What did you find easy to train your dog to do?

[ohmagaad]

And how did you do it?

I think this really depends on your dog, I had a Collie and trained her to do everything really quickly in seconds. I had a Springer Spaniel and after 12 years she could just about manage sit, come back, lie down and shake hands with repition of commands and hand signals (I loved her fiercely but she was definitely more looks than brains).
I have always trained with high value treats and praise.

Most basic commands should be easy to teach, if you use high value treats and consistency.
Was there anything in particular you want to teach?

Depends on the dog I think. Current dog, most things have been quite easy. He learnt all the basics through time and repetition. The hardest was walking to heel and extending the time for stay, again it took lots of repetition but he found it them the most difficult to do.

I used to train the basics for 5-10 mins every morning. Lots of treats, patience and just reinforcing everything.

Very much depends on the dog. My staffy cross learnt seemingly everything very quickly and was desperate to please. But was hard work day to day.

My spaniels are thick as mince and are slow to pick things up, However teaching them recall was so easy as they are so greedy if they think there is the tiniest chance they might get food they come hurtling over. They don’t have the desire to please their handler that the staffy did but that makes them easier and they are much more settled in the house.

We have an Australian Kelpie. She's crazy clever but likes to use things she learns in an independent way. She's trained us that she gets a treat when she comes into from the garden

She is very easy to train, picked up basic commands within a couple of goes, she's just very selective as to whether she agrees with you that the specific command is required in the situation you are using it.

Anything you teach your dog can be turned into a game with treats, After three attempts my new Chihuahua puppy learned to sit for a treat. After a couple of attempts he learned to come on the command 'name' come' again for a treat.
I have two pugs and they are also keen to learn anything for a treat! Make it fun and give lots of praise.

Easiest was ‘speak’ but he hasn’t mastered ‘shush’ yet 😂 he also picked up jumping/climbing on command within a couple of goes and now loves to climb everything.

However, at almost 4 years old, he refuses to roll over. He did it once at puppy classes and then obviously thought ‘fuck off am I ever doing that again’ because he hasn’t done it since!

Sit and paw were the easiest to teach with treats and patience. Speak was fairly easy too even though neither dog is much of a natural barker.

Recall has been the hardest, both dogs have selective deafness when they're having a good run or sniff.

We did a lot of clicker training so anything that came fairly naturally was fairly easy to capture and reward, so sitting, barking/speak, paw, under, over, picking things up. Things that require luring with food were more difficult/impossible, e.g. roll over

Recall was easiest for us - combination of being exceptionally greedy and not much interest in other dogs or people!

MIne responds well to trying to do the right thing...for a high value treat.

We've trained her not to rush through the door, to come back for her lead to go on, (unless there's a bird or a cat), to wait etc.

But tbh she's quite a bright cookie and while she knows what we want her to do she's more likely to be trying to train us to do what she wants.

Friends have a dog board with buzzers on that the dog presses for PLAY, EAT, OUT....which it seems to be happy using.

High value treats are your friend for training dogs who like food over toys. If they prefer toys over food then it’s toys!

I have a lurcher and all these were easy to medium

Sit
Stay
Paw
High Five
Stay
Down
Leave it
Rollover
Go through tunnel
Use sea-saw
Walk under poles/jumps
Walk over series of poles

xx

Sit is very easy with treats plus voice and hand commands.

Heel maybe a lifelong project for my pointer.

Currently training her to go round a field clockwise or anti-clockwise to a whistle command.

Basic obedience we learnt in our classes, positive reinforcement and treats.
I've really enjoyed teaching him parkour tricks - paws up, walk along branches, weave through fences etc - when we're out on walks. Helps keep him focused and mixes up the same old walks. Again, treat-led, just with clear instructions/commands and a 'follow the treat' type thing.
Pulling in harness for canicross was super easy too which I was surprised by as I spent a long time training him to walk loose lead. We just got him to chase our kids. So now when he is in the right harness, he pulls and we're gradually teaching left and right, which isn't so easy, back and steady, which is.

The things they do naturally and translate easily into tricks ect.
Like Sit, give paw ....

Recall to a whistle. Start with no distractions and dog next to you. Blow whistle, give yummy treat. Repeat. Then (still with no distractions) do it with dog a little further away. Gradually increase distance (but watch out for distractions as the further away you are, the more distractions are likely to be available).

Then introduce a distraction - maybe in the garden instead of in the boring bathroom - and repeat, starting off close to the dog again. This is important, distance plus distraction makes it harder for them, so just work on one at a time. When they have nailed each one separately you can do distance and distraction together.

I think it helps to think about what you want the dog to realise rather than what you want him to do. For example, you want him to realise that the whistle means a special treat is available if he comes to you. This makes it easier to remember that he expects a treat special enough to outrank anything else available to him at the time, or why would he bother? He doesn't always have to get a super special treat but you have to deliver often enough to maintain a reasonable expectation - a bit like playing slot machines.

My Goldie learnt to do the washing just by watching me. She can put the dirty in the machine, then the clean to the tumble, then from tumble to basket. She picked it up quicker than my children She still, at 6, occasionally wanders off with a sock though. If only she had opposable thumbs so she could do it while I'm at work. She picked up most commands quickly but we did put the work in. The most useful command we taught her was stay, by the open front door.

Anything for our pug, he's super clever and very food orientated, plus doesn't want to leave us so recall is easy. Only thing that took ages was lie down, he hates laying down, esp on a cold floor, he's a diva!

For our alaskan malamute he is not driven by food so its a bit harder but sit, spin, lay down he learnt easily the first say we had him. Recall is dreadful, jumping up is awful too, he will get down when told but in spite of constant training he just gets so excited. He's only just 1 so hopefully he'll calm down. He's quite clever and seems to understand things very well, even if he's not heard the command before. I think he's part human😂

I taught my rescue collie lab cross at the age of 11 when we got him to wee/poo on command. It took a few days of watching him do it and adding the command as he did it "ddog wee" and "ddog poo". I then could take him to the place we wanted him to go and tell him to do it. SO useful in the rain/before a long car journey or whatever.

I know sometimes he would almost roll his eyes at me, but he would always try. Great dog, sadly missed.

@ginsparkles I have a kelpie too ! Is yours full or crossed with anything ? Nobody round here (midlands ) have heard of them !

I had a rescue dog for a day (take them out of kennels, give them a break and some relaxation)
I accidentally taught her "have you got fleas?" And she would sit down and scratch her ear

(I was trying to train sit and she scratched her ear and it all went a bit wrong...)

Having to explain to rescue why she sat and scratched if you said the word "fleas" was fun

By far the easiest command was "Paw" because she's a Pyr mix and slapping us with her giant paws is basic instinct for her Pyr side 🤣

our big dog naturally uses his paw a lot, we are trying to train him not to as it bloody hurts but it definitely seems like a naturally instinct

Teaching 'Paw' took about 20 seconds. 'Leave It' is on 16 months so far and counting (clever breed, stubborn nature!)

Also 'find your ball' acts like the kind of thing you see in films where people are controlled by hypnotherapy. He stops everything and looks for his ball!