I'm a member of Recallers. I teach pet classes at the school where I take my own classes. I study with some of the top names in dog training, and have been training dogs since I was 10--which is almost 60 years now. Every time I watch one of your videos or listen to one of your podcasts, both of which have become kind of obsessive behavior for me since "discovering" your site, I learn something new and useful. Thank you so very much for all you do.
Hi Susan, Thanks a lot for your podcast. I try to learn a lot from you to be the best trainers possible for my puppy. He is now 10 weeks old and I would love to know how much time you would advice for a puppy his age to train/be in his crate/playing through the day. I know you talk about activities/walk/training, but I am unable to find how many times/for how long each activities should go and I am afraid to over or under stimulate him as he is my 1st puppy after over 30 years of patience. He is a cross-bread between border collie and a Bernese mountain dog. Thanks a lot for your podcast again. Best regards
I’d love to know this as well! We will be getting a Bernedoodle puppy in Nov and I’m watching you like crazy! You’re the best I’ve seen, Susan! Haven’t had a dog since I was a kid and I’m so excited I could burst! I remember Susan saying 2-3 min training sessions which blew my mind but also made sense when explained but I’d love to understand more specifics. I know immediately to potty after naps! And potty doesn’t need to take more than a few minutes! Need more specifics on time frames as well! Thank you Susan, you rock!
By Border Collie learned to differentiate my unintended conditional queue ‘Wait for fatty’. I would say it going up hills or over fences, meaning I was out of breath, more as a comment than a queue. She would trot up the hill then turn and wait for me, different from ‘Wait’ that would have her stop immediately and sit till I released her.
I would love more videos then do a deep dive into explaining and illustrating dog training terminology that would help give me some ideas as to how I could better what you describe to my students
Can someone tell me what Susan means by 'Come is sacred.' I have an everyday 'come' when I want him to come to me and I'm training an emergency recall by giving him top treats (usually leftovers) and saying 'NowNowNow'. It seems like she's saying she only uses come on rare occasions. My dog has learned that his name means look at me and unless I say come, he won't get rewarded for coming. (Of course, my other dog's name now means 'come' good things might be being given away!)
I think what she means by “the recall is sacred” is that she doesn’t use it unless she’s like 100% sure the dog will come. The positive interrupter will distract the dog from what they’re doing and have them come to her without risking using the recall and the dog not attending to the cue.
Hi Susan, a quick question on out of sight recalls. The dog heads off and gets out of your sight, you give the recall command, verbal / whistle. How long do you wait before repeating the command (dog may be on the way or engrossed in a sniff, or toileting or even in danger, but you can’t see them) and does repeating the cue teach it is okay to ignore the first recall?
It really depends on age of puppy/dog and stage of learning. It’s highly unlikely I would ever let an inexperienced puppy or dog be loose in an environment where A. the puppy could get out of my sight or B. There would be any danger to the puppy if they did get out of my sight. Also, I’m not a two call kind of a girl. I will go looking for them if they don’t come the first time I called them.
Fantastic explanation 👏 thanks. Wish you had been my psychology teacher, it took him weeks to explain that concept (he liked the sound of his own voice too much I think! 😂) Love love love the geek stuff, I'm a bit of a nerd!
What’s the point of teaching a recall if you’re afraid to use it? Like I understand not wanting to “water down” the que by letting the dog get away with ignoring it, but not using it to get your dog away from doing something? Isn’t that the point of the recall?
Good morning, I am so inspired and motivated after watching your podcasts. For conditioning cues, what would you suggest for expert counter surfers ? Surfers who will do the bait and switch, get my attention elsewhere then race to the counter or sink ? I have learned from pooch’s behaviour at an early age,to keep counters and sinks free from desirable wants…. But he still surfs and won’t listen to “off”. Jenkins is 2 and a Bloodhound which means his nose is always on duty when he’s awake !! Please help, I am frustrated and would like to have the 100% response like Susan speaks about. Can I use IYC for this nonsense behaviour ?
Hi Janis! ItsYerChoice is the best game to stop counter surfing, it needs to be grown to all areas :) We'd love for you to join the IYC Summit if you haven't yet, here's the link for you: dogsthat.com/y/iycsummit
Thank you! I'm currently training a new rescue and a friend recommended you, and thank you for helping me reframe some things and reinforce some others!
Thanks Susan! I was one of the people who wanted to know "What's the difference?" This explanation was really helpful. I have a 13 week old BC puppy and in puppy class last week we were practicing coming away from a distraction on lead using "this way" and turning their nose / body away with a treat - this was specifically about meeting other dogs but I can see that this could become our 'positive reinforcer' for coming away from any distraction, on or off lead. :-)
Absolutely love & use these recall ideas with my own dog and my fosters! Positive interrupters have conditioned ME to stay happy and enjoy these training sessions! It’s hard not to be happy when this works so well! I can’t wait to share this with the other fosters! Thank you so very much!!!
Susan, I’m binge watching your videos in preparation of getting a Goldendoodle puppy and I feel SO much more confident in my ability to not screw my dog up 😂. Thank you so much!
So cool, Deja, we're excited for you! Have you watched our puppy essentials playlist? Here's the link: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rUIX5qW85tU.html&pp=gAQBiAQB
How would you help repair the moral of a dog who doesn't like playing and has become extremely withdrawn and worried after an unexpected attack from a neighbors dog while on a walk.
Hi Michelle, that can be distressing for sure, we've got a video to help with strategies - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aFRvpINSAyU.html
I would like to know if it’s possible to get rid of a fog’s prey drive toward CATS!! Outside cats. When she sees one, smells one… she becomes obsessed and super focused where she doesn’t even know that I’m behind her
Condition reaction to cats - If you see a cat do this ( what u want her to do) From my side I would love to know how to make a dog indifferent to a presence of a cat (( Is it possible?
