December 07, 2020
Is puppy bite training used for engagement and as a precursor to obedience training for pet dogs?
Full Question:
I want to be sure I understand Michael Ellis and Ed correctly and that is puppy bite training is used as an engagement tool or activity and that it is a precursor to obedience training. Once you have the dog/puppy really engaged then teaching the dog obedience is easier.I have an 18wk old Golden Doodle and I'm new to dog training. Right now he is very food driven and I have been using a combination of verbal and clicker training with food rewards. My goal is to have a happy well behaved well mannered dog. I have purchased 4 Leerburg DVD's by both Ed and Michael. I am struggling to absorb this material, train a puppy on the fly and come up with a training schedule to follow. I am considering buying Michael's puppy course but it is quite an investment and I'd like your thoughts before I buy it.
Thank you. Am I understanding this correctly?
Cindy's Answer:
My advice to you is to use food for now, even if your puppy shows an interest in tugging. The reason is twofold.
1) Your puppy is teething right now so tugging may cause some mouth discomfort and create a negative association with the game. You could watch all the tug video now and start that with your pup when he's about 6 months old. Teething should be complete by then.
2) I always use food first to build engagement and teach all the basics, later I incorporate the toy to add more drive and energy into the training. For a pet dog, you may never need to use the toy if his food drive stays high. I do like to tug with all my dogs, from our little 5 lb ShihTzu to our big German Shepherds but it's not necessary. It's also a good interactive game that drains a dogs energy in a way that builds a better relationship(assuming you teach it properly and implement rules for the game).
Michael's puppy course is really good, I took my German Shepherd puppy out to California in the summer of 2019 to go through the class and we filmed the whole thing. It's definitely got a lot of info, there is lecture and you also get to see a variety of different puppies going through the 5 day class, many of them are first time puppy owners.
1) Your puppy is teething right now so tugging may cause some mouth discomfort and create a negative association with the game. You could watch all the tug video now and start that with your pup when he's about 6 months old. Teething should be complete by then.
2) I always use food first to build engagement and teach all the basics, later I incorporate the toy to add more drive and energy into the training. For a pet dog, you may never need to use the toy if his food drive stays high. I do like to tug with all my dogs, from our little 5 lb ShihTzu to our big German Shepherds but it's not necessary. It's also a good interactive game that drains a dogs energy in a way that builds a better relationship(assuming you teach it properly and implement rules for the game).
Michael's puppy course is really good, I took my German Shepherd puppy out to California in the summer of 2019 to go through the class and we filmed the whole thing. It's definitely got a lot of info, there is lecture and you also get to see a variety of different puppies going through the 5 day class, many of them are first time puppy owners.
User Response:
Thank you for your insight. He is currently teething and I do not want to do anything that would create a negative association. I will stick with food for now and continue watching the tug video and introduce it in a couple of weeks. Thank you for your help it is greatly appreciated.
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