Keeping Turtles Attention

[Turtle]

Hi all,

I have a quick question for all of you that use treats to help with training.
I have a 9 week old Border Collie named Turtle who is progressing very nicely, however, when I give him a treat for doing something good he becomes solely interested in finding more treats and it becomes very hard to get his attention back. He sniffs my hands and pockets but I don't like to say "no" because he had just completed a command to earn the treat in the first place.
Does anybody have any ideas of how to train my pup to keep his attention on me and to not get distracted by anything.

Regards
Mitch

 

[DanL]

Don't treat all the time. Vary it up. Sometimes treat, sometimes don't. Make him wait different intervals before you treat, sometimes treat immediately, sometimes wait a few seconds. Don't give him a pattern to pick up on.

What are you teaching him at 9 weeks?

 

[Turtle]

Thanks Dan
We don't always give Turtle treats when he does good but it seems that once he finds out that we have treats on us he just zeros in on our hands.
We never give him more than one treat at a time so he should be starting to realise that he only gets one but he is very persistant.
We are currently just teaching his name, recall, sit, shake and house training.

Is there any good methods for teaching a dog to keeps it's eyes on the trainer at all times?

 

[DanL]

There is another post about the "watch me" command. Here's what I did- some of the more experienced people may have a better way of doing it. With a pup, you say his name, he looks at you, you say "watch" or whatever key word you want to use for that action, and then treat and give him his release word (ok or whatever you like). Gradually lengthen the time the dog has to focus on your before you treat. Pretty quick he'll look right at you when you say watch and he'll remain focused until you release him.

I wouldn't be worrying about sit or shake with a 9 week old. He's got enough on his mind adjusting to a new home. Housetraining should be the #1 thing to concentrate on, and having him know his name.

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

Here is how you do it.

Sit on the floor with treats inside both hands. Show the puppy you have treats, and then just watch him. Don't say anything, don't do anything.

The SECOND he looks at your face, say YES!!! and give him a treat. Give him the chance to play this game as often as you can.

Once he gets the idea, you can say his NAME, and then treat him when he looks. He will learn that sniffing, poking, prodding, etc does not get him a reward, but looking at your face DOES.

Progress gradually to standing and having him look at your face, and work toward longer periods of attention.