Such A Good Student!

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

I have had Jayne less than a month and she is doing wonderfully with training. The last couple days have seen a marked improvement in her understanding of "Stay". I keep her food in the garage and have her stay in the living room (just a door between the two) while I fill her bowl. At first she often forgot to stay when I went behind the door. I would leave the food and put her back where I wanted her then go back into the garage. In the last few days it seems to have clicked. Both last night and this morning she didn't stir an inch from her stay until I gave her the release command of "Ok". Yesterday she stayed twice on my husband's command while my he unloaded stuff through the front door.

 

We've also been working on stay at doors until she is told OK to go in or out. We're almost getting to the point where I don't have to remind her to wait, she'll pause until I say OK.

 

I work on training at meal times. So far we work through a small set of skills I have taught her; stay, come, target (just my hand, but we're trying to work up to other objects), step back, and go to your room (crate). I think I'm going to start work on "leave it" and "lay down" soon. I have seen her naturally go into "sit" many times so I think we have a great chance of her learning that skill, but I'll tackle that one much later.

 

This weekend I worked with her on recall in the yard and she did beautifully. She ran to me several times despite the distraction of neighbors outside.

 

I'm very happy with the progress we have made so far. I really didn't expect so much so quickly but I got a dog that is clever and willing and who seems to be ajusting to pet life more quickly than I had hoped. She even learned stairs much more quickly than I had been lead to think possible. It only took one trip to get down and about four to get up.

 

I do intend to take formal classes in a few months, I wanted to make sure she's settled in nicely and we have had a chance to bond before doing so.

 

Thanks for letting me blather. I'm just very happy with my first greyhound who also happens to be my first dog as well.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Thats GREYT!!! I do the same thing with our hounds for dinner, except I have them in their crates. When I put the food down, they have to look at me for anywhere from 5-20 seconds, then I release them to eat. Contrary to what you may have heard, greyhounds are apt to learn and willing as well. They do tend to be more independant outside with distractions, so the recall training will help immensly. My wife and I do recall training with a sports whistle. Blow the whistle, waive your arm in a wide sweeping motion, and they come running. I realized I had to put a visual que to the whislte when I was out at a dog park and about 300 yards away from my boy Bart. When I blew the whistle, he went to the closest human for his hotdog treat. I waived my arm and yelled his name and he instantly knew it was me. So from then on, we added the visual que and now both Bart and Olive come running. In fact, we purposly put ourselfs on opposite sides of groups of people and dogs and work the recall just to be sure. Those hotdogs work wonders!

 

I dont want a border collie (obedience, tricks, etc.), but I do love a greyhound that knows a few things.

 

Chad

[PrairieProf]

How very nice for you! Good girl Jayne!

 

I've taken several levels of obedience classes and Beth has always done very well -- she absolutely keeps up with the other breeds. Took a while in the first one for me to get her to sit on cue, but she too sometimes sits spontaneously and did learn. (FWIW, she most often sits when facing slightly downhill, and that's how I finally taught her to do it, by asking her on a hill; she was quickly able to generalize.)

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

Thanks. I don't need a Border Collie either, but I think it important to have some level undertanding between us and some non-leash control over her actions. Plus learning helps keep her mind stimulated. I'm also demanding of my cats too and have them trained to behave better than some dogs I know.

 

Thanks for the advice PrairieProf, come to think of it the first time I saw her sit she was facing downhill in the yard.

[PrairieProf]

 

 

Thanks for the advice PrairieProf, come to think of it the first time I saw her sit she was facing downhill in the yard.

 

That's cool -- that hill trick worked like magic for us and I was so proud of myself for figuring it out, I'm convinced it can help others!

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Jayne,

I hope you didnt take my post as being judgemental or trying to insinuate anything, I just wanted people that read my post to know I am not trying to make my greyhounds into collies.

 

Chad

[Guest lasharp1209]

I would love to hear your process on training some of those! We train at mealtime as well, and we're doing Sit and Down pretty well, but would like to expand to some other things. Care to share any secrets?

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

Chad, I didn't take it that way at all! I liked the way you phrased it because it makes a lot of sense.

 

lasharp1209, I'm following the advice in Lee Livingood's Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies book. For "stay" it was a matter of telling her stay and moving her back to where I wanted her to stay each time she moved until I gave the release word, then treating when she got it right. Lee's advice for getting her to come woked beautifully. At first we just had treats on us and when she approached on her own we said come and gave her a goodie when she reached us. It didn't take her long to figure it out.

 

I make a hand gesture to associate with each action. Come is my hand waving toward me in a beckoning motion. Stay is my arm extended and the palm of my hand facing her, completely still. To teach her "back" I said the word and stepped toward her making a "shoo" motion with my hand. When she backed up, I treated her. Now I don't have to step forward anymore.

 

Targeting was easy too. Just hold a piece of food in your hand, letting the dog know it's there. When they investigate your hand to get it, reward them. Eventually they'll understand that you want them to tap your hand with their nose for the treat, then you can move it around, making them go lower or even jump up. I'm trying to get Jayne to target her stuffed sheep now by holding it in my hand. so far she wants to bypass the sheep and tap my hand, we'll get there eventually.

[Guest Drumhellergrey]

Good girl Jayne. I too have one that is eager to please. I believe most dogs are, if given proper motivation. Keep up the good work.