Help with a new dog

[FlamesKickAss]

I adopted a black lab on thursday. the shelter wasnt too sure of its name but they were calling him jake. I like the name but he doesn't it know what it is i dont think. He comes when i whistle and sits when i snap then say sit. any suggestions on how to make him learn his name. They guessed that he is just under 2 years old.

Also is there any books you can recommend that tells how to teach him tricks? He knows speak,sit, lay down and shake a paw a little.

He is an awesome dog though!!

[HelloHockeyFans]

Congrats man. One of the best things you can do is get a dog. The little guy will be your best friend... for life.

Just keep calling his name, and he'll eventually learn it.

[Khel]

Just keep calling him by the name...

You can even grab a bunch of treats, and when you say his name and he looks at you give him one.... the wait for him to look away and repeat.... if he's a lab he'll soon learn to love this game...

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by FlamesKickAss

I adopted a black lab on thursday. the shelter wasnt too sure of its name but they were calling him jake. I like the name but he doesn't it know what it is i dont think. He comes when i whistle and sits when i snap then say sit. any suggestions on how to make him learn his name. They guessed that he is just under 2 years old.

Also is there any books you can recommend that tells how to teach him tricks? He knows speak,sit, lay down and shake a paw a little.

He is an awesome dog though!!

Good on you getting a rescue dog.

As others stated, just keep yakking his name at him and he'll catch on PDQ, particularly if it relates to food.

Cowperson

[Fozzie_DeBear]

Glad to see you took a rescue dog, we have two of them and they are great!

In regards to name training was going to say exactly what Khel said...when you say 'Jake' wait until he makes eye contact then give him the treat and LOTS of praise...you may need to help him make eye contact by waving the treat in front of him to draw his attention to you.

And you may want to drop a few $$ on a dog training course or book (Dog training for dummies was surprisingly good)..it is $20-$120 that is well spent IMO

[FlamesKickAss]

thanks guys. i found him in montana on petfinder.com.

HHF - he aint little at 90 lbs.

he is great with our shihzu/ toy poodle

for anyonethat has facebook i posted pics of him in there

[redforever]

Originally Posted by FlamesKickAss

I adopted a black lab on thursday. the shelter wasnt too sure of its name but they were calling him jake. I like the name but he doesn't it know what it is i dont think. He comes when i whistle and sits when i snap then say sit. any suggestions on how to make him learn his name. They guessed that he is just under 2 years old.

Also is there any books you can recommend that tells how to teach him tricks? He knows speak,sit, lay down and shake a paw a little.

He is an awesome dog though!!

Labs are awesome dogs, and smart, we used to have a black Lab, Monty. If you can teach him to sit and stay, you can do find and retrieve with those canvas training dummies, or make one from a sock, just stuff and sew shut.

Start by throwing a bit, he should naturally retrieve, make sure he gives, he should have a gentle mouth. Have him sit and stay, then place the dummy someplace he cant see it and have him find and bring. Get him all excited first, play a bit with the training dummy, then have him sit and stay, hide the dummy and have him find. They love that cause they are naturally bred to do stuff like that.

[flamesfever]

Originally Posted by FlamesKickAss

I adopted a black lab on thursday. the shelter wasnt too sure of its name but they were calling him jake. I like the name but he doesn't it know what it is i dont think. He comes when i whistle and sits when i snap then say sit. any suggestions on how to make him learn his name. They guessed that he is just under 2 years old.

Also is there any books you can recommend that tells how to teach him tricks? He knows speak,sit, lay down and shake a paw a little.

He is an awesome dog though!!

I agree with the suggestions in getting him to know his name. They are very food oriented.

I have a 2+ year old yellow lab and he's shaping up to be the best dog I've ever owned. He's smart - you can talk to him and he responds to many thing you say. He's great with other dogs and friendly with people to a fault - wants to jump up and kiss everyone he meets or comes into our house (a common trait in the breed - someone told us, jokingly I hope, he would grow out of it in about 6 years). He loves to play, and demands a fair amount of attention. I take him once a day to an offleash area for about 1/2 an hour and that seems to satisfy his need for exercise.

I enjoy hunting with him and his ability to use his nose and to retreive is remarkable. One of the best books that I was directed to is "Training your Retreiver" by James Lamb Free.

[Flames_Gimp]

I adopted a purebred german shephard from the humane society last thursday, she is awesome as well.





just do a lot of excercises with treats..make him come, sit and sttay before you give a treat. just everytime u want to give a treat make him do something for it. thats what i do anyways. always call him a good dog and pet him as u give the treat.

[Sylvanfan]

I read in books that two syllable names work best for dogs. Can't give you a logical reason, but thats what I read. Maybe Jacob? Also an excercise I was shown in an obedience class involved saying the dogs name and when he looked at you give him a kibble of his food, and repeat this like 10-15 times in a session.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

I read in books that two syllable names work best for dogs. Can't give you a logical reason, but thats what I read. Maybe Jacob? Also an excercise I was shown in an obedience class involved saying the dogs name and when he looked at you give him a kibble of his food, and repeat this like 10-15 times in a session.

Once they recognize their name and know the sound of part of it, they come to just about anything along the same line.

We had Monty, he knew Mont too. Jessie knew Jess, our Duncan knows Dunc, Duncy, Maggie knows Maggs. and our dogs know the other dogs names too, when it is their turn. If both are sitting on the deck, you open the door and say come in Duncan, Maggie waits her turn and vica versa.

[Flash Walken]

Make sure you don't use his name sternly. He will react to your body language and associate whatever you say with being bad.

Whenever he comes to you, no matter what he just did, heap praise on him.

[Claeren]

I have a related question of my own.

My parents have a 1.3 year old Golden Retriever that is fantastic. Extremely bright, perfect bone structure, does not bark too much or jump up on visitors, obeys commands quickly and without question, follows you around the house and sleeps on your feet, etc. Very well adjusted.

There is ONE problem. He will pick up toys or retreive a stick or what not very quickly and happily and then presents them back to you but will not drop them or give them back. He simply latches on, usually while very obediently sitting there waiting, but will not give up whatever he has in his mouth.

Does anyone know a good trick to correct this?


I think it started because whenever he would pick something up in his mouth as a puppy that my mother would give him a treat to give it back. So now he waits for a treat to give back the stick or toy. But obviously we cannot keep giving him treats everytime we play!! Intense praise does not seem to replace the treats either, i have certainly tried that already....


Claeren.

[flamesfever]

Originally Posted by Claeren

I have a related question of my own.

My parents have a 1.3 year old Golden Retriever that is fantastic. Extremely bright, perfect bone structure, does not bark too much or jump up on visitors, obeys commands quickly and without question, follows you around the house and sleeps on your feet, etc. Very well adjusted.

There is ONE problem. He will pick up toys or retreive a stick or what not very quickly and happily and then presents them back to you but will not drop them or give them back. He simply latches on, usually while very obediently sitting there waiting, but will not give up whatever he has in his mouth.

Does anyone know a good trick to correct this?


I think it started because whenever he would pick something up in his mouth as a puppy that my mother would give him a treat to give it back. So now he waits for a treat to give back the stick or toy. But obviously we cannot keep giving him treats everytime we play!! Intense praise does not seem to replace the treats either, i have certainly tried that already....


Claeren.

We have the same problem with our 2+ year old yellow lab. When he retrieves one of his toys and won't give it back, it is usually because he wants you to grab it and play "tug of war" with him. It probably began when someone in our family started playing this game with him in the past.
I've also read where this behavior can become a problem when you are hunting and expecting the dog to drop a pheasant or duck, etc. I don't recall anyone using a treat to get it back, and I also think using treats in training can be overdone.

I think it is also a control and attention-getting thing to some degree, and I have found by ignoring him, he eventually drops it. Hopefully, with time and persistance he will get the message.

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally Posted by Claeren

I have a related question of my own.

My parents have a 1.3 year old Golden Retriever that is fantastic. Extremely bright, perfect bone structure, does not bark too much or jump up on visitors, obeys commands quickly and without question, follows you around the house and sleeps on your feet, etc. Very well adjusted.

There is ONE problem. He will pick up toys or retreive a stick or what not very quickly and happily and then presents them back to you but will not drop them or give them back. He simply latches on, usually while very obediently sitting there waiting, but will not give up whatever he has in his mouth.

Does anyone know a good trick to correct this?

sounds like my dog exactly same...has a bit of posession aggresion..they made me buy a book when i adopted her. the book is called "Mine"...

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by Claeren

Does anyone know a good trick to correct this?

Yup. My dog used to do the very same thing when he was a pup. It's partly a "play" thing, but it may also be a dominance/possession thing, so you should definitely nip it in the bud.

When he brings it back, gently place your hand over his snout, and reach in and hold the toy with your other hand. Don't squeeze hard--it's sensitive--but hold him there until he lets go. Don't pull worry at the toy, that will be interpreted as playing tug. Instead, use that free hand to cover his snout (and eyes, if your hand's big enough) and hold the toy still. Don't give up--it might take some patience. Make it clear that he's not going anywhere until he gives you the toy. Be gentle, but very firm, and don't back down. Remember that with everything, repetition and patience is necessary--it may take him a while to get it.

It worked like a charm for us, anyway. Not sure if my description was very clear--but our dog doesn't "hog" toys anymore, and he's a lot better at playing fetch, because he knows that the only way to continue the game is to give me the ball.

I also trained him with a rope--to pull and play tug and then stop when told to stop. That's something I learned in obedience school--don't really remember how that worked, but I think it was a similar concept.

[FlamesKickAss]

cool, ive started to do that today. just everything i say good to him i say his name. i already see a difference. I just can't believe how good of a dog he is.

[Khel]

Nothing wrong with playing tug with a dog, but teach him the command "give" first, and always make sure you win the tug, even if it means opening his mouth to take the object out.

I've got a 14 month old black lab, and he plays tug on command and gives up anything without a problem. But sadly he's never won a game against me yet

[BerubeHater]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

Yup. My dog used to do the very same thing when he was a pup. It's partly a "play" thing, but it may also be a dominance/possession thing, so you should definitely nip it in the bud.

When he brings it back, gently place your hand over his snout, and reach in and hold the toy with your other hand. Don't squeeze hard--it's sensitive--but hold him there until he lets go. Don't pull worry at the toy, that will be interpreted as playing tug. Instead, use that free hand to cover his snout (and eyes, if your hand's big enough) and hold the toy still. Don't give up--it might take some patience. Make it clear that he's not going anywhere until he gives you the toy. Be gentle, but very firm, and don't back down. Remember that with everything, repetition and patience is necessary--it may take him a while to get it.

It worked like a charm for us, anyway. Not sure if my description was very clear--but our dog doesn't "hog" toys anymore, and he's a lot better at playing fetch, because he knows that the only way to continue the game is to give me the ball.

I also trained him with a rope--to pull and play tug and then stop when told to stop. That's something I learned in obedience school--don't really remember how that worked, but I think it was a similar concept.

My Pup, won't give the toy back, but what is worse is that he won't let you go near him unless he is really tired. He thinks that you are playing with him. This is a real pain as when we are trying to put him away when we go out, it takes forever to catch him. Any suggestions?

[Flame On]

What a cute GS that is, I've always wanted one.
Things will come just stick with it.
We had our dog in lessons on the weekend and were told our dog is obnoxious. Actually she's just behind due to our breeders insistence on individual inoculations, rather than all at once, so her socialization is behind.
I heard that 2000 repetitions is needed for a dog to get a command fully, it's work but it will come. Reward the good behavior, ignore the bad, is a good mantra.