What a difference 4 weeks makes!

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BBP

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From this:

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To this:

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Where did those long legs come from?!!
 
Thank you. He really is a beautiful dog (OH gets embarrassed at the number of people stopping to tell him how gorgeous the dog is!) and such a lovely easy puppy too. He has the most delightful laid back temperament, loves people and is being pretty good with the cats and horses. But he is still a collie. (Although OH and I are having some training differences, I have done loads of reading and do lots of short practice sessions with pup and he is getting excellent at basic recall, sit, down, stay and coming to heel. I use treats for training. OH doesn’t have any animal training experience, thinks that using treats is wrong and expects the dog to know what he wants and gets frustrated that the dog doesn’t do it, so I’m trying to gently educate both pup and OH without trying to come across as a know it all bossy boots)
 
I had similar probs with my OH too, I'm going to keep the new puppy with me as much as possible.

Won't be long before he looks like a proper adult dog and you'll miss the puppy fluff!
 
Give your OH a crossword puzzle book.
In German.
Then ask if he understands it. Why not??

Ask his boss not to pay him for a day.
Well, what would he need paid for, should he not just do it and love it?

Get him a copy of The Culture Clash by Jane Donaldson. It has got seriously fluffy parts which I disagree with but it's great for explaining how daft it is, expecting dogs to know exactly what you want from them (or don't want) without explanation or reinforcement.
 
There are other ways of training your dog, it’s called having a relationship. With a dog as intelligent as a collie there is no need in my view to give them treats, you end up with nothing other than a trained circus performer doing what you want in order to get a reward. Watch a sheepdog being trained, they don’t need treats. If you have an understanding with your dog, I find it easy, they want to do the right thing. Nothing looks worse in my view than a dog supposedly walking at heel but in reality with its nose in your hand waiting for the concealed treat !
 
I’m aware there are other ways. Just because I use treats does not mean I don’t have a relationship with the dog. It also doesn’t mean the dog gets a treat every nano second of the day or that they won’t be phased out as he understands what I’m asking. I dont give a stuff if OH gives food rewards at all, what I’m trying to encourage him to do is work on body language, positioning, timing and being clear with the dog, and to help him understand why the dog might be doing what it’s doing, which may be stuff that comes naturally if you have a lifetime of training horses and dogs but not so much if you don’t.
 
I wonder how all these competition/performance dogs, who are foundation trained with food and toys a lot of the time, manage to do whole rounds of obedience and tracking and agility etc without food or toys shoved in their face on competition day....it is because it is used to help them learn and cope. Like gold stars in your jotter or a lolly after the dentist or a day's pay for a day's work.

For some dogs a pat on the head or a word is enough, for others they need more motivation. Not all kids in a classroom are the same, why do we think one size fits all in dog training.
 
bonny said:
There are other ways of training your dog, it’s called having a relationship. With a dog as intelligent as a collie there is no need in my view to give them treats, you end up with nothing other than a trained circus performer doing what you want in order to get a reward. Watch a sheepdog being trained, they don’t need treats. If you have an understanding with your dog, I find it easy, they want to do the right thing. Nothing looks worse in my view than a dog supposedly walking at heel but in reality with its nose in your hand waiting for the concealed treat !
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I think you are missing the point of rewarding your dog for the behaviour you want. A sheepdog's reward is to work. Use what works for your dog - work, a fuss, a ball, a food reward. I tend to use a marker word (yes) and food rewards with puppies when learning new commands. Once the command has been thoroughly learned I phase food out and when reinforcing a learned command mix up the reward with ball, tuggy, fuss, a kind word etc.
 
cinnamontoast said:
One of the prettiest puppies I’ve ever seen. He’s turning into a gorgeous boy.
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Thank you! I’m utterly bias but I think he is the prettiest I have seen too, and utterly charming with it. He is currently busy teaching two children how to ask him to sit and lie down. They aren’t as smart as him but they are getting the idea!
 
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