Breeds

Re: Is Your Breed Easy To Train?

the_gopher — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 11:39:17 GMT

Flat Coated Retrievers are 'easy' to train if you can somehow make yourself THE MOST EXCITING THING IN THE ENTIRE WORLD (scratch that make it the entire universe!)! Plus, you need to have the flexibility to mix it up, don't focus on one thing for two long and keep it FUN FUN FUN! Seriously, it has to be fun! Plus, as her breeder put it, they are known for "Flat Coat Moments"....where your perfectly trained dog decides "well I know you said 'come' but wouldn't it be so much more FUN if I first jumped over this log, ran around the tree, circled around you a couple of times and THEN sit in front of you...yeah much more FUN".

Otherwise, yes they love to please, but if your method of style is to repeat a 'drill' or command a gazzilion times they will tune you out and go find something more fun to do. They do tend to be food motivated, so this helps, and we find Ari will do just about anything for a cookie and LOVES the clicker.

They are highly intelligent, can become easily bored, but training sessions with Ari have been fabulous. Though for the life of me I cannot figure out how to get across down (which is lay down for us) to her. She is VERY exacting, and we realized our first method she thought down was to follow the hand leading her into a down position, regardless that we only used the command word once she was in the down position! Now we've modified that but still not there....Heck she already knows stay for several situations - stay at the door until I give the OK to go out, and we're working on introducing stay in other situations now. But down, forget about it!

Re: Is Your Breed Easy To Train?

orangedog — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:15:58 GMT

Winston (Doberman) is about low-average for trainability. He lives to please, but doesn't grasp new concepts overly quick. He tries his hardest though!

Keira (Doberman) is pretty hard to train at the moment, but incredibly intelligent. She's 8 months old and doesn't focus very long on anything - very easily distracted, and doesn't have a huge desire to please anyone but herself. I suspect that'll change though, as both her parents are very quick to pick up on things.

Dance (Duck Toller) is very easy to train. She'll do anything for her favourite toy, and she loves to simply make me happy, too. Apparently this isn't common of the breed though. Most others are more "what's in it for me".

Re: Is Your Breed Easy To Train?

AuroraLove — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:43:57 GMT

caveninit:
.and this is how smart he is...now, he stays in another room, pretending not to notice that I am about to go outside, and I let my guard down because I don't think he is even nearby, and as soon as I turn that doorknob...ZOOOOM...shoves right past me before I can get a chance to command him to wait..as if we hadn't just spent the past month working on this. It's really frustrating with him sometimes.

Oh dear! So the smarts of a BC with the bulll headedness of a pit? Ooh thats a tough combo, LOL....I love a dog like that. Too smart for their own good, LOL!

Re: Is Your Breed Easy To Train?

Dog_ma — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:09:49 GMT

Sasha, the wonder mix, is very easy to train. She enjoys learning new things, and trying to figure out what you're asking. She also picks up rules very quickly. She had her CGC by 9 months. At 6 months, she new that nothing in the house was hers to chew unless it was presented to her, and she could generalize this to other people's homes.

Then we have Eko ...

Smart? Oh yes. Does he care what you think? Almost never. Training-wise, he is a PITA and then some. He will also complain, loudly and at length, when prevented from carrying out one of his Very Good Ideas that we dense humans can't appreciate.

The bright side is that he has a fantastically stable personality. Sasha needs more social guidance than he does, because she's anxious. He's rock solid, emotionally. If he weren't, I don't think I live with this level of "You and what army carrying dog biscuits?"

He's also quite the engineer, and good at opening various things. Doors, lids, drawers, etc. Thank god he hasn't figured out the fridge!

Re: Is Your Breed Easy To Train?

caveninit — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:33:10 GMT

My Aussie mix has been the easiest by far to train. I adopted her when she was 8 weeks old and she was fully potty trained within a week. Not a single accident. In puppy school she took to commands immediately. In Obedience class she was perfect. I was going to start her in agility this summer, but she wound up having luxating patellas in both knees and is still recovering from her double knee surgery. She's really the sweetest, smartest dog I have ever owned. She LOVES to please.

My BC/Pit mix is a bit of a brat. Smart smart smart...too smart for his own good I think.. he picks up new commands very quickly, but only follows them when it suits him. Perfect example...we were working on getting him to wait at the door for me to let him outside because he has a bad habit of shoving right past me. For weeks we worked on it, and I thought he was doing really well. He knows when I say "wait" he has to sit and wait for me to give him the command to follow me outside. Well, he obeyed this spot on for a few weeks... but he LIKES to shove past me..and this is how smart he is...now, he stays in another room, pretending not to notice that I am about to go outside, and I let my guard down because I don't think he is even nearby, and as soon as I turn that doorknob...ZOOOOM...shoves right past me before I can get a chance to command him to wait..as if we hadn't just spent the past month working on this. It's really frustrating with him sometimes.

Re: Is Your Breed Easy To Train?

kaluha — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:36:30 GMT

spiritdogs:
I had a Beagle that learned a whole routine of tricks, and she had all the basic skills. I'll admit it took me longer to train her than some of my other dogs, but she was pretty smart.

Yes, my dog is really really smart, but he just doesn't want to... He is so stubborn, has a mind of his own, and very often my plans are not his plans and he shows that very clearly...

But I have to admit, clicker training does wonders with him.

Re: Is Your Breed Easy To Train?

spiritdogs — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:19:20 GMT

kaluha:
A beagle?! No, no way... However, determination and lots and lots of patience are very helpful.
So far, he required many tedious hours of obedience training, and I think there are many hours more to come...

I had a Beagle that learned a whole routine of tricks, and she had all the basic skills. I'll admit it took me longer to train her than some of my other dogs, but she was pretty smart. I have a hound now, and he was easy - likes clicker training because he's so food motivated.

Re: Is Your Breed Easy To Train?

AgileGSD — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:02:02 GMT

The Belgians are extremely easy to train BUT they are also extremely quirky which can lead to some training issues. They tend to obsess over what they *think* you want them to do, sometimes to the point that you can't get them to do anything else. They get into strange behavior patterns sometimes and tend to obsess. They are quicker with their thoughts/actions than most GSDs but my German line GSD has been by far the very easiest dog I have ever worked with. She has a level of work ethic that you don't see in the average dog, REALLY wants to do what you want her to do and is usually more level headed than those crazy black dogs (although she can have her moments).

Re: Is Your Breed Easy To Train?

spiritdogs — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:45:55 GMT

In the general scheme of things, Aussies are easy to train, but some are not so easy to manage due to their peculiar way of thinking and their energy level. Hounds - piece of cake if you know how to motivate them. Many people think they're stupid, but they're just independent. They can learn everything that the "smart" dogs learn. Yorkies - very smart and wicked cute.

Re: Is Your Breed Easy To Train?

Infiniti — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:00:29 GMT

Honor is ridiculously easy to train, but much harder to proof. She shapes like a breeze, and usually picks up on new tricks/commands within a few repetitions. However, she is very much of her own mind, and may not complete a command if she feels that a more fun one of her choosing is worth the treat. Sometimes, I get the impression that she's thinking "Sit? Sit is boring! You want me to roll over, that's what you really want!". But she's getting there, the mere fact that she was one of the best dogs in her rally class tells me that she CAN do it.

Nike is a little slower to train than Honor, but once he learns something, he'll execute it with such precision and consistency. For instance, yesterday we were working on automatic sits, and after only three times of telling him to sit when we stop, he now does it every time without a word from me. I cannot wait to get him into rally, I bet he'll love it.

Re: Is Your Breed Easy To Train?

tiffy — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:29:07 GMT

My corgi lives to please me. She was taught basic obedience in 6 weeks and she only pottied in the house one time at 12 weeks.

Re: Is Your Breed Easy To Train?

kaluha — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:17:58 GMT

A beagle?! No, no way... However, determination and lots and lots of patience are very helpful.

So far, he required many tedious hours of obedience training, and I think there are many hours more to come...

Re: Is Your Breed Easy To Train?

Benedict — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:25:38 GMT

Ben the lab...yes. He's motivated by food or toys, likes praise/fuss, will do what I ask if it means being able to trot around with his usual happy-go-lucky attitude. Really, he just wants to be loved, given cold sausages and to have tennis balls thrown for him, training around that with a dog who is motivated by most anything is pretty easy. He knows all his basics (sit, down, go to bed etc), commands necessary for agility and a bucketload of tricks.

The next puppy....erm...no. They're not renowned for being easy to train, as a breed they have no reason whatever to obey a human command "just because". Training them involves making them understand that the commands you give are logical, fair and not without purpose. That's after you've earned enough respect to command them at all.

Re: Is Your Breed Easy To Train?

Krissim Klaw — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 06:22:19 GMT

I think papillons are pretty easy to train. They are sensitive to their handlers and often have a desire to please and learn new ways to get their owners to give them more tasty treats or toss their favorite toy. Most I have met are highly intelligent and have the potential to pick up commands fast, especially if you keep the training upbeat and positive. Like Laurelin stated, they are sensitive little guys and if they feel your starting to get frustrated or displeased with them they tend to shut down when it comes to learning.

I've found Kirby to be very easy to train, although I have to admit he is a few cards short of a full deck. Picks up commands great, but he lacks common sense.

Re: Is Your Breed Easy To Train?

kle1986 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:14:40 GMT

Kujo is a blast to teach new stuff to. She is very food motivated. But talk about taking a year to house train. Ahhhh. Every time I bragged about her finally getting it she would make a liar out of me. Now though she is finally house trained!!! Just took a year.