How do I teach a rapid response to commands?

[JudyN]

Ari, you could try rewarding the dog who sits first, and see what Ari makes of that I've also heard of people with two dogs giving a treat to their other dog if one won't comply. Not sure if that counts as +ve training, but it would be great to know what goes through the dog's mind

[Nettle]

I need to borrow someone's collie for a day, just for the experience.

It's awesome

The thing is, even collies exasperate their owners, because the collies are SO eager to obey that they anticipate - which is a big no-no in the formal competitions. Even a collie that isn't competing will often run through a full repertoire at breakneck speed in case one of them is what the owner was about to command. There's no pleasing us humans, is there?

[jacksdad]

By getting a border collie. No, seriously - different breeds have different attitudes to doing pointless things. Some breeds so love the interaction of obeying a command that they will do it until they faint. Other breeds need to know why, and will blank you if you ask them to do something they know is pointless

Interesting you responded as you did. Dr. McConnell in "other end of the leash" says almost word for word this. She talks about how border collies just LOVE to please and work. you want me to sit...great, is slouched ok, or do you want strait back, what about over here, or over there ....oh boy we are playing sit. on the other she compares that attitude with her great Pyrenees where "commands" are viewed as requests. The difference is due to the breed's tasks. Collies heard and NEED to follow directions NOW. Pyrenees, the guard things and are left to do it unsupervised, the NEED to be able to think and make choices etc.

I am disappointed with the responses above. Of course some breeds and some individuals are predisposed to respond to training better than some others.

No, they are predisposed more towards their breed job. ALL dogs can be trained to a high standard, but you HAVE to work with what is possible given their genetic traits.

However, all breeds can be trained to respond to basic commands and to do so smartly, assuming the trainer has the necessary skill and patience. If you don't believe that, what are you doing on this forum?

This is true, but you STILL need to be AWARE of their breed tendencies. This GREATLY influences how training proceeds and the results you can reasonably expect.

The responses were NOT dismissive, but an attempt to remind you that to success expectations have to be reasonable and take into account a variety of factors.

The intent of my post was to get advice to improve my training skills, not to get dismissive opinions about the feasibility of my objective or the aptitude of my dog. With such attitudes, how do you expect to control your dog when she gets it into her head to jump on your guests, dart out of the house, attack the postman's legs, chase the cat, drink from a mud puddle on an off leash trail, pick up a chicken bone some thoughtless picnickers left behind, or beg while you are eating dinner? It's not up to her to decide what is pointless. My Chihuahua is no spoiled lapdog. We have a great relationship and she knows her best interest lies in obeying me. She obeys me when she understands what I want. I am trying to learn how to make her understand that I want it to happen faster. I'll take my question elsewhere.

you ask questions about a whole wide variety of possible things to train your dog not to do. not going to go through each of them since you said you are going else where, but just to leave a response if you happen to come back or other see this.... so here goes....

So of what you want to train her NOT to do is fighting with her genetics. So management and vigilance to try and spot say the chicken bone before she does is going to be as big a factor as teaching a solid "leave it". Which takes us back to realistic expectations and understanding our dogs, first as dogs, then as a bread, then as an individual.

getting a dog to respond quickly regardless of breed is accomplished by having a some kind of reward they LOVE. not all "rewards/reinforcements" (food, toys etc) are a "better pay check" then the THRILL of chasing a cat. So, part of preventing chasing of cats is to see the cat first, and redirect attention away. But you can also train alternate behaviors. Dog see's cat, dog goes into a sit or goes into a heel etc. BUT to make those alternate behaviors more attractive, you have to make them attractive with your attitude, the reward (be it food, toy, or praise) is "better" than chasing a cat etc. you also need to learn how to move to a varied reward schedule so your dog NEVER knows what SUPER COOL reward is earned when it doesn't chase a cat. you can also use "jack pot" type rewards to reinforce quick response, then move to varied reward schedule so your dog has learn that quick responses earn rewards.

And lastly, not to beat a dead horse....avoid boring pointless, repetitive training and work with the dog in front of you taking into account the personality of the dog and their breed "job" and traits.

Oh, to clarify...pointless training is asking a dog to do something it "KNOWS" for no other reason than to say "we are training". it's not that things like sit, stay, down, etc are pointless, but once your dog knows it, they know it. Occational random "refreshers" are more POWERFUL in maintaining it than "formal" reviews of the bare bones basics. that is what we mean by "pointless".

[jellybean]

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues ... 50413&t=tl