Hi , ive really really enjoyed looking at all the pics on here & am rather smitten by your dogs, i also LOVE how enthusastic you are about them all (which must be good!). What are they like to train? Do you think they would do Competition obedience? What motivates them? food ?toys? Anyone got any training pics or vidoes?
I think that with lots of patience and hard work,it's quite possible. my dogs are food orientated and last night I took My 3 year old male Tukki to try out at Agility, for his first ever attemt, he wasnt bad, with lots of help from hot dog sausages lol. but i know some have done heel work to music and I used to do obedience with Inca, her heel work was fantastic, but we often had problems with down stay because she didnt want me to leave her lol. IMO anything is possible but you need to be very patient.
My two Utes are opposites Tokota is very food orientated so will generally do things to please. Anoushka likes to do tricks and can work out what you want her to do quiet quickly will take the treat but not mad for it, just loves the fuss and praise. Tokota has picked up a few of her tricks without me teaching him, just by watching Anoushka. Have thought about giving agility a go with Tokota, think he will enjoy it - he's very bouncy and energetic! Not had any problems with a down stay with my two. Tawney has done really well with her two 'Norties'.
I find NI very trainable. They are very food orientated and do their upmost to please. They will also work for toys. The main thing is keep it fun and don't let them get bored or they will just give up as though to say I already know how to do that! With Sacha our 19 month old NI we started ringcraft and obedience training from her being about 6 months old. She has done extrememly well this year with only one show where we did not get placed (the judge told me afterwards that she thought she was a very bad husky!) We have had 5 RBIS and she has qualified for the All Ireland Dog of the Year final. We have competed in 3 basic obedience competitions and got 2 seconds and a 4th. We have also just started agility and in her first competition got a second. Like others have said there can be a problem with the out of sight stay as they do love to be with you and can make quite a fuss if you leave them even for a minute!
i agree abbie i find them very trainable, i wont use treats for training i prefer praise to be there reward.
My NI Inca is very easy to train once she realises what you want her to do. The problem is then she wants to do it all to please you. So if you do sit, then teach her down, then dead, after a while you say sit and before you know it she's laid down and rolled over She is also not food orientated at all, she just loves fuss and attention so does it for that.
Actually i found Vienna was completely unmotivated by treats once we were out of the house! So i never bother to take any to classes or out on walks cos she will just take them from you (so as not to be rude) then just drops them on the floor and walks off! She is definitely far more motivated to please me and get the reaction from me. She is very intelligent and knows what you want her to do but its just whether or not she feels like doing it lol. Sometimes she will make a half hearted attempt just to please you but you can see on her she doesnt really want to do whatever it is you asked her to do lol. Also i very much doubt she would do aglility as she dislikes jumping over things, going into or under strange things etc. Possibly that is due to her knocking a few things over when she was a pup and of course it scared the living daylights out of her lol. But also i think that is just her personality lol - a fussy little madame who doesnt really want to work too hard!
I don't have a NI but have helped Abbie & Sutty with some training. From a non-owners point of view they are very biddable dogs & extremely owner orinetated. I've known Abbie's Sasha since she was a pup & Abbie has made it a point to let the dog encouter new things all the time & as with any dog this has stood to her. Sasha has a confidence that she wont be asked to anything that will harm her & so will try please her owner,& do whatever she asks. I have noticed that if you don't keep their attention with a high reward , be it food, praise or toys they lose interest very quickly. But as with all training it's about finding your dog's(what ever make/model) favorite reward & using it to your advantage. Good luck with the training Girls & remember have FUN
My dog is highly food-orientated and loves praise and has been easy to train and he enjoys it too. However he is very stubborn and easily distracted if he feels like it.
Yes it took some time for our trainer to believe she was neither food nor toy orientated. The only thing she would ever 'fetch and bring back' at class was a manky old sock! And usually she would try to run past me with her prize to show it off to murphy!!! (wave it in his face like she does at home!) Funny enough when she used to drop food on a walk murphy would very quickly gobble it up. lol the wonders of a lab. No food is ever wasted in our house - it all goes inthe garbage disposal unit (aka murphy) lol.
food orientated = so thats where mani gets it from I would have to agree though these are very smart dogs but they do need some kind of good incentive to do things and alot of patience.
Ours are food and toy orientated and I agree with the above post, with ours it's all about incentive!!
Ty isn't all that food orientated, at the last show he wasn't at all interested in food, he would much prefer praise, even when I take him out to do some off lead work, he still isn't interested, whereas my other dog is. I think it depends on the dog.
my 2 are very food orientated, but not at all toy orientated, they are really not interested in retrieve. Occasionally they will chase a ball, and sometimes even bring it back - but it is so rare. However I have been training with them for nearly a year now and they have completed Bronze, Silver and Gold standards. Once they have learned to do something they never forget, although sometimes they choose to. They are very quick to learn a new thing and when I am training them myself I break it up into basic training, then do some 'dancing' and tricks and then finally I teach them something new, then we have playtime. They get bored very easily, so I never do more than half an hour in total, the rest of the time I am out with them both before and after training is playtime. They are 21 months now and still play like puppies. I do show them in the Breed Shows as well, and they have picked up what is required of them and are remarkably well behaved and have been quite successful as well.
