Kingdom of Pets

Posted by lifefeast
Apr 3, 2008

I have 3 yorkies and 1 bouvier that I am trying to train. I am starting with "sit". When I walk them individually they listen well when I say sit. But when they are all together it is craziness! I say sit and a couple of them will sit but then stand back up and if I say it again another couple may sit but the others will stand.

How can I get them all to sit at the same time? Any suggestions?

Posted by MaxHollyNoah
Apr 4, 2008

Hi there!

I have 2 dogs and one foster dog. Two of my dogs have been going to doggie training classes separately so they respond to my commands very well.

The foster dog that didn't even know "sit " command, learned it by looking at my own dog. However, if you really want each of your dogs to master basic commands, I think you ought to spend time with each one individually. After they all master those commends, you can maintain/refresh them all together.

When you teach commands you want to have your dog focus on YOU not the other dogs. The other dogs are very distracting so it is hard to get his/her 100% attention. Once he master it, it will be easier.

I am now training my dogs to follow my command, one by one. I have my two dogs sit in a distance and tell one of them to "Wait" and the other to "Come". To follow "Come" command is easy but "Wait" while the other one moves takes a lot of self control. I can also have one "Stay" while the other one to go fetch a ball. Once each of your dogs master the basic commands you can try that too. It would be challenging for both dogs and you

Posted by qkwyler
Apr 5, 2008

Hello,

I can certainly relate with the difficulty of training multiple dogs. I think MaxHollyNoah is right. The best way is to train separately, but it is much more time consuming.

I only have two dogs and am finding this to be the biggest hurdle in training - just the very fact that there are two.

I have discovered one option, which is still not as effective as training separately - but- we have a park almost next door to us that has a tennis court. I have been taking them into the fenced tennis court. Right now there are no nets, so there are these posts sticking up that the nets attach to. I secure one of my dogs to one of these posts and then take the other one a little distance away and work with him. Then I switch them. They are still a little distracted by each other but not as much as I thought they would be.

I do occasionally take them out separately, but not as often as I should.

Hope this helps.

Kathy

Posted by kittysoo
Jun 25, 2008

hi all

i have a similar problem as have 4 dogs ages 12 years - 3,7 and 10 months. My 12 year old GSD is trainedbut getting the 3 pups to do anything is a nightmare. Walking them separatley is difficult as they scream when one goes and the others are left. It is a real unpleasent experience to go through.

Also l have 2 of the pups that are of a similar size on harnesses attached to a coupling, as one of them is a Yorkie and chokes even with a halti on and the other a Jack Russell does a similar thing. It was our vet that suggested using harnessess. Unfortunatley they pull for England!

I can see that individual training is the key and so l had better get some earplugs.
By the way the tennis court suggestion is a good idea if you have a park nearby. You can rest assured that your other dogs is not going to be dog napped inside there.

One thing that puzzles me is that when l trained my older dog - it was suggested that you get his attrention by callin his name and then saying sit. When you want 4 dogs to sit at the same time should you maybe say pups sit or dogs sit, so it is best not to use their names to get their attention. Just wondered as 4 dogs out for a walk have a lot to do keeping up with each other and sniffing. Surely you can't call all 4 by their names to get their attention and then say sit in an emergency situation.

Just want to know what others do in a situation like that.

PS i think that l may have posted somewhere on the Kindom forum a while back - but can't find my post so please forgive me if l have not replied to any posts. I just have not had the time to get on here. Mo

Posted by MaxHollyNoah
Jun 26, 2008

Hi there!

I have now 3 dogs of our own and 1 foster dog.

I said in my previous response that if you want to train your dogs you are better off training one at a time since it is difficult to get full attention of each of your dogs.

However, once you have trained your dog(s) you can maintain their obedience together. Furthermore, you can give different commands to different dogs at one time.

>One thing that puzzles me is that when l trained my older dog - it was suggested that you get his attrention by callin his name and then saying sit. When you want 4 dogs to sit at the same time should you maybe say pups sit or dogs sit, so it is best not to use their names to get their attention.

What I have been training my 3 dogs goes like this:

I have all 3 dogs sit and wait. I move to the other corner of the room and give wait (stay) command to 2 dogs. (I look at Holly and tell her to wait. I look at Noah and tell him to wait.) Then, I look at Daisy and tell her to come. She comes to me but the other 2 are still staying. Then, I call Noah to come while Holly still stays. Lastly, I call Holly and I have all 3 dogs in front of me. I give all 3 dogs praise and treat.

Each dog can recognize his/her name and act accordingly. Your puppies are still too young but if you keep calling each name to get attention I think they will soon respond to what you ask them to do.

Good luck

Posted by kittysoo
Jun 28, 2008

Thanks for that Max NM

I will work on each dog individually. I think l am trying to run before l can walk with training.

They are a handful and only yesterday for the first time Schmoo my 10 month Yorkie cross challenged me :eek:

He managed to get hold of a carrot. I asked him to give but he hung on and actually started growling at me. I grabbed him by the scruff and gave him a shake and eventually managed to get it out of his mouth using a tea towel and then put him straight outside. I hope l did the right thing.

I have noticed that lately he is getting very possessive and actually goes for Scamper (JR) when l am around. My daughter now calls him Physco Schmoo. I think he has developed a Napolian complex.

Anyway we are all a work in progress at the moment. Bye and thanks again. I will be back!

Posted by Kath1968
Aug 26, 2009

Hi there - re your dogs pulling on the lead - I bought a Lupi for each of ours. They're made by the same company as Gentle Leaders and they are brilliant. You would hardly think that what's not much more than two bits of string and a bit of metal would work, but it's amazing. I now have the opposite problem as I have to drag them along as they walk so slowly! It hasn't stopped them chasing cars, cats or sheep, but at least if there's nothing else around I can have a pleasant walk without my shoulders being dislocated. They're about £7 each and come in different sizes for the size of your dog. Hope this helps a bit.

Training multiple dogs