We went ahead and did in home training...

[AngAngeles13]

I know many here advised me not to do professional training at such a young age (10 wks old when we started) but seeing as I was going to be home with pup and trainer the entire time, we charged forward. Trainer arrived on Monday afternoon, and left Friday. Now, I know that we could have probably done all of this ourselves, but I am glad that we went this route initially because I learned a lot of little things that I would have never thought about.
So in these 5 days she has learned: Sit, look, touch, and go to bed. She has all of these down pat. She's really good at loose leash walking, stopping when I stop to check in with me (sit and eye contact) and is close to perfecting leave it and is working hard towards house training. She also left us with a booklet reminding us of how to do everything, and tips for the future.
We got over her fear of the broom, and learned techniques to keep her from nipping, jumping, and lunging towards food, etc. The trainer also pointed out several little quirks to her personality that I may or may not have recognized as signals that she needs or wants something. It was nice that I have been here to work with them, and see first hand how everything is done, and since the trainer left we are going over things several times a day so she retains it. She's doing really well so far. It was a little spendy, but all in all I am really pleased. Plus we get 6 months free unlimited puppy classes, so hopefully that will be helpful to us as well.
Just thought I would give my experience.

 

[Marine91]

Awesome. I am glad it worked out for you. Sounds like you had a good trainer to work with that both you and your baby felt comfortable with and that is the most important part. Not so sure that I could have done the same thing as I am so picky about who is in my house to begin with.

 

[Zoebug]

Early training is best for the pup in the long run. My thoughts are you can't start early enough . Props to you for wanting the best dog possible . Sounds like you have a great start.

 

[Rural mystic]

Sounds like it was very productive and worthwhile

 

[AngAngeles13]

Awesome. I am glad it worked out for you. Sounds like you had a good trainer to work with that both you and your baby felt comfortable with and that is the most important part. Not so sure that I could have done the same thing as I am so picky about who is in my house to begin with.

I won't lie and say it wasn't tough having someone in my house with me for a week, but if I had to have someone, this trainer would be it. She really was awesome, and had the patience of a saint.

 

[Marine91]

I won't lie and say it wasn't tough having someone in my house with me for a week, but if I had to have someone, this trainer would be it. She really was awesome, and had the patience of a saint.

That is fantastic. Sounds like she was an excellent trainer.

 

[2BullyMama]

Fantastic... great that it all worked out well for you and it was an excellent experience. 6 mths free classes is pretty cool too

 

[SMeyer13]

Can you share how you went about preventing lunging at food? Tucker isn't terrible with this, but I would prefer him to sit longer. Once his food bowl is lowered to eye level he can't resist anymore and moves from the sitting position.

 

[AngAngeles13]

Can you share how you went about preventing lunging at food? Tucker isn't terrible with this, but I would prefer him to sit longer. Once his food bowl is lowered to eye level he can't resist anymore and moves from the sitting position.

We basically started by making her do something for us before she could have her food at all. (Sit, down, etc, or a combo of a few things.) Once she did those she could have the food. Once she really had that down and would almost automatically sit when she saw us getting the food bowl out, we started to challenge her by slowly lowering the food bowl down in front of her. If she started to lunge for it, we would snap back up with the bowl and say her negative marker word. We did this over and over again until she got it. Once she didn't lunge and we could set the bowl all the way down with her still sitting, we say her positive marker word and let her have the food by giving her release command. (release is a command we are still working on perfecting) During times that she just wasn't getting it after we'd tried several times, we'd move on to different training (using her kibble since she is hungry) and try again at the next scheduled feeding. It didn't take long for her to catch on.

 

[SMeyer13]

We basically started by making her do something for us before she could have her food at all. (Sit, down, etc, or a combo of a few things.) Once she did those she could have the food. Once she really had that down and would almost automatically sit when she saw us getting the food bowl out, we started to challenge her by slowly lowering the food bowl down in front of her. If she started to lunge for it, we would snap back up with the bowl and say her negative marker word. We did this over and over again until she got it. Once she didn't lunge and we could set the bowl all the way down with her still sitting, we say her positive marker word and let her have the food by giving her release command. (release is a command we are still working on perfecting) During times that she just wasn't getting it after we'd tried several times, we'd move on to different training (using her kibble since she is hungry) and try again at the next scheduled feeding. It didn't take long for her to catch on.

Thank you, It appears that I am going about it the right way it will just take some time before he catches on fully

 

[Lokismom]

This is great news

 

[Ftse 100]

Happy it worked out good for you Ftse starts training on Wed but I don't think I'll have her for a week she is a bit pricey $80 per hour and $120 for the first lesson I just hope she does wonders real quick for my pockets sake and I so hope it is going to be worth the cost

 

[ABEBD]

Hello,

Behavior training is very basic once you know what needs to be done. Getting professional help to start with is awesome.

One key important point about ANY bahavior modification (fancy word for training...) is to be patient, clam and NEVER attempt training unless you absolutly have more time to spend than your animal has to NOT learn.

Training MUST end on a positive effort or else you have gone backwards in your efforts.
Even ending on ANY postive result is necessary. Unless you have the time to train at that moment....don't start anything NEW. If you are working on what you already have trained, your chances of being sucessful is much better.

Good Day~

 

[Vicaroo1000]

Absolutely true. We humans tend to be in a hurry. The wrong attitude to have when trying to establish a new behavior. I am so guilty of this sometimes...