Neccessary Commands

Hey Everyone,
I am looking to get everyone's opinion on what commands I should train Mojo until I can afford to go to obedience class again. We have been to class before, a class aimed towards building trust with a dog adopted from a shelter, but that was almost two years ago. And it worked great, now when I have Mojo's attention he will look up into my eyes and sit for my commands.

Anyway, what i have taught him --

Sit
Off
Wait
Down (he's not good with this one)
Crawl
Give Paw
Drop it (he's not good with this one either)

He doesn't know how to heel yet, mostly because I just haven't tried to teach him that. That is something I intend on working on outside when it gets warmer, now that I've gotten written instructions that makes sense to me.

But are there other things I should attempt to train before we go to class?

I know that once we get around other dogs it will take him a few classes to settle back down into a learning mode instead of a "OMG THERE'S DOGS HERE AND MAYBE THEY WILL PLAY WITH ME!!!!!" mode. At least that's what happened during our trust building class. For a 4 year old adult he still has a puppy's attitude when it comes to dog socialization.

I am looking to go back to class around or after May.

Thanks for any and all advice...

I'm sure you'll get lots of advice, but some kind of recall - "come" or "here" and some kind of stop-what-your-doing, either by name, "no", "stop" etc would be immediately useful. ...

Mojo will come to his name when I call him inside our apartment... but he's not reliable outside -- especially when he's following his nose. Thus he's not allowed outside without a leash on... plus right now I don't have access to a fenced in yard so I cant even practice this really... because i train by myself - my boyfriend won't help.

Sounds like you have many of the essentials covered.

I suggest you work on "drop it". I think that's one of the most important things you can teach a dog.

Some basic things I was able to teach my Jack Russell without help from a trainer:

Sit
Down - also used for 'get off the furniture'
Crawl

High Five - basically a give paw command but much more fun when you say 'High Five', and he gives you the side that you give him i.e. my left hand, his right foot, and vice versa.

Drop - easiest to teach when playing fetch and he brings you his toy; tell him the 'sit' command then 'drop' - when the toy leaves his mouth then reward. He won't sit there all day with the toy in the mouth once you say 'sit' so just be patient. Later on you can grab the toy and say drop, but not until he's mastered part one first, otherwise you're asking for a tug-of-war game.

Come - There's some good info on the other thread on how to teach this, but if you don't have a helper, buy a 30' line so you always maintain some control.

Go - he will go in the direction I point to, which I find is very useful in a bunch of different situations, especially at the stable when I want him out of the way. Very easy to teach - say 'go', point in a direction, then throw treat in that direction.

"Bang!" - my command for 'play dead', but it's a lot more fun, and gets lots of applause from the old people at the airport. Basically I would say "Bang!" really loud and push him to the floor - then reward. He eventually started throwing himself to the floor with such dramatic passion that it really looks like someone shot him - very cute.

Stand - He sits up on his hind legs and can hold it for up to 30 seconds. Easy to teach, ask for 'sit' then hold treat over the head, when he comes up say 'stand' then reward - start with just a few seconds then work up.

Toy - this means get your toy, which he does anyway, but if I say the word 'toy' he knows this means playtime. Somehow the smart little bugger even learned 'ball', 'spider', 'kong', 'octopus' - for the different kinds of toys, but I don't ever remember focusing on that. He just picked it up. To teach just keep repeating the word 'toy' when he randomly brings it to you and reward.

Kisses - when I make kissy noises, he licks my face.

Heel - mucho useful, was a little difficult for us. Need a short lead, don't let the head go past your knee, and I had good luck by stopping him every ten steps or so and asking for 'sit' - this kept his attention on me. Then I would start walking and say 'heel'. He eventually got it, but still has problems with it.

Wait - he's off-leash a lot and has been taught to travel about 15 steps in front of me (so he doesn't get trampled by the horses) but sometimes he gets too far ahead. The 'wait' command is for this very situation. At first I just started saying 'sit', which he did, then I transitioned into 'sit-wait' then just 'wait'.

The "what's mine, what's yours" game. Great for puppies. Throw one of his toys on the ground - he goes to it, gets praise. Throw one of my items on the ground - i.e. the remote - then when he puts his nose on it, I slap a rolled paper in my hand and give a sharp NO. Then throw one of his toys down, praise. My item (such as an electrical cord) gets the correction. How does he know the difference? - by smell. Anything with his spit and slobber on he gets reward - anything else - correction. When in doubt, he walks away. I teach this from day one, and I've never had destructive/chewing problems.

I used to live very close to JFK airport and this is a GREAT place to take your dog to work on basic commands, especially heel. Teaches them to obey in a crazy environment. Not every airport allows you to walk your dog on leash (some allow dogs in crates only) so make sure you check first. If not then try a busy park, or some outdoor malls allow dogs, or any other public place. Great training technique.

Oh - by the way - I teach a different hand signal to go along with all the basics, such as sit, down, come, bang (a fake 'gun' hehe) and I just started working him with the hand signal only. VERY useful - I highly recommend teaching the signal to go along with the command. Sometimes in a public place you don't want to be barking orders at your dog and a hand signal is great (also very impressive to on-lookers ).

So I know this was REALLY long but hopefully it gave you some ideas. Have fun!!!

You said you are having some trouble with Down. You might take a look at this page: http://www.loveyourdog.com/liedownmovie.html

I don't use the command down for everything. For me, Down means the dog is lying down (belly or side on the floor). Off means to get the dog's feet off of you, your furniture, or someone else. I think the dog is less confused when he has two different terms for these actions.

I use "off" for everything that you mentioned as well. Although I guess I pronounce it Oh-Off... which means Mojo only responds to that pronunciation and not the correct pronunciation of "Off." Whoops... But he does respond to it, and fairly quickly when I am the one giving the command... and maybe not as quickly if anyone else does. Pronunciation of my "Off" does seem key though towards getting him to obey.

I do have problems with "down." Mojo doesn't like to be in that position and will try to pop out of it if there si anyone else around besides him and I in the room (when we are training). We're working on it though, as best I can... So far I've been doing my training when we're alone, although I know this will have to change to keep him learning and applying his lessons.

But now I am off to check out that page you recommended. Thank you!

You mentioned that when Mojo is in a down, that he will pop up out of it. I don't know if it will help, but my trainer always had us flat tire our dog (when they are laying down, have their hip rolled onto the floor, not with their legs under them) as it takes a lot more effort from the dog to pop up. It also takes longer, and you have longer to correct the dog.

I don't think that my explanation is all that good, so here is a picture of what I mean by flat tire. http://heatherb.smugmug.com/photos/14541539-M.jpg

He should also be taught stand, not as in on his back legs but as in from laying or sitting. and stand stays.

also leave it is useful, for like going on a walk and they want to stop and smell stuff, say leave it and keep walking. also you can put a treat in front of them and tell them leave it. then tell them get it when they can have it.

on your bed is another one you can teach him...

Bow is also a cute one, get them in stand and then take the treat in front of their nose and then move it in towards their chest and they will have their front legs on the ground with their rear in the air. say bow and give treat.

i went through traing classes, if there is anything you have questions on I will be glad to help you out and give you the instructions I learned from my trainer. The training classes are great for socializing the dogs, but mostly they are to train the owner how to train the dog, cuz most the stuff they learn will be at home during training time when you work on the stuff from class.