attention. He'll look at me, sort of quizzically, begin to make the move forward in preparation to do a full ballet leap up. My "technique" (not trainer sanctioned or approved, I am a wild individualist!) is to put him in a "heel/sit," which he is very agreeable to doing. It's not foolproof, and I'm sure I could carry crazy glue to affix him to the ground, or find another technique (I'm open to suggestions here!), but I am also permissive (just felt some members' jaws clench) of him being a sparkly, bouncy poodle and prone to a gentle leap up now and again. (Hope nobody needs resuscitation after hearing that.) He knows and obeys the "jump" command and hand signal for the times I ask him to jump up on me--it's easier sometimes to have him leap into my arms then to bend down and pick up his cute little* silver *butt!!:biggrin1:


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## vicky2200 (Feb 14, 2012)

With my new toy poodle (5months old, had him a week) I am working on a lot! He is good at sit, paw, and other paw if I have a treat but we are still perfecting them. He is working on down (lay down) and circle (turn in a circle.) We are still working on potty training; he has about 1 accident a day. We also are working on gentle (not biting hard while playing) and come. Basically, we are working on everything! He is really smart though.


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## tokipoke (Sep 3, 2011)

Leroy seemed restless so we played with a cat toy, wrestled, fetched, and then learned some new tricks!

He does spin pretty good, but still trying to get to a subtle hand signal to command him to do this. I have to literally show him the treat to his nose and ciiiiiircle him around. He has done the spin about three times on verbal command only, but he takes wide, slow turns. He looks like a pony just moseying along, not like a quick, cute spin I've seen in youtube videos.

He also learned crawl really quickly! I think that is one of his favorite lol. I then tried to teach him to cover his eyes on the cue of "Are you ashamed?" He did okay. We need more repetitions for that. I'm avoiding teaching him the roll command cause he enjoys flailing around on the floor as it is... I don't want him resorting to that each time. My forearms are all scratched up (looks like cat scratches), cause he likes to hit m when he's frustrated lol.


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## dcyk (Nov 30, 2011)

Training class just started him on closer heel and about turn, and also working on him to stop marking in the not proper places.

I put a belly band on him and he goes into 'sulk' mode, wahahhaa poodles sulk.

He basically doesn't want to do anything, goes under the sofa to hide and doesn't respond to anything except food or treat.

Sometimes he just lie sideways beside me and go into loose mode, where i push him around and he still lies there like that


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

tokipoke said:


> Leroy seemed restless so we played with a cat toy, wrestled, fetched, and then learned some new tricks!
> 
> He does spin pretty good, but still trying to get to a subtle hand signal to command him to do this. I have to literally show him the treat to his nose and ciiiiiircle him around. He has done the spin about three times on verbal command only, but he takes wide, slow turns. He looks like a pony just moseying along, not like a quick, cute spin I've seen in youtube videos.
> 
> He also learned crawl really quickly! I think that is one of his favorite lol. I then tried to teach him to cover his eyes on the cue of "Are you ashamed?" He did okay. We need more repetitions for that. I'm avoiding teaching him the roll command cause he enjoys flailing around on the floor as it is... I don't want him resorting to that each time. My forearms are all scratched up (looks like cat scratches), cause he likes to hit m when he's frustrated lol.


Try holding treats in a fist, stick out your index finger. Cue the spin with your finger. Do that while circling him around. If he gets it, raise your hand higher when you give the cue. Very quickly you will have a spin with just a flick of your finger.


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## katbrat (May 8, 2011)

Lexi is a lot of fun to work with. One of the funniest things I think she does is when I give her the down command she will kind of flop down. I call it her Muppet flop because that is what she reminds me of, a Muppet puppet flopping.  She will then sit just like a sphinx waiting for the break command.


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## faerie (Mar 27, 2010)

5 dogs jumping on people when they come in the front door. it sucks.


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## katbrat (May 8, 2011)

faerie said:


> 5 dogs jumping on people when they come in the front door. it sucks.


We only have one and are working very hard to stop the jumping on people when they come in the door. Why do people then think it's ok to let her put her paws on them standing to say "hi?" Grrrrr. It is not "so stinking cute." She is cute, paws on the chest are not.


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## cookieface (Jul 5, 2011)

katbrat said:


> We only have one and are working very hard to stop the jumping on people when they come in the door. Why do people then think it's ok to let her put her paws on them standing to say "hi?" Grrrrr. It is not "so stinking cute." She is cute, paws on the chest are not.


On one visit, my mother-in-law walked in the door and gave Katie all sorts of attention when she jumped on her, saying "it's fine, I don't mind." When we were outside later, Katie ran over to my mother-in-law and jumped on her leaving muddy paw prints on her pants and coat. In an amazing display of one trial learning - my mother-in-law no longer reinforces jumping 

As far as behaviors we're working on, where should I begin? 
drop it
leave it
continuing stay, loose leash walking, & come
go to mat
pay attention / watch me
proper greeting

I'm reading _Control Unleashed_ and we'll start working on those exercises soon.

After reading all the posts about poodles learning new cues after just a few trials, I'm starting to wonder if Katie is really a poodle


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Swizzle knows sit, down, stay, leave it, on, off, touch, spin, paw, paws (put paws on anything I point at), go out, to me, go around, wait, come. I am working on having him do a drop down stay while I continue to run (think he has this down pat now). I am starting to teach stand, back up and place. I am working on him being more comfortable meeting new dogs and people. He is improving on this. I want to start to teach him more tricks. I love "rabies" -is it Vegas that does this? It cracks me up.


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

What a great thread!

Re the greeting, that is a big challenge for a poodle. Oddly, mine has become reticent with strangers, not unfriendly, just not the "woo hoo, party time, someone's here!" with new people. 

As far as training, we are working on things that involve the dog working away from me, mainly the obedience send-away, but I'm mixing it in with fun stuff to keep us from getting too serious. I put a plastic lid (his cue to mark with his feet), his foot-high stepstool, and his hula hoop out, separated. Then we work on going to each 'station' one at a time, on cue, i.e. he has to go to the right one. Then I get farther and farther away. His tendency is always to come back to me, which I can't really complain about, but I need more distance control.

And I'm trying to fix our retrieve! I taught him (too reliably!) to retrieve either to hand or to drop at my feet, and now I have to train him to hold the object until I take it. Bad trainer. Un-training is so much harder than training!


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## tokipoke (Sep 3, 2011)

I used to think there was something wrong with my poodle cause he'd "give up" halfway through training. Then I realized I was drilling him too hard. So we keep it short and sweet. Learn one or two new things, and always end with stuff he knows. Then we revisit the stuff again the next day. Leroy used to resort to high fiving when he was frustrated with a new command. Now that he's learned crawl, he's been crawling if he seems confused lol.

I agree with untraining the training - that is why I haven't taught Leroy the "jump" command because this is something I highly discourage.


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## Quossum (Mar 18, 2011)

Yeah, Sugarfoot is like that, too. Now, granted, he's only a small puppy, with the accompanying short attention span, but he's bad about wandering off or just flopping down with a despondent look if he gets at all frustrated or bored. I'm talking within a very short training session.

I've really had to utilize the "balance breaks" of playing / tugging between micro-brief sessions at any one task. I *don't* want to develop the habit of him getting to decide when we're finished working, so I'm striving to become adept at judging how much is "enough" with him before he gets to that stage.

--Q


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Sophy is very easily frustrated during training - if there is anything I really need to teach her I work in very short sessions, sometimes not even every day, with very good rewards. Poppy, on the other hand, is so enthusiastic about getting the treat that she throws behaviours in such rapid succession I have great difficulty marking the one I actually wanted! Interestingly, Sophy is often perfectly happy to work for life rewards - if I ask her to wait while I check the farm track crossing the path we walk on is clear, she will wait, and simply trot on ahead when released. Poppy needs me to reinforce that she got it right - "Look! Did you see! I waited and now I've come after you! Was that right? Tell me how good I am!" Pure poodle!


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## Marlow's Mum (Apr 20, 2011)

tokipoke said:


> I've use "watch me" command, mostly firm no's, making him make eye contact with me. When he wants to fixate on something, I don't let him. I walk the other walk, physically turn his head away and I don't let him look. I then put him in a sit-stay until he's calmed down (still not letting him look where he wants to). I really wish he could greet children properly. He needs a lot of work with that (he likes to punch them).


Guinness likes to punch children too. I think it's too much training of "Stick em up!". Kids get his stick em up arms right in the face.


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

Stick em up sounds cute! Bonnie flops over and plays dead after 'Bang'! She lays there super still except for this madly wagging tail. LOL. It would be cute to do stick em up and then BANG (a little violent perhaps). 

Right now she is perfecting jumping through a hula hoop. She'll do it at a distance with someone else holding the hoop now and at all different heights. She is 14 months old, so I think the jumping is fine on her bones and joints. The other one we are working on is crawling, which she is doing easily and learned right away. I don't quite understand why some of the things take more time and some things she understands immediately. 

For example, BOW was really difficult (butt in air, elbows and front legs on ground). She kept plopping DOWN and is still doing that. She is not consistent on it at all. I finally realized (duh) that the words Bow and Down are too close together. I need to think of another word for bow! Suggestions? 

The cutest so far is 'sit pretty'.


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## ROHAN-K9mm (Nov 20, 2011)

*Horde at the door*



faerie said:


> 5 dogs jumping on people when they come in the front door. it sucks.


I had this with 4 and you are right. I got 2 low foot stools, a rubbermaid step stool and a bath mat and taught "Tiger" and all my little greeters learned to sit in the stools, my big girl on the mat, and wait for treats from who ever came in. I also locked the door, and put a wonderful sign on the door . Got it at a show. "Loose Dogs Inside please ring bell". This gives you a prayer at 
Getting them settled and quiet before you open the door. The stuff is a pain in the but to put by the door, but the alternatives are worse. Also it was cute. It went from being a zoo to circus acts. They have to have another behavior AND a place to do it. All your door commands are most likely poisoned by now, and the dogs ignore them. Make it different, with a place to do it , keep dry treats by the door, I tried lots of other stuff first, and this is the only one that worked with a pack.All but one of those dear dogs are gone:angel:, I have a new puppy . I brought out one of the footstools the other night and my old girl ran over to it and jumped up looking for a reward! - see ma I remember...


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## KristaLynn (Mar 22, 2012)

Things I'm current working on Jewel with are - Front, Backing up in the heel position, fetching and free heel.

Things she knows but we're still working on getting just right are - finish, spin, weave between my legs, weaving the poles, heel on leash with distractions & recall with distractions.

Things she's pretty much got are - sit, stand, down, stay, wait, return-behind, recall, roll over, wave, high five, shake, sit up, jump through a hoop, go, slow, find it, leave it, drop it, hup, through, over, push, tunnel and watch me.

I'm hoping to find a Rally-o class to take her to since she doesn't like competing in formal OB and I've been told that agility is too much for her shoulder.


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## Leooonie (May 30, 2009)

Im trying to teach Harley right now:
*tight heeling for competitive obedience.
*schutzhund turning
*backwards crawl
*handstand on front paws (he gets easily frustrated when learning this)

the marching looks fun to try!


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

Leooonie said:


> Im trying to teach Harley right now:
> *tight heeling for competitive obedience.
> *schutzhund turning
> *backwards crawl
> ...


Awesome! I love training the handstand. How do you do it?

I taught my pup the flyball turn (no ball) on the ramp yesterday and today is starting the handstand. I teach the dog to walk backwards up a ramp to start.


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