Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Learning to Wait


We are learning a lot in our dog training classes at PetSmart with Abby. Basically a new command is introduced and each dog gets to try it with their owners and assistance from the professional dog trainer. Then, it's up to us to practice at home. In the class, it took me and Abby about eight tries to get her to sit and wait while I opened the door and not come until called. Everyone clapped when she finally did it right and she was very pleased with herself. It took Gerard and her about four tries.

This video was not pieced together or edited except for inserting the titles. As you can see, we are making progress. It took only two tries to get it right for both Gerard and me.

The idea is to get her to sit first, then open the door and tell her to come. Then praise her and give her a treat. Also, we were told when we walk the dog to make her wait before crossing any street. She does this well, but of course, she is on a leash. The trainer said though that if she's trained to wait at a street and not go until told, then if she got off the leash, she would probably wait at the street which could save her life. We have to keep working at this because at the park when she got loose, I didn't see her stop when she got to the park road.

Related dog training video on Come & Sit:

10 comments:

Chris said...

Sounds like Abby's training (or yours) is coming along nicely. Keep up the good work.

Daisy said...

She's doing well! You can see she wants to please you!

The Blonde Duck said...

Popped in from SITS! My dogs could use this!

Anonymous said...

I really should train my dog. She does know 'sit', 'lie down', and 'outside?'.

Just stopping by from SITS. Have a great day!

Sandee said...

They just want to make their masters happy. Dogs are so great at that. I'm happy she's doing so well.

Have a terrific day Karen. :)

Karen & Gerard Zemek said...

Chris--We still have about 6 weeks left to go yet.

Daisy & Sandee: Abby makes us very happy and usually pleases us. Just sometimes she pulls too much on our walks yet more than I'd like but usually she walks nice with us.

The Blonde Duck & D2the4thpower: I think the dog classes are fun and recommend them to any dog owner. Also though, "How To Speak Dog" by Sarah Whitehead is a simple, dog training book that I recommend. (Here is the link to my review of it: http://zemeks.blogspot.com/2009/08/our-best-reads-for-july.html)

Thanks for all of your comments!

Mathea said...

Stopping by from SITS - I have a new boxer puppy and we are going to puppy class at Petsmart. This week was our first week and we are trying to do "watch me" for 20 seconds. A long time for a 3 month old puppy.

Mary said...

You guys are doing a great job with Abby! She looks SO happy.

The Silver Age Sara said...

So glad everything is working well for you. Training class is usually so much fun.
Also good to see SITS visitors finding your most awesome blog.

Mrs4444 said...

Karen, do you know Petco's recommendation for how old a pup needs to be before classes? Milo has a pretty short attention span, now, but he's learning.

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