Introducing Smokey - Nearly 5 Months Old Cavoodle

[Ina]

Hi everyone.

My name is Ina and I live in Melbourne, Australia.

Since I have 3 little boys I never even considered getting a dog. But then I met Smokey. It was love at first sight. Still, I knew I shouldn't really get a dog - my husband might get mad if I suddenly add another member to the family.
For 2 nights I couldn't sleep - I lay awake in bed thinking of this cute little puppy. I went back to the shop. The pup was still there, lying in the corner - not really interested in all these people looking at him. As I walked up, he lifted his head and gave a small bark. That was IT. We were meant for each other.
2 weeks ago I was watching Jesse (I'm sure he is well known to any doglover) on YouTube. After that I started investigating about dogtraining. Smokey and I have been training with the clicker for 2 weeks and it has been fun for both of us. He knows "sit, down, spin left, spin right, high five, shake" and a few more things.
Smokey loves showing off at our local primary school. He loves to demonstrate his "evergrowing bag of tricks" in front of all the kids in the various classrooms.
However, when we go outside I still haven't managed to get into his head that he should keep a loose leash. I get dizzy from all the change of direction. Treats are ignored - no matter how hungry or how good the treats are.

Anyway, enough of Smokey and me .. I got to go check out the forums. If anyone has suggestions how to handle the pulling when going for a walk, please let me know.

Cheers from down-under

Ina

 

[Jean Cote]

Hello Ina. Welcome to the Dog Trick Academy! That is pretty impressive that you taught all those tricks in two weeks time and with no experience, you must be a fast learner! As for keeping the loose leash, I guess you have tried going in the opposite direction, but have you tried in in a park? It's a lot easier to do because you're not restricted to forward and backwards, you can go in any direction. Also, you can try stopping as soon as the leash is tight. You can also try the gentle leader but your dog will hate it at first, until she gets used to it. It's a good training aid that the dog can't pull on because you hook up your leash in a different location.

Anyhow, I'm sure others will chime in on other ideas. Keep up the great work!

 

[Ina]

Hi Jean.

Thanks for the welcome! I have been reading through the forums and found a few handy tips regarding the pulling on the leash. Since he is still so young I am not too concerned yet. It's going to be easier giving him a treat when he reached knee height

.. after I understood that "charging the clicker" is the most important part of the training I spend about 10 sessions ensuring that the puppy understands the click=reward. Once that was done teaching tricks was a piece of cake (ahmmmm, actually more like a piece of dried liver). He learns now every day a new trick (first repeating all the old ones to make sure he hasn't forgotten). I am trying to build up a "base" to ensure that more complicated tricks can be split up in sections which might contain already learnt skills - very important one now is the "touch" command. This is going to be so handy because my kids always forget to close the pantry door and I will be using the puppy as a work horse <snicker>

Off we go for our evening walk...

Cheerio .. Ina

 

[Jean Cote]

Excellent! You are gonna make a wonderful trainer Ina!!!

 

[sara]

Welcome! Sounds as if clickertraining is right up your alley! A Cavoodle is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel crossed with a Poodle right? (I get confused with all these designer dog names ) You're going to have alot of fun with clicker training!

 

[Ina]

Hi Sara,

yes - he is Cavalier/Poodle .. but much more Cavalier - those eyes are killing me. I could cuddle him every time he looks up at me :-)

You have a nice dog family there too :-)

 

[sara]

My Mom is in love with cavaliers, she's been looking at breeders and such... she'd like to, for once in her life, get a puppy from a reputable breeder. It's the eyes and face that does it for her too! We had a Springer x Cocker when I was a kid that got her hooked on spaniels in the first place.

Me I love anything with 4 legs and a tail. but I LOVE the wiry dogs, whiskers do it for me! LOL I adore terriers!