Omg Huge Progress!! Sooooooo Excited!!!!

[Mayasmydobe]

All I can say is... "WOW IM SOOOOOOO EFFIN EXCITED!!!!"
Maya learned two new commands tonight! She learned stand (she is better at it from a "down" position) and "Speak"!!!!! WOOOHOOO! Also she surprised me by doing a "sit" from a "down"!!!! She is getting better at "down" as well!
I still need to work on phasing out the treats with the "sit" and the "down" I need to work on her doing it while I am standing and then I need to phase out the treats for that as well. Also with the "Speak" and "stand" we need to work on phasing out the treats. But ... WOW! I am soooo excited I cant stop smiling and telling her how proud I am of her! We were showing off her "down" and "sit" to my mom because she hasnt seen much of the training I have done with Maya and I had her in a "down" and I pulled the treat away from her and told her "stand" and she stood up!
With the "speak" I put her in a "sit" and got distracted (we were working on duration, which we need to work on with her "down" as well) Anyways she got impatient and barked at me so I said "speak" and she barked again so I treated her. She got a little talkative after that so everytime she barked I said "speak" and she would bark again and I treated her. After two times of this all I had to do was hold the treat up and say "speak" and she would bark! It was sooo cool!
I am thinking that I want to teach her to bark when she wants to go outside, so should I just have her "speak" each and everytime before we walk out the door? It makes sense to me... but then again, Im no expert.

YAY I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PROUD OF MY DOG!!!:D :D :D

[jess2416]

Congrats :D :D Good Job Maya...:D


*Off Topic, but have you heard anything about her growth or anything yet*

[Fruit bat]

Woohooo Go Maya ! ( pics ?)

[Sada]

Good Job. Now that you have taught her "Speak", I would suggest teaching her "Quiet". This will come in handy for when she is barking alot.

[Mayasmydobe]

Congrats :D :D Good Job Maya...:D


*Off Topic, but have you heard anything about her growth or anything yet*

no.. I am getting a pedigree with her AKC registration. it should be here in about two weeks. I am taking that to the vet. While it is only a three gen. Pedigree I am going to see what he says about it and if he wants us to go back further then we are going to order the 5 gen one online. The vet isnt worried about her being small, he says that it's like people, some people have a very small frame (I have a friend that at age 23 is 4'11" and weight 95lbs) and some are normal, while some are big boned. He thinks Maya is just one of those really petite dogs.

[adojrts]

Hey Congrats;
It is always exciting when we have 'break thourgh moments' or progression when training. It's such a happy time when all the hard work that you have invested comes together.

Lynn

[RedyreRottweilers]

Please don't try to eliminate the food rewards too fast. Put them on a variable schedule, and only reward the best responses with treats. This is just a BABY PUPPY, if you back off the food rewards too fast, she might not enjoy working with you so much.

Congrats on the progress!

[Mayasmydobe]

i wasnt thinking about taking them away two fast. I was going to start by treating like ever other time untill she gets good at that and then switching it up a bit and treat only for the best ones.

[doberkim]

Just a few days ago you were saying that she only sits when she wants when you tell her - until she sits 100% ALL THE TIME when told to, and is reliable over a course of a week or so minimum, I wouldn't take away her cookies/rewards yet. She isn't ready for it.

I can safely say for both myself and Rebekah - our dogs are working in competitive obedience (though Penny is more advanced than Rah and has already entered her ring and obtained her CD), they are both working on open and utility exercises- and they are STILL rewarded heavily for new behaviors, and I still reward easy things like sits, downs, stands, stays - when my dog does a good job, he is rewarded plain and simple. He doesn't know when or how he may be rewarded, but it's always a possibilty, and sometimes in one training sesion he DOES get rewarded for every single sit.

I don't think Maya is ready to have her reward removed - don't rush her!

[RedyreRottweilers]

Also with the "Speak" and "stand" we need to work on phasing out the treats.


You understand that the above comment you made about starting to remove food rewards is why DoberKim and I made the comments we did?

We did not start the discussion, we were commenting on what you had already stated.

Keep up with strong rewards and lots of praise for your puppy. Do not back off on reinforcement, she is way too young.

I think you would really enjoy a training class. :D