border terrier

carcrash · 10-12-2009, 04:42 PM

hi all im new here. i have recently bought a puppy border terrier called gus. he was 8 weeks old now hes nearly 14 weeks. the training is coming on well but he is very headstrong. i had him fed on bakers puppy food but after his fur becomming very oily and smelly and erratic fits i soon realised the food was bad so i have moved him onto james wellbeloved and i hope things will improve with his fur.does anyone have any tips on borders on do's and donts etc. any help would be great please as im new to dogs.

**fawkese1** · 10-12-2009, 04:58 PM

omg what a cutey! where did he get an entire wing?!

my best advice would be to start clicker training asap, shaping games will do a world of good for any dog, but especially one that is probably really smart...as your gus is. keep his mind occupied learning and he won't be as busy trying to occupy it himself. there are plenty of links posted on here about shaping games but to get you started i would check out...
www.clickertraining.com/
101 Things to Do with a Box | Karen Pryor Clickertraining

i would also recommend a book "the power of positive training" as a good starter to all the basic commands and some tricks you could teach gus....

let us know if you have specific questions about how to train a certain trick/cue or how to deal with a certain behavior....

browse throught the other members posts too, lots of times people have asked the same questions you might want an answer to....

have fun and welcome to the dogforum....

carcrash · 10-12-2009, 05:04 PM

thanks for the warm welcome, i have managed to get him to sit and lay down on command and i can place food and treats under his nose and make him wait untill i say before hes allowed to eat them and toilet training is pretty much sorted but i wont shout that too loud. my main problem is getting him to come to heel. he never wonders too far from me but he doesnt come back on command, any ideas on how to cure this.
he will be a working dog so i got him used to dead animals, goose wing and dead rabbit etc and he is fine with having fur and feather in his mouth so next step is put him on a rat if hes quick anough to catch one!

**fawkese1** · 10-12-2009, 05:53 PM

recall and heel are two different commands. heel is a position you want your dog to be in, and recall is a come to me command. recall is something that takes a while to really shape...you need to build on the behavior through good experiences....
recall rules of thumb:
1 never call your dog for anything the dog percieves as unpleasant...this includes a correction, a bath, or the end of an outting. doing unpleasant things when the dog comes to you will make the dog not want to anymore...a lot of people make the mistake of letting the dog play and then calling him at the end of playtime...you should call your dog to you and reward him with praise (or a cookie) then release him to play some more...this way he doesn't associate the command with the end to his fun.
2 always set your dog up for success. if your recall skills aren't there and you are in an environment with a lot of distractions, use a leash. as he gets better and better at recall you can start to give him more off leash time in more places, but if you aren't sure...play it safe. it used to keep my dog on a long lead for walks and when he got to the end of the leash i'd call him (w/o pulling) and give him a treat then let him do it again...over and over on our walk
3 recall means to come all the way back to you...don't allow it to become a "chase me" game...the dog must make physical contact. when i first got my dog, i would carry treats with me all the time...he didn't get one unless i could reach out and physically restrain him (just in case) each time he came back
4 if the dog isn't coming toward you...don't chase him!!!!! this is really hard to do especially when he is wandering off, but seriously, dogs play chase all the time...it is usually a favorite...turn around and walk (or run) the direction you want the do to go and he will ususally follow you. make yourself exciting, make high pitched funny noises whatever to get his attention then go the direction you need to go (this may not work if your dog is chasing something like a rabbit, which is why i suggest a leash when you first get started)

carcrash · 10-12-2009, 06:04 PM

that information there is golden! i have been calling him back and then ending his fun by taking him indoors after. i will seriously start using that information tommorow and hopefully turn this problem around.

**fawkese1** · 10-12-2009, 06:31 PM

glad i could help

Mikey · 10-13-2009, 08:16 AM

He's adorable!!!

You said he's going to be a working dog-is he going to be doing hunting? he sure looks pleased with that bird wing!

carcrash · 10-13-2009, 03:14 PM

he is a pet/working dog. went out hunting tonight and he took on a pigeon and a squirrell so hes coming on well.
got myself a clicker today and it seems a positive way of training him and alot less complicated then shouting and throwing commands to and throw. to be honest i think i needed guidance before i could ever think of guiding a puppy but the advise on here has been great and already i feel im making a step in the right direction.

**fawkese1** · 10-13-2009, 04:04 PM

that is great news! clicker training is amazing! it really really cuts out a lot of the time that is wasted trying to get the dog to understand what you want.....

how's the recall training coming along?

carcrash · 10-13-2009, 04:12 PM

recall traing is not going amazing, he stays near me off the lead untill we get back to my shed at work when he wonders purely because he knows its time to go back in the cage. he likes his cage but obviously prefers to be outside playing 24/7.
i didnt expect great results on the recall to be honest as we only just started on the clicker, he already knows sit, lay down and wait etc so im getting him to do the commands that he already knows but using the clicker with it as i think it will get him to realise what the clicker is about and FAST. he really is a clever dog and its within his nature to obey commands but as they are very independant dogs he somtimes does the command when he wants and not when i want like coming back when called. that said im not 100% he fully knows his own name yet so why would he come back if he doesnt know im calling him?
i guess its like anything and it will require time and patience and im not at all frustrated, if anything im very happy at how far we have come, i mean i can leave chicken or treats under his nose and he wont take it untill i tell him to, now if i have achieved that im very happy i can conquor a return command and after the clicker advise i would be suprised if im not getting good results within a week.