[Alia]

Hi! I'm currently a senior in high school. I'm going to college for three years to be a vet tech (knock on wood.)

I currently care for my mom's five rhodesians. She's been working out of state for about 2 years now, meaning their care is up to me. Living with my grandparents who are handicapped and fairly poor for the most part.

We live in a single wide trailer, meaning there had to be a pen built for the dogs to stay in, along with a large doghouse. As much as I detest it, they must stay outside 24/7. Thankfully we own ~3 acres and we run around off-leash every day as a 'pack' until I tell them to kennel up and we come back for some dinner.

Only one of them is "trained" and that's Jake, who I started teaching him basic commands. He has a good recall, sits, lays down but only when lured, and shakes. The rest, however, dont listen for the most part.

What would be the easiest way to teach all of them basic obedience? I'm the only one out there spending time with them and I really want to reinvent the way I am with dogs. I want them to live their life to the fullest, and I want to accept this as a challenge

My main concerns are:
Jumping up on me/others
Do not recall
All five of them WHOOSH out of the gate as soon as it's opened (I can't get them to focus on me and sit, and I can't get in the pen unless i squeeze myself through which I want to fix that.)
BASIC obedience in general. The difficulty is how do i break it up for five dogs to learn it

Sorry this is very poorly worded, I'm running off of four hours of sleep D:

 

[Alia]

If it helps, I might add that one is a ridgeback/catahoula, the others are mixed with black mouth cur. Toooo many oops litters.

I want to reapproach how i've been with dogs after seeing these forums and following a lot of people's blogs on tumblr for their dogs. I've grown up worshiping Caesar Milan and my mom just kinda always let them be dogs. Her heart was in the right place but theyre untrained and I want them to be happy and healthy, and I want to learn how to enrich their lives so when I get my own "first dog," I do it correctly.

 

[traciek88]

Wow that certainly is a task. Well, you need to train them alone, one at a time to start. Pick one and start basic obedience. Do a basic obedience lesson for 15 minutes. Then pick another and do a lesson for 15 minutes. If you have the time do all 4 in an hour. Try to do this every day. Make sure they listen individually. Also you can have a unison recall, so instead of just calling All their names call 'dogs!' Or 'everyone!'. But yes, look into more positive training instead of CM. keep in mind too that a pack of dogs that's lived mostly untrained (and headstrong breeds like that) are a challenge, and very likely to look to each other first rather than humans. But hard work and individual training can make progress! I recommend reading Patricia McConnel's 'feeling outnumbered?' Book too. It's available on Amazon.

 

[Alia]

Should i attempt clicker training with them? we have a clicker but i don't wanna make it harder than it needs to be! I also have limited treat resources since we live in nearly the middle of nowhere. I tore up a bunch of ham slices into bits and put them into a bag, ready to go outside.

I've been watching lots of kikopup and Zak George which have made me change my mentality about training thankfully!

 

[traciek88]

If you want to use clicked training that's fine. If not just use the word 'yes' or 'Good' instead. I prefer clicker training but novices sometimes find them cumbersome or find timing difficult. Do what makes you comfortable. And if you can afford it most treats can be ordered online. And see if you can go to a butcher and get some animal livers or other safe meat and chop it into small pieces and save it in the fridge. And Kiko pup is a great resource.

 

[Alia]

just came in, my hands are frozen and red lol.
i'm just gonna keep the clicker out of it for now since it seems to confuse them more than help. they respond to my voice a lot better.

worked with the black mouth cur mix Pal. for some reason he won't look me in the eye/at my face when i ask for "watch me" or say his name. and he would rather sniff around than listen. he's gonna be a little difficult haha

as with jake, when he lays down, he tries to paw at me instead. tried working on this some. also he's getting very good at wait.

that's as much as i could handle for now. might go back out later or work on it tomorrow! i'm trying to start off with the easier dogs then work my way down to the ones with absolutely no training.

 

[Rain]

just came in, my hands are frozen and red lol.
i'm just gonna keep the clicker out of it for now since it seems to confuse them more than help. they respond to my voice a lot better.

worked with the black mouth cur mix Pal. for some reason he won't look me in the eye/at my face when i ask for "watch me" or say his name. and he would rather sniff around than listen. he's gonna be a little difficult haha

as with jake, when he lays down, he tries to paw at me instead. tried working on this some. also he's getting very good at wait.

that's as much as i could handle for now. might go back out later or work on it tomorrow! i'm trying to start off with the easier dogs then work my way down to the ones with absolutely no training.

To train them in obedience, work with them one on one. Once they have the basics down you can start pairing them up, them switch up the pairings, then trying with 3 of them.

With the clicker or marker word you need to load it. By that I mean click the clicker, or say the word, while giving the dog a treat. Do that around 10 times in a row, then try clicking it and see if the dog comes for a treat. If they do the clicker or word is ready to use.

For the gate dashing what I've always done is started to open the gate, and if the dogs started trying to shove towards it I'd close it. Once they backed off I'd try opening it again, and when they tried to shove through closed it again. My two pretty quickly learned that trying to dash past me got the gate closed, staying back caused me to open it. There reward for staying back was the door opening and getting to run out. I trained them to not dash through when I had it open by body blocking them and closing the gate if they tried to get through, they were only allowed to go through if they were patient and waited till I told them "Alright". Alright was there release cue.

 

[annageckos]

Work them one at a time till they have the commands down. Take it slow, make sure they really get it before upping the challenge. I have the habit of moving too quickly, it will just set you back. Watch a lot of different trainers. Stay away from anyone that uses force or talks about dominance or alpha. Not all methods work for all dogs. I like Zak George a lot, some of his methods worked better for my dane than Kikopups. But both are good trainers. Clickers work well, but are not necessary. I do use the clicker, but not always. My guys know both the click and good. Remember to 'charge' up the clicker by clicking and treating multiple times before getting into the training. You dogs need to learn that the click means treat.
If you have used dominance training it may take you a bit longer to get your dogs to look you in the eye for look at me. Just remember to take your time, there has been a few times I didn't think that Freyja was getting the training. Then one day she gave me the behavior on command and did it quickly and correctly. Right now we are really focusing on recall/off leash and settle, where she goes to a towel and lays down.
For door dashing I would train wait and back. Get them to back up and wait. But with multiple dogs this may take some time.
For training treats I use different treats for different things. I only use really high value treats for recall and loose leash walking. You can order treats online, freeze dried liver is good and can be broken up. I use hotdogs, lightly cooked meats, cheese, lunchmeats, training treats and broken up dog treats. Some people also use kibble, I don't feed kibble so I don't have any around. One thing I've found helpful is to cut up the hotdogs or meats into small pieces and then nuke them in the microwave until they are dried out.