Comments on: Teach your dog new concepts in small steps

By: Lindsay Stordahl

Lindsay Stordahl — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 21:42:32 +0000

Yes. And regardless of intelligence, some dogs have an easier time concentrating around distractions than others. My dog Ace has a strong desire to make me happy so he does really well with training, even with distractions. My foster dog Cosmo doesn’t care so much about making me happy and he tends to get distracted easier.

Still, they both learn through lots of consistency and repetitions on my part.

By: John

John — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 21:29:04 +0000

I couldn’t agree more to the small steps approach. Constant reinforcement and not trying to go to fast or expect too much too soon is the best approach I have found that worked for me. Thankfully my dogs intelligence level was pretty high and she caught on to most things I tried to teach pretty quickly. Certain breeds do have a tendency to pick up on commands easier than some others but all breeds can be taught and will learn necessary commands as long as you stick to your guns and don’t get frustrated and give up.

By: Saint Lover

Saint Lover — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:37:28 +0000

Small steps is the best approach. Good article Linds

By: Biggie-Z

Biggie-Z — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:12:27 +0000

This is a great post. Especially working with a stubborn and independent breed like, say, a kuvasz…

It is too easy to get frustrated by expecting the entire behavior and when the human gets impatient the dog gets frustrated – (“What exactly are you asking me to do??”).

And your point about knowing in your head what the command means, is an important one. I couldn’t decide what I wanted Biggie to do with “where’s Daddy” and so we failed miserably.

By: Cynthia Blue

Cynthia Blue — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:56:48 +0000

Stay is a hard thing for dogs to learn, it doesn’t come naturally. No dog is born knowing any human word. So we have to teach them what the words mean. it’s amazing that people think dogs should just know!

By: jan

jan — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:41:03 +0000

Excellent advice. This is what my dog trainer taught me (at a high price )
People need to be reminded of how short dog attention span is and how much they really want to please.

jans last blog post..The Chihuahua: a loyal companion in a tiny body now playing at a theatre near you

By: Lindsay Stordahl

Lindsay Stordahl — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:40:24 +0000

Haha. “A certain bloodhound …”

By: Apryl DeLancey

Apryl DeLancey — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:53:48 +0000

Yes! Small steps! This is especially true with aloof or stubborn breeds like a certain bloodhound I know.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:26:12 +0000

Teaching your dog to “come” and stay” are vital command for a dog’s own safety to me. If you can’t open your door or outside gate without them rushing out, it can lead to disaster. And I agree too that it doesn’t matter what breed the dog is – it just takes patience and a reward system for any dog to get the idea.

Chriss last blog post..Bringing home your new cat

By: Marie

Marie — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:53:08 +0000

I love this post. I think that practically everything you teach your dog has steps that you need to teach first. I know that I really saw how much more of this I do with my younger dogs than I did with Penny. She just learned a clumped together behavior and there is no breaking it down into smaller steps for her now. LOL I don’t consider that to a failure though, because I learned something from it.

Maries last blog post..We have company