First Things To Teach And When

[Guest picopaco]

I've had my girl for just over 2 weeks today... she knows her new name and has gotten comfortable with stairs. I won't be able to get her in an obedience class until early Feb. Is it too early to start some stuff now on my own? What should I start with?

[Houndtime]

All of my greyhounds have sat. They like to do some obedience to earn treats. Trying recall is very important, to us.

[BatterseaBrindl]

I would just let her continue to settle into your home and her new routine.

Don't worry about formal classes for a while.

 

Just living with you in a home is enough adjustment for the first couple of months...maybe more. They all adjust at their own speed.

Relax and just enjoy her!

 

 

Have you read this article?

 

http://www.greyhoundinfo.org/?page_id=341

[Brandiandwe]

Work out what is important to you, but also what might be fun. I'd google some Sophia Yin videos. She was an amazing dog trainer and behaviouralist who really emphasised positive reinforcement. Personally, I'd be doing recall (so lifesaving but also handy for removing hounds from furniture), 'wait' (very handy on walks when opening gates or doors, picking up poop or waiting to cross the road), 'leave it!' 'Drop it/ give it!'. Otherwise, we have 'What've I got?' (treat time!) 'let's go! = time for a walk/ release from wait on a walk. 'Righteo then!' (see above) 'In the car!' 'Time for bed.' Hermon has also god 'Who's my good boy!' which is when he's been a clever dog and unwound himself from the tree or lampost that the other four of us on the walk managed to avoid, and he managed to entangle himself around. He then get's a treat.

 

All of the above are things I use every day, so other than recall, wait and leave it/ drop it I didn't 'train' any of them except through doing. So 'righteo then' is something I say as I'm getting up to go for a walk, or to get dinner. so the hounds have learned that at certain times of the day, those words are associated with specific and very good things. Let's go was one which I used, in a really positive and excited voice to help Brandi walk past Very Frightening Things. They all now use it as a cue to move forward and be happy.

 

The other thing I wanted to say is that it's great that you're wanting to do this. From your other posts you're working hard to both do the right thing by your grey, but also to overcome your own fears. Fairly soon, particularly if you head off on some decent hikes with her regularly (carry treats. Walks can be awesome places for training too) and you also do this training with her, you'll look at her and realise that trust and love is growing between you. It's a great feeling.

[Guest picopaco]

What do you mean "recall"?

[cleptogrey]

recall = COME!!! in the happiest, clearest, loudest, voice you can manage. treat in hand when she comes! be very very excited when you call , why would a dog want to go to someone whose not ready to party!

 

you will learn basics in a class. do bring a rubber backed bathmat for sits and downs. that little mat will help since greyhounds generally do not like the cold floor. at the school i worked my dogs at they called it the "magic carpet".

 

be patient, enjoy, be happy, diced cooked hot dogs are excellent cheap training treats.

[Guest bmaxfoy]

Any suggestions on teaching our grey to get in a SUV? She seems frozen to the ground and I hate to force the issue and make it more traumatic.

[Guest xengab]

I've had my boy nearly six months (in 3 days). The one thing we taught him from the first week was, WAIT! Just so he didn't push through the door ways going in or rush when going outside.

 

We get to a door, tell him Wait, open the door and say Come.. (in this we were able to teach both commands, and he does respond). When on walks when we cross a street we use those commands too. Six months in and he does them just fine. We've had no formal classes as he is only just settled into the house, it does take time.

 

Sit, it took 5 months to get him to do it on a voice command, it just clicked one day for him. Before that, I'd put my arm behind his legs and hold a hand on his chest, alittle pressure and he sat. I'd say Sit, just as his butt was down. He sat all the time on his own without any problem so I knew he could do it. He caught onto Down..very quickly, so he does Sit Down..LOL More comfortable for him.

 

I'd concentrate on walking him, find what might scare him, how he is around other dogs, how he responds to new locations. Lots of treats and pats.

 

Even though my boy can do his SIt and Down, we are going to have him do a formal class, just so he is around other dogs and able to do it with distractions. Then hoping we can get into agility..

[Remolacha]

One of the first things my dogs learn is "move", but that's just because I have a small house They also learn "wait" and "leave it", and eventually recall. I don't formally train them, these are just things they learn as we work out living together. I'd probably say wait and recall are the most important, for safety reasons.

 

Reminds me, I need to get to work on reinforcing their recall!

 

The tip about taking some kind of mat for obedience classes is good, a yoga mat is a good choice if you have one.

[Guest SonjaAndStella]

Does anyone have tips on getting your hound to lay down? I successfully got my first hound to lay down, but since then I've adopted her brother and I've tried several times with him and he just doesn't seem to get it :/

[Batmom]

What to start with: Whatever seems interesting and fun to you and the dog.

 

We usually work first on basic manners (walking on a loose leash, going up and down stairs, getting in and out of car, holding reasonably still for nail trims and other grooming, go in the crate/bed or out of the kitchen when asked) and RECALL aka COME when called. Depending on the dog, may add some things like sitting/lying down on command, stay, shake hands, drop it, retrieve a toy, take a bow .... whatever seems interesting and fun at the time .

 

Lying down: The easiest way is to catch the dog in the act of lying down, give it a word (command), and "Good dog!" + treat. Keep at that and depending on how often you catch the dog doing it, you'll have a dog that will lie down on command in 1-3 weeks. Patience is the name of this game but it sure is easy .

 

Most of my greyhounds eventually learn the basic obedience stuff but it isn't a requirement here. Our focus is on things that keep the dog safe and make him/her easy to live with. I have one now who might not ever get into the sit-lie down stuff, and that's OK.

[Riverhound]

For Joe, the first thing he learned was "house" (as in, get your arse in it!). That was unintentional, but may have saved his life the day a pair of free range pit bulls pushed the gate open. Joe did what I told him, I got REALLY BIG AND LOUD and scared them off, and all was well. I also now make sure the gate is properly latched.

 

Brees knows her name, "cookie" and "pee". That is all. She is very pretty, though.

[GeorgeofNE]

I guess because I am a leash-walk only dog owner, to me the most important thing to teach a newly adopted dog is "heel." I rarely see people walking their dogs in what I would call a "proper" manner anymore, so maybe people don't teach this any more?

 

George was an absolute beast to walk on a leash when I got him. I don't believe George was stupid--just incredibly stubborn! It took a lot of work to teach him that he had to stay on my left--but it really paid off because eventually he walked like a dream. He leaned sit and down, but never did master stay. He was never off leash except in a fenced in field, and he was a velcro dog inside so "come" remained a mystery too.

 

Buck is a fearful boy, so I didn't really have to teach him to walk nicely on a leash--he was glued to my leg anyway! Now that he's come out of his shell, he has a bad habit of running in a circle around me and then jumping on me. He has kind of gotten the hang of "go lie down" when I point to the couch, and he can sit and lie down.

[racindog]

IMO first just let her settle in and get to know you! The very first thing and most important thing to 'teach'' them is engagement. They have to focus on you-even amid distractions. If you take your time and establish good engagement FIRST- then EVERYTHING else you want to teach will come fairly easily. However if you rush it and try to train them before you have good engagement woe is you. For best results you really need a good solid foundation of engagement. I actually think you would be better off postponing those classes for a while and just play with her and get to know each other. Go places together-learn about each other-get good engagement first. You can find more information on establishing engagement from the zillion articles at http://leerburg.com/

 

Michael Ellis is a world renown trainer. Congratulations and have fun with your new BFF.

Edited January 28, 2016 by racindog

[sobesmom]

I wouldn't get too carried away yet. Your dog is VERY VERY new. I really wouldn't take her to a class for a few months. She may regress a bit in the next couple weeks and you may have to do house-training 101 all over again. It's normal for some of them to regress once the "honeymoon" is over and they get comfortable in the house. Be ready for that. Just take it in stride, start over, and it will go well.

That said - I'd do practical training now. What do you need the dog to do in your house? Not tricks, it's too early for that IMHO. Just practical stuff. Need her to wait patiently while you fill her food dish - hold up a hand in front of her face and say "Wait, wait wait", then say "OK!" "GOOD GIRL!" when you're ready for her. If she lunges for the food before you're ready, don't give it. Start over. Keep it quick, though. SMALL training on appropriate house behavior. All my fosters had to learn "back up" pretty quickly. I have a small house, and greys LOVE to follow, so they had to learn to back up so I could get out of a room they followed me into. Just examples. Do what works for YOUR house. Later on, you can work on true "training" stuff. For now, just work on acclimating.