Me And My Bully

BullyGem

New Member
Hi all!! My name is Gemma and my partner and I have just got a tri coloured bull terrier. We named him Axl. We also have another dog and she is 2 years old. She is a mixed mini fox terrier and they love each other.

I have just started clicker training Axl and so far he sits and drops. I am starting to teach shake hands but as you may know bullys are quite stubborn so training him isn't always so successful.

If anyone has another bull terrier and has any helpful tips for training them that would be great!!
 

running_dog

Honored Member
Welcome to DTA :)

My dog looks almost as different from a bull terrier as you can get but does not learn like most books say and is not always motivated in the same way as other dogs.

Don't be afraid to change training methods to suit your dog. If someone suggests 10 repetitions I do 2 or 3. My dog does not generally learn by repetition. The more repetitions the dumber he seems. He is at his most comical when he is carefully not succeeding in doing a trick that he can actually do perfectly - I seem to recollect that this is a characteristic of bull terriers too :ROFLMAO:

If you haven't already you might try out different rewards. My dog is motivated by treats but only if he is hungry and they are very good - the kind that other dogs trail you down the street for. He is also motivated by his tennis ball, going for a walk, seeing his friends, sniffing trees and lamp posts, squeaky toys, chasing things, running, football, having a nap, sitting on the couch, wearing his kennel coat, ending a training session, tugging his frisbee, sniffing road kill... sometimes you have to think laterally to find what your dog likes best.
 

BullyGem

New Member
Thank you for your advice! Everything helps.

I have been clicker training my bull terrier for almost 2 weeks now and last night I decided to change things around a bit to how I think he best understands. It was a success! My dog loves all kinds of treats so food is not an issue whether he is hungry or not however I do find he gets more excited and less concerntrated if I use mince for a treat. So far Axl can sit and drop and he is starting to learn shake hands.:)
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
You sound like you are on the right path! WHAT A SWEET LOOKING DOG!
How long are your 'lessons'?
Puppies usually have shorter attention spans, so keeping all lessons short, like 5 or 10 minutes, might help, too. You always want to stop BEFORE the puppy zones out.

You can REPEAT the lessons a few times a day, but if you are trying to get a beginner puppy to pay attention for a half an hour, he might zone out on you, and stop paying attention,
as maybe he has past the limit of his ability to pay attention.

also, moving around, from room to room, or outdoors, also helps perk up a dog who is not paying attention.
 

BullyGem

New Member
Thanks for that! The picture is of my Fox Terrier Ellie. She is a very sweet girl indeed.
I have been keeping our lessons to a max of 10 mins and we train outdoors as both our dogs are outdoors pups. I do find that moving around the yard helps him pay more attention.

The past couple of mornings however at a very early hour Axl has been playing up like barking or wanting to play with Ellie so he starts growling and making a bit of a noise. We have houses quite close together so I'm bit concerned they might start getting annoyed. He has plenty of toys to play with so I'm not sure what else I can do to keep him entertained while everyone else is sleeping. Any suggestions??
 

BullyGem

New Member
What happens if you let him inside the house, will his early morning boredom barking continue indoors?
What country do you live in? I only ask, trying to picture a country which has such a lovely climate to leave puppies outdoors all night long.

Also, what do you use for training treats?

Also, you can teach the cue "shhhh" as well.
http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/members/forums/threads/sarah-cameron-oliver-adam-and-merlin.4376/
I'm in Australia in the northern tropics so the whether is quite nice. When we are in summer it does tend to get a bit hot but we have a ceiling fan outside where the pups are and we also have a little dog pool that they love to cool off in during the day. We prefer to leave them outside as there is quite a bit of damage Axl could do inside. I think I will just monitor him and keep an eye out at what he is actually doing when he is in his mood and see if I can go from there.

For training I use little dried chicken treats that he loves!!! Well any food he loves but these seem to be working very well for him in our lessons.
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
OH, i'm so glad you have a lovely climate and such nice accommodations for a dog.

In USA, the store bought treats are terrible, just horrible. Oh, dogs love them, but in USA, the dog treats are often bad for dog's health. I use tiny treats only,
to avoid a full or fat dog,
as dogs do not care how big a treat is, not at all. For "jackpots" i give him multiple treats, not one big treat.

I usually use bits of real meat, or hotdogs cut up small, or homemade treats, sometimes bits of cheese. If you are interested in homemade dog treats, this recipe is ecomical, healthy, and dogs love it:
http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/members/forums/threads/liver-cookies.4061/
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
One option you have, is,
you could bring Axl inside, to begin working on his "leave it" cue,
this thread, in posts #7, #10, and other posts, have tips on "leave it":http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/members/forums/threads/chances-3rd-chance.4363/


or attention building cues, like "look at me" etc etc. Look at me, is easy enough cue,
you can say "look at me"
and wait til dog looks up at you in confusion--------CLICK/TREAT.
Slowly advance along, overtime, have dog look at you when you are holding a treat, he has to look at you, not the treat, etc.
Overtime, advance along, so that dog looks at you even if very mild distractions are around, and slowly advance along.
but to TEACH "look at me", it's best if you start teaching it with no distractions around.
 
Top