Multi- dog tricks

phoebe

New Member
Just posting for the first time. I am in the process on training a sweet little chocolate lab. that I have had for a year. She has been picking up tricks since she was 3 months old. We are now getting into some more advanced tricks like the cookie toss to another dog. The other dog is so impatient though we have hit a small wall. The other dog I am working with a small Pitbull mix. I have recently started to work with here one on one with out the owner around. She listens much better with out distractions. If anyone out there can give me tips about perfecting the cookie toss I would appreciate it.
 

Jean Cote

Administrator
Staff member
Hi! That sounds like an awesome trick. Would you care to explain to me in greater details what it is supposed to look like?

From reading your post it sounds like you want your dog to throw a cookie at another dog?

I'm not sure if this is correct, so I will wait for your reply :)
 

phoebe

New Member
That is exactly it. One dog sits in front of the other and the one in front tosses a cookie to the one behind. I read about it in a book but they didn't explain the commands the second dog is to learn other than "stay" and "catch". Should be cute if I can the second dog to sit still for me to put the cookie on the first.
 
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lonewolf

Guest
Hello
I take it you are saying the second dog willl not sit still? I am confused, is the second dog trained to sit still? What is making the second dog move ? The trick does not sound as if there are breed issues ( meaning my bullmastiff will never be a frisby maniac ) so what is it that makes the second dog move ? I would take the first dog out of the picture and work with the second a bit more, I am just guessing though as I am not quite understanding how you got the second dog to the point of an advanced trick but he wont sit still.
Can you explain a bit more?
thank you
 

phoebe

New Member
Actually both are very well trained separately. This is the first trick I have tried with them in the same place. They have learned all the tricks needed to perform the trick but both dogs are 18 months old. When they are togther, it is play time. So last night the owner of the second dog and I were doing our training with both dogs in the same place doing separate things and they were so destracted by one another the only thing we got accomplished was back to back sitting still.
 

Jean Cote

Administrator
Staff member
Hi Phoebe!

When you train your dog while there are other dogs present, it creates huge distractions for your dog. If you have never conditioned him to ignore the other dogs, then you will have problems keeping his attention on you.

To start, you will need to be able to train your dog while there is another dog present. The best way is to train basic obedience like sit, down, etc, simple stuff, in the same room as the other dog. Don’t let the dogs interact together as this is not playtime! If the distractions are heavy for your dog, move farther from the other dog, you can actually start in a park where you can train your dog really far from the other dog, and move closer and closer.

Tip, let them play together after you’ve trained them, and while you train yours to get his attention on you, your partner should be training his dog to do the same.

Now as for your trick, it doesn’t seem too complicated. You basically just need to train your dog to throw a treat behind him, and your partner should train his dog to catch treats. Eventually once they can work close together without them wanting to play together, you can just mix the two.
 
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lonewolf

Guest
Hello
I agree with Jean,
also you may want to find who is the culprit. There is one that is exciting the other. He is the guy ( dog ) that is causing your problems. I am sure you know this but what you want to look for is a calm assertive state in the dogs, not a highly energized state. It may take you a few tries to get them into a calm state. One thing you may want to try ( after you find out which one is the dog that starts the excitment ) is to bring the excited dog out first. Get him to a calm state and bring out the other dog, you can keep them 20 feet apart at first. Give the guy that gets excited treats when the other dog appears and keep him sitting. Do it for two minutes, then remove the other dog, bring him back in after a few minutes break ( and make sure the excitable dog is back to calm assertive ) and do it again, bring the other one closer, watch the distance and see how close the other one comes until Mr excited reacts, give him a treat and keep him sitting, take the other dog back out. Just keep repeating until Mr excited understands that the other dog means yummy treats and not excitment.
 
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lonewolf

Guest
or maybe it will be the other way around, it could be the calmer dog first and then Mr excited second but try Mr excited first and see what happens.
 

phoebe

New Member
First of all Jean, Thank you. I do have her trained to ignor dogs on walks but When it come to Baha, she is my dogs best little playmate so I think tonight we are going do what lonewolf has suggested. That way I can figure out which one to spend the most time with. If I figure out which one is the "good" one than I can have them sitting at the side lines while I train with the other.
 

phoebe

New Member
Ok I had my dog on the leash and had my friend hold her while I worked with her dogs. I had Baja working fine with me she wasn't to descracted (because I have the food), but Phoebe (my dog) whine and barked when I would give Baja a treat for being good. That was more desracting to me than Baja. Than I switch and Pheobe went from me back to Baja and back and forth. That was a long session. We did a nice bike ride thing with her before we started and she was still very very hyper with Baja there. Phoebe and Baja are the same age and they had the same amout excersize. Phoebe is a Lab and Baja is a hi-strung little pit-bull, and I got better behavoir from her ????? I have to be doing something wrong. It's like I have never trained her at all????
 

Jean Cote

Administrator
Staff member
So if I get this straight, you are trying to train both dogs yourself, at the same time? :eek:

What I was thinking was that you both train your own dog. You would be focusing 100% on your dog's training, his attention to you, and your friend would be doing the same with his dog. They must be able to work in the same room without wanting to play together before you can do anything with them.

With time, they will become less distracted by the other dog, to the point where you don't need a leash. Eventually when you reach that point you can put one in a sit & stay or wait and train the other one.

It takes time! Trust me, I know what you're going through - I trained my husky to do agility without a leash when there were 5 - 7 dogs around us. It was a nightmare in the beginning, but the more you do it, the better behaved they will become. By the way - do not let them play together while you are training them. I'd even go as far as dedicating a room for training where they never get to play together there.
 

phoebe

New Member
My friend and I work with each others dogs My dog will work with her and we can switch with out any confusion from the dogs. I wanted them way so they would preform the tricks with anyone that commanded them to. Also they are not allowed to play "wrestle" in the house at all. Question you think that we should take the leash out of the picture?
 
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lonewolf

Guest
Sounds like Phoebe is the culprit. If it were me I guess I would stop the other training and train Phoebe to be in a calm state around baja.
As I am sure you know, the more excited you get, the more excited Phoebe gets ( I am getting that from your statement you were more distracted by Phoebe when training baja ) Please dont think I am takling down to you, but just as a reminder, the more excited Phoebe gets the calmer you have to be. Dogs read any type of shift in body language and are a zillion times more adapt at reading body language than humans.So remember to always stay as relaxed as possible.
Perhaps teaching Phoebe the leave it command would be a step towards the direction you may need to go ?
It sounds as if Phoebe is in real need of boundries when she is with baja, not his boundries but yours and that why I suggest leave it or training in that style of direction may be the answer.
At least you found the trouble maker and now you can work to correct it. I know it is easy for me to say though sitting in front of the computer in the comfort of my chair. I do know it can be a bit difficult but stick with calming Phoebe down.
 

phoebe

New Member
I totally agree with you lonewolf. so now any and all tricks Phoebe are put on hold and we have went back to basics. Sit, heel, come and stay, with Baja present. I have made very little progress in the last two weeks. So what we have been doing is instead of treats I have brought out Phoebe's favorite ball and that get Baja going but I do have more of Phoebe's attention. Pheobe was taught that I won't throw the ball until she is calm. So I don't notice Baja is there and I just try to train Phoebe as if she is the only one there. If I loss my patience than we end the training session. It doesn't do anybody if we continue. There have been more than a couple of times that I have had to stop, take a deep breath and start over. But there has been some improvement and that is really what keeps me going.
 

Jean Cote

Administrator
Staff member
Yep! That's the beauty of dog training :dogsmile: ... And you will have to do this again in new environments such as parks, or anywhere your dog has never been. That is why dog trainers recommend that you train in all different environments, where there are a lot of distractions.

Training your dog to be completely obedient in your basement is a lot easier than in a public park where there are other dogs, kids and cars all around. Not to mention the billions smells that drives your dog nuts!! :dogsmile:

But I'm glad to hear that you are making progress. That is key! Improving 1% every day is not 365% a year, they actually stack up on each other...

Keep up the good work!!! :)
 
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