I posted a couple of months ago about my really nervous akita pup. After a lot of work she is doing much better on this front and her overall behaviour and respect towards us has improved. So we're ready for the next step, we have a baby due in 3 monthe time so we just want to prepare arya as much as possible so we were thinking about new commands to teach her, I'm order to up her obedience to the max really and to put myself a bit more at ease when the little one comes along as she is still quite nervous around young children and can be very unpredictable. So much so her future with us is uncertain at the moment but I don't want to give up on her. She knows the basics; sit, lie down,come and stay (although we're still working on that one) So I'm just wondering if anyone has any other commands I could teach her to make her more obedient as training classes do not work in her case due to her being very selective on which dogs she likes. Any help is appreciated, thanks guys! P.so she is a nine month old, American akita bitch.
Having a baby does not mean she can't learn to live with them, even if she is nervous. Management, baby gates and as you say training, will all make it possible, and of course it goes without saying that dog & baby should never be left alone unsupervised. With a baby due I'd be working on a settle command or 'go to your bed' which will likely prove invaluable when your hands are full with baby & your need Arya to be settled. Kikopup has an easy tutorial on how to teach your puppy/dog to go to it's bed - and there are also lots of other ideas on her channel too Other things to work on would be separation training if she has any issues surrounding being left, and also good loose lead walking if you plan on walking her along side baby & the pram. Regarding training, class settings are not the only option available. You would maybe benefit from 1-2-1 training either in your own home or visiting a trainer themselves and it doesn't have to cost the earth. You may want to have a look for trainers local to you here - http://www.apdt.co.uk/dog-owners/local-dog-trainers Good luck & I hope you manage to make it work with both your lovely dog & the new baby
I actually haven't watched a lot of her videos, but I know she's often highly recommended by other dog people
Two commands that I find useful are, 'Watch me' - to divert attention back from a distraction, usually other dogs. The other is, Stop! I use this in all kinds of situations - starting to run off, jumping out of the car, door dodging etc. It can be a life saver.
Probably totally incorrect, but the magic word for Tikva is "wanna...?" followed by whatever she is going to get. Seconds later and she is in and waiting! I am not a very good trainer so if it works for her it works for me.
Ah, but Tikva knows what "wanna...?" and then what it is the wanna means - and where each wanna whatever is where it is kept. I mean how does she know what "wanna choo choo" means and where it is? Or "wanna brekkie" and know where that is? Or "wanna dindin" and know where that is? And soon it will be her bed-time [she is flonked on the couch at the moment] but as soon as she hears me say "wanna peepee" she will be at the door waiting to go out. She will pee, come in, have her harness unclipped and shoot into the bedroom waiting for the little biscuit she has when she goes into her crate. And by the time I have sorted things out in the salon, she will be curled up on the winter pad at the end of her crate. Yes, I know I am stupid but if it works I am not going to argue. She took a long time learning basic things, and she still does not know many of those. Well she probablly does but she is a right little booga and do not forget she did not have a dam or siblings to teach her. Silly to use baby talk? I do not think so. I was reading an article recently about human babies and the fact that research had shown that most learned to talk earlier when they had been spoken to using baby talk. Nobody taught Tikva these things. Pereg learned things from little Lexi, although how did Lexi know what she did? But then Tik Tok Tikki Tikva has taken a long time to learn things and she still acts like a little looney puppy.
Hi guys haven't been able to get online for a while but thank you for your replies. A command to divert her attention is defiantly a good idea! Just want to make sure she is still learning and gettig praise for doing good when the baby arrives as she is a rather jealous and territorial dog so a lot of steps will be needed for her to accept the baby in the house. We have just finished teaching go to bed, now I can't get her to get out of bed other than saying walkies or dindins ahaha. Glad I am not the only person who talks to their dog like a baby!
I have sort of zeroed in on, "Sit", "Stay", "Wait for me" (while going through front door so I can close it behind me without her pulling me off the stoop), "Off" (for when she jumps up on people or on something i.e. a bed or couch etc), "Drop it" (always my slippers), "Leave it" (when its something on the floor or on the street I don't want her to go near like Goose poop or trash etc). Then there is the sharp sound of "AH! AH!" when I need her to stop doing something. She also knows "Move" when I need her to get out of the way. She is made to sit at the front door until I open it, I hold my hand on the handle and do not open the door until she sits, its becoming automatic now. Quite funny too as there are two doors, so she's sit while I open the main door, get up, and then sit again for me to open the screen door straight after. By far the most important command in my opinion is "Watch me". This was easier to teach while you are putting her dinner down to her. I tell her to first sit, then if she is too close to the bowl I say "Back off" and she will do a cute little skip jump backwards about a foot. Then I say "Stay" with a flat palm towards her, and put the bowl down, then I say "Watch Me" while doing the two finger gesture pointing to my eyes. If she goes straight for the bowl, just take it away again, they pick this up super quickly because its food related. Then I stand up straight and look her in the eye, she's stays sitting still as a rock keeping perfect eye contact with me just waiting, then I nod my head and say "go", and then she eats. My only problem is that "Come" only works if I have a treat, she's not really interested in coming to be petted. Though she will sort of come when on the 30ft leash I bought, I love the thing, it gives them the feeling of running free without the concern of running into the street. Though the bigger she gets the less I will probably use it. The force an Akita could build up over 30 feet could rip your arm out of the socket, or burn your hands trying to grip the leash.
I usually prefer to use single word commands whenever possible, but would always use the dog's name when training a recall, eg. 'Branjo Come'. Keep your voice light and inviting, and until she has learned to respond every time, reward, reward, reward with whatever works best - usually something really tasty. You can buy a lightweight tracking line which is interwoven with rubber thread, giving a perfect grip in all weathers, - and they rinse easily too. Most seem to be made in Hungary, and come in a variety of sizes lengths. Recently I have seen some coloured ones too. This is Merry's line, which is just 1 cm. wide. The lighter grey areas are the woven rubber.
Hey Branjo is my name, Luna is the Akita lol I do like the idea of that grippy leash though, I will look into that one, thank you.
