Hi guys. So my first working dog was born this week and will be coming home with me in July. I decided to go with the Bouvier Des Flanders. I've been watching Ed's instructional videos over and over and I noticed he believes you shouldn't teach a working puppy too much obedience training too early because it kills drive.

My question: Is that the consensus among trainers? If so, how much obedience do you teach a working puppy? Which commands do you train, and at approximately which age do you start obedience in earnest.

Thanks for your help.

 Quote: Nate Foster

Hi guys. So my first working dog was born this week and will be coming home with me in July. I decided to go with the Bouvier Des Flanders. I've been watching Ed's instructional videos over and over and I noticed he believes you shouldn't teach a working puppy too much obedience training too early because it kills drive.

My question: Is that the consensus among trainers? If so, how much obedience do you teach a working puppy? Which commands do you train, and at approximately which age do you start obedience in earnest.

Thanks for your help.

I'm sure you will get some answers, but if I were you I would go:

to the puppy training page <---- click here

and start reading. Lots of great info there.

In the club I belonged to obedience was a requirement if you wanted to do bite work. BOTH started as soon as you brought the pup to club. Didn't matter the age.
ALL training was with markers and motivational training.
I would agree that with "traditional" compulsion training you can take the drive out of a pup or young dog. Obedience using marker training will only pump the puppy up.

Nate;

In the years since Ed began producing these videos, his methods have changed. He now employs marker training, which is operant conditioning using a reward-based system. He now starts training OB as soon as the puppy is weaned. If you are not watching a video that he did with Michael Ellis, that video is probably outdated.

Bob is absolutely right. Puppy OB training begins as soon as you bring the puppy home (and makes the pup want to learn), starting with the fundamentals of marker training. The first thing you do is build a mark. Next, you'll learn to start luring the pup into basic positions, such as the sit, and building a recall. This is an entire education, and can't be done on one thread.

I strongly suggest that you make use of the time you have before bringing the pup home to start learning this training. Start with the free videos (6 in all, or the one full-length) of Michael Ellis' philosophy of dog training. This is a GREAT intro to operant conditioning and the marker training system. You'll then want to get the marker training dvd and "The Power of Training Dogs with Food" dvd.

You'll also want to join a SchH club. Club training is invaluable!

We start "obedience" training our puppies almost as soon as they walk. Using meat treats (cut up steak or roast in tiny bits) we start with "here" and front sits. As they get older and go onto a leash, we use the meat treat to lead them into heeling. No corrections other than withholding the food treat. Really not "training" so much as "shaping future desired behaviors".

for the first six months, it's only suggestions