# How do you train toy poodles without bending down?



## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

I am probably the odd gal out but I do not use treats for training, I use praise and a combination of heel taps and finger snapping as markers. It takes me longer but it works for me. When I do trick training with treats I am seated.

I trained all my dogs this so my disabled mother could handle without issue


----------



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I believe there are long treat dispensers, but I don't know how reliable they are. Targetting a stick or even a long handled wooden spoon can work to teach heeling, and putting a dab of something lickable on one end acts as a treat. I also drop small treats under my dogs noses, which works to reward in place if your aim is good. But lots of people don't bend down - I watched yet another lovely couple actively encouraging my dogs to jump up to be petted today and sighed deeply. All that time teaching them not to and so many people offering them treats to do it!


----------



## snow0160 (Sep 20, 2016)

How do you do luring for shaping? For instance I have a hard time moving him into left heel without just manipulating the leash. Even with a treat he just stares. 

Update: I didn’t see fjm’s response. I’ve been using a target stick with sticky treats. It doesn’t stick well. They don’t have stick like dispensers at us petsores. It is a lot easier if Happy was not Xs. My pug is a lot easier to train. She catches her food in midair but with a tiny toy it is a lot further down. Maybe if I was shorter
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


----------



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Sorry to be obnoxious in my reply but this is why I don't have toy dogs. I never want to have to bend down to take a dumbbell or a glove or a scent article. My knees wouldn't like that.


----------



## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

I actually had to look up "luring for shaping", I don't train in the traditional sense, I also use vocal cues. When we got for a walk, I do nothing else but focus in on my dogs and our surroundings. I'm sure some may not approve but I initially did a soft tug up on their leashes to get them to sit (they wear easy walk harnesses), they do it on a verbal command now. 

Rule is fun stuff happens when you listen

I did a lot of turning around, the dog doesn't get to go where they want unless they walk with me. 

We do red light green light, mid step, mid stair no matter where we are if I say stop we stop, also if I stop with out saying anything they are to stop as well but sit or lay down

It takes a lot of practice and patience, my mom, god rest her soul, had spinal stenosis, she couldn't walk steadily without assistance she used a cane, couldn't lift more than 5 pounds..... you get the idea. So my dogs have to be well behaved without too much prompting or treating :wink:


----------



## snow0160 (Sep 20, 2016)

We got the toys as a companion for my previous dog who did not tolerate large breeds. She was pretty lonely and we originally fostered an Aussie Shepard and Sahara got depressed and stopped eating. Then we noticed that she got along very well with our neighbor’s Bichon and figured out she only liked small dogs. 
People always wonder why small dogs are not well behaved but maybe it is because they are harder to train physically. Happy is good at tricks like paw, focus, spin or anything that I can teach him while I am sitting. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


----------



## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

snow0160 said:


> People always wonder why small dogs are not well behaved but maybe it is because they are harder to train physically.
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


My rule for my pups, is if it isn't something you would let a 60lb dog do then I won't let my pups do it, but just because you are small and cute doesn't mean can get away with things.


----------



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

twyla, I think that not enough toy dog owners have your view that just because the dog is small doesn't mean it is excusable for it to be a holy terror. Obviously I can't allow my dogs (37, 50 and 100 pounds) to get away with anything, but neither should a person with a tpoo or a chihuahua allow nasty or disorderly behavior. In a situation such as your mother's a small dog running circles around her feet was potentially as big a hazard for a fall as one of my dogs sleeping in the middle of the living room and her trying to step over them.

That said I think some toy breeds are not rocket scientists since they were bred to be hot water bottles or calm lap companions, so I guess that might be why some breed are hard to train. But snow, the private obedience trainer I go to has an OTCh on a pom, so they are trainable.


----------



## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

I took an obedience class for small dogs last year. 

You don't bend over to treat, rather you do a sort of lunge, you put your left leg forward while keeping the right one back and bend your knee keeping your foot flat to the floor. It's good exercise (and hard workout like going to the gym).

Some of the work can be done on a table - training sit, stand, lay down etc. is easier with the dog on a grooming table or a raised plank.


----------



## snow0160 (Sep 20, 2016)

Skylar said:


> I took an obedience class for small dogs last year.
> 
> You don't bend over to treat, rather you do a sort of lunge, you put your left leg forward while keeping the right one back and bend your knee keeping your foot flat to the floor. It's good exercise (and hard workout like going to the gym).
> 
> Some of the work can be done on a table - training sit, stand, lay down etc. is easier with the dog on a grooming table or a raised plank.




I wonder if people consider this before getting a small breed. Haha I know I didn’t which is why he is only good at stationary commands lol [emoji23] 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


----------



## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

snow0160 said:


> I wonder if people consider this before getting a small breed. Haha I know I didn’t which is why he is only good at stationary commands lol [emoji23]
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


You train the dog you have - and if you love little dogs, that's what you have to work with. 

If I knew ahead of time that I wanted to do competitive Obedience and Rally I would have gotten a black spoo like Catherine. Tall enough you don't have to bend over and black so the dog blends into your pants to it's more difficult to see if it's out of position.

But then I temper that by the reality that I can't lift a spoo and could easily be hurt by a spoo pulling me when out walking - so maybe my minipoo is a good compromise. I still have to bend over to get the dumbbell and for treating etc., but not as far as a tpoo.

I do have a good book called Competitive Obedience Training for the Small Dog by Barbara Cecil and Gerianne Darnell. I like that both authors discuss their training methods which vary slightly.


----------



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Ah, I'd forgotten the lunge, Skylar - it becomes so automatic when you have tinies! I have to say I don't find treating difficult - bending over to put on leads is more of an effort as it means groping for a few seconds to find the ring under the fluff. 

Snow - I taught mine to target my hand with two fingers held together. Easily done while sitting down, and easy to swap hands. I also taught them the With Me game, which is very similar to Twyla's stop/start, with lots of fun twists and turns and changes of direction. Combining the two - follow me with your eyes glued to the hand with two fingers together - lets me switch them from one side to another, although these days we are so attuned that they usually place themselves in the best and safest position without me having to think about it. If you have a poodle you have to gently discourage the tendency to pogo jump up and down to complete the exercise by nose bumping your fingers, of course!


----------



## LizzysMom (Sep 27, 2016)

snow0160 said:


> Maybe if I was shorter
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


Snow, I can speak from experience (I'm barely over 5' tall), that helps!


----------

