What does the gift of positive training mean to us at My GBGV Life? For us it means training with a friend. We practice some of our sports like tracking and nose work with friends and we know it is much more fun for Mom to train with other humans. The same applies to dogs working on training.
Bailie is in Puppy Einstein class for young puppies. The idea is to introduce them to a class environment, other puppies, some basic obedience, and other challenges like wobble boards and tunnels. Every week she has homework. I don’t need to tell you that homework is boring, but if you add a friend, it becomes a lot more fun and turns it into a positive training experience!
Three years ago when Bailie was having problems in Obedience 1 mastering the down command, Mom had Katie and I do it with her so she could learn by example. It worked so well, she had the best down in her class! Since Bailie and Madison get along so well, they started doing Madison’s homework together.
What are some advantages of training together?
- Learning by example.
- A dog learns to focus on the task at hand, not on play.
- Understanding waiting for your turn and for your reward.
- For us it helps to learn to do the same command at the same time for photos.
- It is good reinforcement for the older dog who may not otherwise work on basic commands.
Points to keep in mind with training young puppies:
- Always make it fun – you can see how excited Madison is to get going.
- Keep it simple.
- Be patient with the little one.
- Train for five minutes or less a few times a day to keep puppies interested.
- Practice training in different places as puppies don’t always get that sit means sit at home, outside, or pretty much everywhere. They need to learn that.
- Use tasty rewards in tiny portions for tiny pups.
- Remember, for young puppies it is more about exposure to training than being perfect!
***Madison is proud to mention she has the best stay in her class at school. She has been working hard on stay since the day she arrived and for a young one, she is awesome! Mom can walk away, walk around her, and Madison stays for up to about thirty seconds. Not bad for sixteen weeks old.***
Bailie and Madison love to train together and it definitely makes for a positive training experience for both of them! They are ready and waiting for the next training set to start! Madison even has her game face on!
Bailie and Madison are joining the Positive Pet Training Blog Hop, hosted by Tenacious Little Terrier and Rubicon Days. The hop happens on the first Monday of every month, and is open for a full week. Help spread the word about the rewards of positive training!
Gosh, they are cute together. Doing homework with a friend always makes it more fun! Good job on having the best stay in class, Madison!
Madison is doing really well with her obedience and we think it is from all the help she gets from Bailie.
So adorable! I did get my CGC at 20 weeks. XOXO, Sparkle
Madison won’t be going for the CGC that early because she won’t really even start formal obedience until she is six months old, but we hope she gets it before she turns one.
We are really good at our tricks and commands on our terms. Mom is still trying even though we are stubborn bullies
Lily & Edward
We are super good and obedient, unless something better to do is doing on, LOL!
Madison trying to steal Bailie’s treats in the video is hilarious! Puppies are certain that all treats must be for them.
I think when you are so cute and the world is fawning over you all the time, you just assume everything is yours. She is learning about sharing…slowly.
It is so obvious how much Madison loves Bailie. I hope you don’t feel left out, Emma
I’m happy those two have each other and I have my quiet time.
Madison is a super smart girl… and with two smart sister with the bestest nose, she will be like this Mr. Einstein… and maybe the nobel prize is hers once :o)
She is amazingly smart!
THIS is grrrreat. LOVE the Training with a PAWtner Idea;
It’s not only fun, it makes learning easier.
OMD! Madison is doing pawsome! I enjoyed your video and the spinning is priceless. ☺
Thank you. Now you know about the crazy stuff I live with. Thankfully, I don’t have to participate!
Me and Brinley do our training together. Well, when we aren’t pretending to be polar bears and playin instead. 😉
We love to play and wrestle too.
With such grand help I know Madison will learn quickly!
She is really sharp and learns fast.
Madison looks so excited to learn, and Bailie is so patient with her while waiting her turn. It definitely helps to have a partner. Madison is already doing great, and it’s probably because of her two super role models!
Bailie is always gentle and patient with her. My mom loves to watch them together.
Such cuties. Way to work having multiple dogs to your advantage!
It has been really helpful over the years at out house.
Great post! The more the merrier, right!? Training with a buddy does help!
Thank you. It’s more fun and beneficial for all.
Awwwww,that is too cute 🙂
Purrs Georgia,Julie and JJ
Thank you for your kind thoughts for Treasure.
We miss him.
Madison and Ballie are so cute together. Plus, getting so many treats makes homework worth it.
The reward has to make the hard work worthwhile.
We totally agree, training is so much for fun with a friend!!
Smileys!
Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo
Everything is more fun with more than one I think.
Bailies such a great big sister!
She really enjoys having a little sister!
That’s so great! Rye definitely takes cues from Barley when we train, too. She’ll be signing up for obedience 1 in January (she’s too old for puppy class since she’ll be 9.5-months old then), so we’re excited to get in a class setting to work on some training, too.
Madison starts Obedience 1 in February. Just being in the class environment is a good learning thing.
That’s very impressive for a pup, or any age! I find it tough to train Matilda and Cow at the same time, sometimes, because Matilda is more experienced and faster, and they both always want to be first! When doing “stay,” I know that if one of them moves, the other will follow. It’s fun for them to fetch together, and at other times, one works on stay while the other trains. It’s challenging to train with two dogs, but double the fun!
Since Bailie knows what to do, the little one can easily follow. Bailie also knows the little one is much slower, and she adapts for that. It can also be challenging, but it is good to challenge the handler a bit too, right?
Congrats on that awesome stay! I don’t have to train multiples anymore but training together can be fun. Thanks for joining the hop.
It’s real helpful with young puppies, especially when they want to do everything their older siblings do.
We always use a dog to teach another how to hunt upland. It is amazing how much they can learn from working together.
Mom had no idea when she tried it with Bailie three years ago, but she quickly realized how wonderful it works.
I love this! Training together IS so much more fun, and the learning by example really speeds things along sometimes! With my insecure Cooper, I’ve found that training with Emmett (even if Emmett’s just hanging out and not working), it gives Coop so much more confidence to have a buddy around!
Little puppies are like little kids who want to do everything older siblings do, so we find it works well for us to show the little one what to do and then they do it just like we do it. It’s more fun too.
Learning by example is huge! The poodles teach each other things this way all the time!
It is amazing how helpful it is!
We are big, BIG fans of generational learning. I have behaviors in my 2 current puppy-girls that I first taught to my first very-won dog way back in 1990. Even just simple household manners and routines … it helps for youngsters to learn from the dogs already in the home. And, yes, it’s super fun to have people and dog friends at every class.
It makes learning so much easier and more fun. We love it around here.