# training control



## RiverRun (Jun 29, 2011)

I am embarrassed and ashamed to say that I have allowed my dogs' manners to get a bit..out of hand. Honestly, their manners have gone out the window. Sooo, I am trying to get back into the habit of training them again. With that being said, my biggest struggle with my lab/husky cross is her anxious and excitable nature. I train her with a toy as a reward and she gets soo hyped up, which I don't mind one bit, but she is NOT aware of her feet or movement at all. I would like to teach her to pay more attention to her movements and where she is stepping(we have had a few close calls on the ledge of a mountain when hiking before), but I am not quite certain where to begin. Any tips?


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## StdPooDad (Mar 16, 2012)

Do you have stepladder and yard where you can lay it down flat? If not you can make cavaletti's out of wood. You can use the cavaletti's in the house. The idea is to get her to know where here feet are.

If you have a stepladder, you can click and treat when she approaches it, have a party when she walks through a step, etc...



RiverRun said:


> I would like to teach her to pay more attention to her movements and where she is stepping(we have had a few close calls on the ledge of a mountain when hiking before), but I am not quite certain where to begin. Any tips?


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

You can also train a "back" command that makes them more aware of their back legs (most dogs don't really know they have back legs).

Also I would find a basket, nothing really high nor extremely large and treat her for one foot in the basket, then two and eventually all four...if your familiar with clicker training this works fastest..but rewarding the behavior you want works too!


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

try usuing something other than the toy for a reward. maybe she won't get so excited. having a close
call with ledge of a mountain you should have some control of your dog or leash her. commands like
"stop", "wait", "come", "stop, back up", "back up", will help with control when off leash.



RiverRun said:


> I am embarrassed and ashamed to say that I have allowed my dogs' manners to get a bit..out of hand. Honestly, their manners have gone out the window. Sooo, I am trying to get back into the habit of training them again. With that being said, my biggest struggle with my lab/husky cross is her anxious and excitable nature.
> 
> >>>>> I train her with a toy as a reward and she gets soo hyped up,<<<<<
> 
> ...


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## RiverRun (Jun 29, 2011)

doggiedad said:


> try usuing something other than the toy for a reward. maybe she won't get so excited. having a close
> call with ledge of a mountain you should have some control of your dog or leash her. commands like
> "stop", "wait", "come", "stop, back up", "back up", will help with control when off leash.


she listens very well and has a marvelous recall, but her issue is when she is turning around too fast or trying to walk up next to you on a thin path, she doesn't quite pay attention to edges. I want to work on teaching her a 'slow down' command. lol

I sometimes train her with only praise, but honestly any kind of reward gets her jumping around like it's the best thing ever. 


wonderful ideas everyone! I definitely want to try the basket trick. She is VERY good about her 'place' command and knows as long as she has one foot touching, she gets a reward. So that shouldn't be too hard for her to grasp(she may not be the sharpest tool in the box, haha) I don't have a ladder YET, but possibly could make something out of PVC? I am making agility equipment soon, so I can easily use the left over pieces.


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

you can definitely teach her "slow down". do you want her jumping around like crazy when you train?



RiverRun said:


> she listens very well and has a marvelous recall, but her issue is when she is turning around too fast or trying to walk up next to you on a thin path, she doesn't quite pay attention to edges. I want to work on teaching her a
> 
> >>>>> 'slow down' command.<<<<<< lol
> 
> ...


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## RawPitbulls (Feb 7, 2013)

This: Leerburg | Basic Dog Obedience DVD
And this: Leerburg | Basic Dog Obedience DVD


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## Kassandra (Jun 6, 2012)

Been there, done that LOL. Charlie was so awesome and I didn't keep up with her training so then she decided it was ok not to listen to me and ran off instead of coming to me when she jumped the fence (6 foot fence too ugh). That is what made me realize I needed to do more work with her again. I just started from square 1, acted like she knew nothing and had never had a training session in her life. Now I keep the training up regularly and I just started Susan Garret's "Five Minute Formula to a Brilliant Recall."


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## Felix (Oct 9, 2012)

RiverRun said:


> she listens very well and has a marvelous recall, but her issue is when she is turning around too fast or trying to walk up next to you on a thin path, she doesn't quite pay attention to edges. I want to work on teaching her a 'slow down' command. lol
> 
> I sometimes train her with only praise, but honestly any kind of reward gets her jumping around like it's the best thing ever.
> 
> ...


I have a slow, walk and back command for my dog. It's possible. Until then, I would put her on a leash.


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## Celt (Dec 27, 2010)

A command I use when walking on "thin walk ways" is behind. This means they are to walk directly behind me. This is particularly useful when walking down sidewalks with overgrown cacti so it could be useful on narrow walking paths by keeping your pup from trying to come up beside or passing you. Another is slow which tells the pups to pause and slow down. This one is a major pita to train.


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## StdPooDad (Mar 16, 2012)

I use a "behind" command also. However, it's not so much for walking on sidewalks as when we're hiking and another person or dog is coming down the trail. I don't want them rushing up to meet them until I say it's ok.



Celt said:


> A command I use when walking on "thin walk ways" is behind.


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## SuperPug (Mar 5, 2013)

Teaching some hind end awareness would be a great start
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEqQDw8Jo9M


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