How can I get my pup's attention?

[Iaindp]

Hi All

 

I have a 10 week old springer dog who is showing some good initial signs (sitting and coming back to hand / voice commands) but I can't seem to get his attention to start trying anything else.

 

He just wants to bounce around constantly!

 

I was advised to start training as soon as I got him (8 weeks) but am I trying to early? If not, how can I keep his attention so that he at least looks at me, so that I can give a command?

 

I do the "sit" training before meals - but he doesn't stay still long enough at other times to trying any other commands!

 

 

 

Cheers

Iain

[dusk2dawn]

Hi All

 

I have a 10 week old springer dog who is showing some good initial signs (sitting and coming back to hand / voice commands) but I can't seem to get his attention to start trying anything else.

 

He just wants to bounce around constantly!

 

I was advised to start training as soon as I got him (8 weeks) but am I trying to early? If not, how can I keep his attention so that he at least looks at me, so that I can give a command?

 

I do the "sit" training before meals - but he doesn't stay still long enough at other times to trying any other commands!

 

 

 

Cheers

Iain

 

Books by Peter Moxon or Joe Irving for Spaniels, this will not be the only prob you will encounter and to train properly you will need to read up from the experts if you want the finished dog.

Gundogs their learning chain by Joe Irving is very good, this starts at puppyhood and goes through to field trials.

There was a copy for sale on here recently But it may be sold.

 

Your springer is still only a baby out of the nest, you are expecting way too much too soon.

 

D2D

[mad al]

As already said, to much to soon. Go along with the pup and encourage it's play. I decided to get a Lurcher last year and went for a Bullcross, in the beginning I had never seen such a dog and was amazed by the speed of her learning, then one day she stopped retrieving the dummy and I have never bothered since, it was as if she was telling me "I can do that now........alright!!!" . My experience with all dogs is that if they are any good, it will come naturally, but at the end of the day you only get back what you put in.

The Lurcher is about nine months old now and due to a health problem last Autumn I am limited to what I can do with her but I try to run her twice a day with a two and a half year old male Rottie (who now thinks he's a Lurcher ) off the lead. No livestock in our fields but they walk next to herds of sheep with only a wire fence between them, the sheep hardly bother to move when we pass as I discourage all contact (even eye contact) with them. The dogs will be loose with the horse when we turn her out in a couple of months, but even she along with all our dogs know the command "NO!!"

Enjoy your pup and make sure he knows it, loads of praise/reward

[Blackbart]

Hi All

 

I have a 10 week old springer dog who is showing some good initial signs (sitting and coming back to hand / voice commands) but I can't seem to get his attention to start trying anything else.

 

He just wants to bounce around constantly!

 

I was advised to start training as soon as I got him (8 weeks) but am I trying to early? If not, how can I keep his attention so that he at least looks at me, so that I can give a command?

 

I do the "sit" training before meals - but he doesn't stay still long enough at other times to trying any other commands!

 

 

 

Cheers

Iain

 

Bad news mate they never stop bouncing! But seriously you are expecting too much too soon,10 weeks old is very young to expect a lot.At that age sitting on command and playing fetch is about as good as it gets.

[deeksofdoom]

Are you using treats at all?

 

I have an ESS pup that is around 15 weeks at the moment; the first thing that I taught her was the sit. I started this off first using treats, this is explained in the pinned obedience course by NTTF.

Tell pup to sit > pup sits > she gets her reward.

We do this everytime before meals aswell.

I get the pup to sit and then I give her, her food, it’s her reward for sitting.

 

From that I have been able to progress to the recall. 2 pips on the whistle I give the pup a treat. I do this over and over again until she associates the 2 pips with a treat I also make a big fuss of her when she comes back. You could do this by calling its name aswell.

After a while she will come back everytime as long as you don’t overdo it.

 

You can also get her to sit before you give her the treat by either telling her to sit or giving her one pip on the whistle, this will also act as the stop whistle later on.

 

One thing to remember is to make sure the pup is hungry before your training session starts; that way it will be more interested in the food treats.

 

Don't over do any of the above and be consistent, if you give her a command make her obey it

[Iaindp]

Hi All

 

I have a 10 week old springer dog who is showing some good initial signs (sitting and coming back to hand / voice commands) but I can't seem to get his attention to start trying anything else.

 

He just wants to bounce around constantly!

 

I was advised to start training as soon as I got him (8 weeks) but am I trying to early? If not, how can I keep his attention so that he at least looks at me, so that I can give a command?

 

I do the "sit" training before meals - but he doesn't stay still long enough at other times to trying any other commands!

 

 

 

Cheers

Iain

 

Bad news mate they never stop bouncing! But seriously you are expecting too much too soon,10 weeks old is very young to expect a lot.At that age sitting on command and playing fetch is about as good as it gets.

 

 

 

Hi BB

 

The pup is already sitting to voice/hand command and retreives a toy and brings it back. He will also come back to me when I open my arms up wide and crouch down saying "good boy". The consensus on here is that I'm expecting too much too you, which is good to know as I was wondering whether I was doing anything wrong or whether the mut was deaf!. The pup will be a working pet (I've got two kids) so it's never going to be a 100% worker so I guess I shouldn't expect too much anyway, but it's good to know that he's doing about as much as he should be for his age.

 

Regards

[Iaindp]

Are you using treats at all?

 

I have an ESS pup that is around 15 weeks at the moment; the first thing that I taught her was the sit. I started this off first using treats, this is explained in the pinned obedience course by NTTF.

Tell pup to sit > pup sits > she gets her reward.

We do this everytime before meals aswell.

I get the pup to sit and then I give her, her food, it’s her reward for sitting.

 

From that I have been able to progress to the recall. 2 pips on the whistle I give the pup a treat. I do this over and over again until she associates the 2 pips with a treat I also make a big fuss of her when she comes back. You could do this by calling its name aswell.

After a while she will come back everytime as long as you don’t overdo it.

 

You can also get her to sit before you give her the treat by either telling her to sit or giving her one pip on the whistle, this will also act as the stop whistle later on.

 

One thing to remember is to make sure the pup is hungry before your training session starts; that way it will be more interested in the food treats.

 

Don't over do any of the above and be consistent, if you give her a command make her obey it

[Iaindp]

Are you using treats at all?

 

I have an ESS pup that is around 15 weeks at the moment; the first thing that I taught her was the sit. I started this off first using treats, this is explained in the pinned obedience course by NTTF.

Tell pup to sit > pup sits > she gets her reward.

We do this everytime before meals aswell.

I get the pup to sit and then I give her, her food, it’s her reward for sitting.

 

From that I have been able to progress to the recall. 2 pips on the whistle I give the pup a treat. I do this over and over again until she associates the 2 pips with a treat I also make a big fuss of her when she comes back. You could do this by calling its name aswell.

After a while she will come back everytime as long as you don’t overdo it.

 

You can also get her to sit before you give her the treat by either telling her to sit or giving her one pip on the whistle, this will also act as the stop whistle later on.

 

One thing to remember is to make sure the pup is hungry before your training session starts; that way it will be more interested in the food treats.

 

 

Don't over do any of the above and be consistent, if you give her a command make her obey it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deeks,

No I'm not using treats, just lots of fuss when he sits, retrieves and returns. When retrieving, he comes back to me maybe 95% of the time but doesn't always give up the retrieve willingly!

 

I think I'm going to lay off for a bit following all of the advice above, and just let him do what I think wants to do as far as the training goes

 

Cheers

Iain

[tiercel]

To be honest with you. You are trying to do too much too soon. 2 x 5 minute sessions a day would be more than enough for a 10week old pup. It takes a good year to produce a well trained dog so don't rush it. More dogs are spoilt by over enthusiastic training when they are young, than has ever been spoilt by too little training when they are very young.

Have a read of NTTF training posts it gives an indepth insight as to what is needed to produce a well balanced working dog.

 

TC