***How many commands to teach my Siberian Husky at once?****

johmel

New Member
I have been wondering how many tcommands can you teach a dog at one? I have a 11 week old siberian husky and I have been teaching her the sit command which she has been doing well at but she still needs some work ( she jumps and then sits, im trying to figure out how to make it so that she dosent jump at all..). (I have had her since tuesday and been training her how to sit since thursday). But can I also teach her how how to lay down or how to stay while she is still learning sit or should I just wait until she learns how to sit EXTREMELY well and go from there?
 

Jean Cote

Administrator
Staff member
Hi! I have a Siberian Husky myself and you can get rid of the jumping over time by only reinforcing the dog for sitting. You can jackpot the times when she sits without jumping.

How are you teaching the sit? Technically, if you use luring the dog isn't able to jump up before sitting.

You can train all obedience commands (sit, down, stand) at the same time, but train them in sequences. For example, work on the sit for 5 minutes then switch to down, work on it for another 5 minutes then work on stand.

This all depends on the training method used. If you use purely clicker training, like shaping then you are better off training one command at a time.

I wouldn't recommend training wait or stay before you dog can at least do the basic sit, down, stand commands.
 

snooks

Experienced Member
the best way to get rick of a behavior is to ignore it and/or make it harder to do. what is making her jump? is she hopping up on her hind legs to get nearer your face or treats or hands? or is she just excited and she comes and hops around? a lot of people when teaching new things do something with their body that encourages jumping or getting nearer your face.

if you are bending over or leaning toward the dog or getting to excited making high voiced noises etc this could be over exciting the dog or encouraging a jump. a lot of people don't realize they are doing it. sometimes just sitting on the floor to start will discourage a jump because they don't need to jump to be near your face. keep your voice calm and don't get too excited. don't hold the treat out and up too long if that makes her jump.

think about it and see if you can come up with why she might be jumping. the alternative is that you do it a completely different way and see if that works. i don't know if you use a clicker but i think this is the easiest way to say CLICK and the dog understands at this very second I am doing just what my mom/dad wants and i get a treat for it. otherwise if they are hopping around all excited they may not know when you say good exactly what they were doing when you said good. the more clear you are about it the faster she will learn. when you click you don't even need to say good because the treat is the reward. if talking is exciting her that is another way to keep 4 on the floor.

start by luring the dog with a piece of meat or cheese (very good stinky treat). let the dog see the treat and put her nose on it but keep your fingers over it and don't let her have it. then slooowly raise it up just a little, not much but just enough that she has to put her butt on the floor but front paws don't need to come off the floor to get the treat. don't take too long or she'll give up. it's a timing thing not too fast; not too slow.

if those front paws come off the floor then pull the treat away calmly up behind ur back, stand straight, wait a few seconds until puppy calms down and take a step back so that she has to stand again to follow you. you may have to turn sideways every time she jumps and don't stare at her. this isn't a big move and you don't even need to move your feet much just slight rotate shoulders and hips away and back. no jerking or things that look like excitement or play. eye contact can cause jumping too so look away as you turn and ignore all jumping. don't say no, don't push away, just turn enough to the side in a small calm move and look away and turn back.

again put the treat just in front of her nose and very slowly raise it. by going slow you encourage a sit because it's much easier to balance and get her nose higher by sitting than by standing on two legs. if the treat is just high enough to sit and reach it's probably too low to get to if her front legs leave the ground.

just as her butt hits the floor click/treat. you need to be fast and ready on that clicker. I don't put word cues to any behavior until the dog does what i lure about 80% of the time. when we get to that point say the word just before the behavior occurs. in this case just before she starts to put her butt down say sit in a pitch that makes the end of the word lower in tone than the start. you don't want it to sound like a question siT? but like a calm but gentle single tone or downward lower pitch ending word. enunciate it well so the dog hears the s and the t and not too fast but conversationally. say it the same way every time because the dog doesn't necessarily know the word but will learn the tone, speed, inflection all as a sound.

if she jumps just remove the treat behind your back out of sight, i usually keep the clicker and treat behind my back as the dog gets better and quit luring so that my hands aren't giving different messages than my mouth is. for now you lure, add the word cue at 80% success, and when you get 100% success you stop luring and just say sit, click just as she goes to sit and treat within 2 seconds. reward at 100% until you feel the sit is solid then you can stop clicking and fade the treats over time. if she backslides then you faded the treats too fast.

if she's still jumping with a lure try teaching a down first by luring, lowering the treat slowly to the floor so that puppy has to lie down to get to it. don't click until elbows and butt are on the floor. I usually also want the dog to roll onto a hip in the back too so that they don't pop right back up again. to get the roll, you can move the treat just past one shoulder or the other, most dogs will prefer one side when the lie down so move the treat toward their rear at nose level after they lay down and as the head turns they will roll onto one hip.

then from the down lure a sit, the odds are that she won't jump if she's coming into the sit from a down position. with a puppy i sit on the floor to do this because it's easier and usually less exciting than if i am stooping over her. if she jumps you may have to stand. don't repeat sit sit SIT! or you will teach her to sit when you say sit sit sit. Once she knows the lure game Say sit once, if she doesn't do it move around a bit and change position or reset and say sit again. Some trainers say never repeat and some allow for it if you reset or change things a bit. I tend to be more on the not repeat side for a beginner puppy. If she's not doing it the first time you probably need to get a better treat (like chicken or roast), keep luring a little longer, or be in a very undistracting place like a quiet room.

how many things to teach? well after you get the foundation stuff like sit, down, come, and the dog figures out that following the food and doing things gets clicks and treats you can add more and more. For a puppy I might start out with just sit and down. once she gets that i might add 3-6 more simple things one at a time like turn right in a circle and left by luring around and click/treat. if this dog were a year old like yours you can add as many as your dog is having fun doing. her attention span will be longer than a puppy's and she can understand more.

keep training short and do it several times a day. instead of a marathon 15 minutes do 2-3 minute sessions 2-3 times a day and your results will be much better. make them all a little different.

do it when she's good and hungry and not really tired or excited, start inside with low distractions so you have her attention. always stop while she still wants more so that she's raring to go next time. if she loses interest or wanders away you did too much, try not to let that happen. my 1 year old does about 20 or so things when i train now and they aren't always the same things. make it different enough that it's interesting and the dog has to think. the more you make them think the more interested they stay because it's not the same old routine. sit, down, shake, roll over not only is boring but you end up with a dog that can only do things in one order. if your dog loses interest fast your rate of click treat isn't fast enough, give her faster easier things that are short clicks. don't expect her to heel for 20 feet but maybe 2-3 steps.

i agree that teaching sit now is probably a little premature and you need to work up to that. learning that this new game of i ask you to do things and you get treats and play for doing it requires some self discipline and patience on ur dog's part. until she gets that patience down and learns how to learn from you a stay is a lot to ask. wait on that a bit and work on the basic stuff. once you get those things on word cue and pretty successful then you can work up to stays and such. it depends on your dog-when you learn to read her right - when she's bored, alert, interested you'll do the best. end on a good note and a successful one. don't be tempted to try for one more good sit when you just got a great one. stop there and give a great jackpot, maybe a little play then do a down etc.

one thing about Sib's is the intense need to run and run and get loads of exercise. you'll find that if she gets more exercise she'll learn faster because she'll be less hyper and more attentive.

good luck and have fun teaching. there are loads of good clicker books if you aren't familiar with clickers and want to read. www.clickertraining.com is a great free site with lots of tips and they do carry books to order, have advice, and it's all positive reinforcement based training.
 

johmel

New Member
Nice response!! whew that was a long read..lol.

Ok, I do use a clicker and I will try to make her sit with me on the floor as well so that she wont jump. I have already stoped putting the treat in the hand that im using to lure her with, i put the trat in my poket and the clicker in my other hand, then I will lure her and I guess my hand is kind of high so she will try to grab what she thinks is in my hand and then she sits.

She usually sits all the time without me telling her to so its hard for me to tell if she is sitting because of my command or because she just wants to.. Like If I would stop luring her she will sit automatically and just look at me..
 

snooks

Experienced Member
so you think she's jumping to get what she thinks is in ur hand? it sounds like you feel she already knows sit and she knows click. she's just adding a undesired jump? one key to clicking is that both hands remain still so that she's not paying attention to them but what you SAY. my clicker trainer has a search and rescue trained dog that is really well trained. she suggested that for the best clicker response both clicker and treat hand must be still, she puts both hands behind her back. one preloaded with a treat, one with the clicker. do not be going into your pocket for the treat as that may be exciting and dilute your verbal cue. either put them on the cabinet, have them in your hand or mouth so she doesn't start getting antsy and reading your treat grabbing as a cue to jump or anything else. stand up so puppy can't run around and ambush the treat if you have to. ignore any jumping or anything other than sitting.

say sit and keep your body still, don't bend or move your head. dogs take visual movements from us more easily than verbal cues. so if you are moving in any way it may be distracting so be a statue. if she jumps just turn to the side and ignore and turn back. you can wait a few seconds and recue if you move or reset so that you aren't just repeating from the same position. walk to her other side and say sit. if she's still jumping i might try this differently then because she's either too excited or doesn't quite have it.

make everything just a little less exciting, get less valuable food, maybe kibble, don't talk other than saying sit, don't do this when she's really worked up. maybe try from a down position. put a leash on her and tether it to something where you can step just far enough away that she can't jump on you but can step in and give a treat quick for a sit. Just don't ever let her out of ur site if she's tethered since she could hurt herself. be sure she has a nice wide soft collar or harness so she won't hurt her little throat if she jumps hard.

two other ideas, teach her not to jump. every second she has 4 paws on the floor click. if you back up or walk away she has to put 4 feet on the floor if only to follow you. have a hand full of small treats so you aren't digging in your pocket and click treat just as fast as u need to every time she has 4 feet on the floor. very fast click/treat bam bam bam. i put about 10 pea size treats in my hand at once. once she gets that you can add a verbal cue like off. don't say anything or pay any attention even saying no since that is still attention. she's jumping because she's getting something out of it so figure out what that is and don't do it. don't let anyone else do it either. you can also step over a baby gate or walk into a room and shut the door for just a second and teach her that jumping gets her ignored.

i have the hardest time getting people not to pet my golden puppy when she jumps. so for a long time i leashed or crated her when people first came and gave them very strict instructions. don't pet her just cross your arms if she jumps, no eye contact. it's almost impossible for most people to ignore a cute puppy. so take some time getting people to help you even tossing treats away from them behind puppy so that she finds out jumping on anything is not what's most fun. :doglaugh: good luck.
 

alee

New Member
Sibes no doubt are the best! Well my Rex is at least. But if you have a nice lawn there's something you might want to teach them that you probably wouldn't teach any other breed. You see by instinct sibes love to dig, and most people do not apreciate this. But a wise man (Cesar Millan) once said you should not break a dog of his instinct but fulfill them by curbing the behaviour. You see we live in the country and have a big backyard and it would not be good if rex dug it all up, and as a pup he loved to dig. So instead of teaching him not to dig, I did the exact opposite I taught him how to. That's right he digs on command, this way he digs only when I ask(which is usually at the beach). I would recommand for you to try this with your pup. Not only does it help your lawn but its a cool trick to!
 

snooks

Experienced Member
nice idea and esp with a Sib where you must work with their instincts or be endlessly frustrated.
 
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