Last Chance and I Gave Up.

Most clicker books talk about charging the clicker in about 15 minutes, maybe a couple of times, not all at once. I spent a week, once or twice in the afternoon and evening, just clicking and laying down treats. By the end of that week, it was an indisputable law of the physical universe that treat always followed the click, forever, amen. He may have gotten it before then but there was certainly no doubt by the time I was done.

It's hard to tell whether one is going too fast or too slow with your dog. And I haven't encountered a dog, until yours, that shut down with any kind of training, no matter what it was. I'm aware of some dogs that walked best in a prong and it wasn't so much a punishment to them as it was a cue or boundary and they responded to it better than treats, or so it seemed. Others seem to get the clue with the Easy Walk. Others, like mine, will walk a tight heel, nose to your hand, for some grilled butterfly pork chop (I do great work with the grill, if I may brag.) Others go nuts for a frisbee. My BIL's Aussie lives to herd and cut the ball "sheep" until she collapses from exhaustion.

Sometimes, I wonder, if the dog in question has a medical problem, a neurological problem, or something that diverts or shuts down the learning process. It's a mathematical puzzle to solve. imo.

All that aside, enjoy the successes you do have and use lots of patience. Something I'm good at. I have not found a being that can oustubborn me.

I'm teaching him "drop it" now. Everytime we go out to pee he has a toy in his mouth, so I say "Drop it" and then pop the toy out of his mouth. Then we go outside after a sit and wait at the door. It's a slow process, and he is teaching me patience, something I need if I want to become a professional dog trainer.

All I've really been doing is just reinforcing the "sit", "wait", "stay", "Diesel, come" and a whistle come. So now, I feel confident he is reliable and he knows the commands, so I'm trying something else. After the "drop it", I'm going to teach basic obedience using the indirect training by following him and whenever he does something I want, I'll throw a treat on the ground and praise. So I'm excited for that!! :D

yay, that's great!! glad to hear you have found something that works!

That's great news!  Thanks for updating.

Congrats on your success. I have also found a way to strengthen drop it through freeshaping, without the clicker. Shadow brings me stuff to drop in my lap or at my feet because it's rewarding. That is, he offers the drop it and I encourage it. To an oustide observer it may appear that I am doing nothing, just giving treats while he is next to me. But what I am doing is reinforcing what I want. And then running through the other obediences for fun. All the obediences have both a vocal command and a hand signal. Sometimes, I say nothing. A flip of the hand, he sits. A sweep of the hand, he downs. A flattened out hand, he stays. Position the hand up, high five. And this takes place when he is motivated to do so.

"m going to teach basic obedience using the indirect training by following him and whenever he does something I want, I'll throw a treat on the ground and praise. So I'm excited for that!! :D "

 Well I guess you will see by my name that I love poodles and train poodles. I own a mini poodle and handle a standard poodle that looks a fair bit like yours.

Poodles are very smart, but often very soft to. They tend to be a bit more literal than most dogs. I could count  the cross words I have used for both dogs on less than the fingers of one hand. I don't think that I would even bother training Champers (the standard unless we where well into a run. I would sooner bash my head violently on the car bonnet.If I used a harsh word on either they would collapse.Champers can look like a total loon if I let him (and I do) but once in thet ring when i ask him he sure cleans up.

A lot of more experienced  trainers spend a lot of time working out what a dog likes and dislikes. In both cases there are certain foods that they like, but both are big time toy players. It took me ages for both to sort out exactly what worked for them. For them my goal is that play and training are almost indistingushable. Why shouldn't it be? Why shouldn't a dg come running when he /she sees a starting post? Why should a starting post be a harbringer of doom?

poodleOwned

Poodles are very smart, but often very soft to. They tend to be a bit more literal than most dogs

I made a point similar to that, earlier. That the dog was smart and actually thinking faster than some humans would have expected. It happens.

ron2

I made a point similar to that, earlier. That the dog was smart and actually thinking faster than some humans would have expected. It happens.

 

That is so true. I know that when I started I missed so many behaviours. There are many breeds and dogs out there that do about three to four behaviours before the human has cottoned on, and rather than hear dumb human we hear dumb dog. This is why i have changed my policy after a few years. I would not handle another person's dog, but I do now as it is often the easiest way of establishing behaviours long enough that novices have 1/2 a chance.