Puppy's 1st crate training session: Clicker Training

[bigmamasie]

What treats are good for puppies during training time? I have a shih tzu maltease mix.

[pamelamarxsen]

@bigmamasie I think I was using his daily dog food (dry kibble). When I was training my puppy, I would carry around his daily food intake and simply reward every behavior that I liked. I would interrupt unacceptable behaviors with my kissy noise that I conditioned to mean something great is about to happen, so you need to look at me. :) Hope that helps! You can use any meat, cheese, dog food, baby food, freeze dried raw dog food, and anything that your pup finds valuable that is healthy.

[Marypogo]

How long did this actually take? I'm thinking about getting an IrishDoodle (Irish Setter/Poodle) and I want to clicker train her. But I want to know how long it takes to do these sorts of things? Does it take days, hours, months?! And after she and I learn this command, will she stay in there with the door open? Well just wondering if anybody has this information for me, if so, get back to me. I'd love to hear from you. About my breed of choice and about the command...

[pamelamarxsen]

@Marypogo This training session was about 5 minutes long and I probably only had to do one or two after this. Dogs pick up clicker training FAST and they learn to love their crate with this method. My dogs all sleep in crates without doors. They choose to go in the crates because they love them and feel comfortable there. You can work on the invisible barrier training with the crate door at first. check out kikopup for some vids on barrier training. I have a few also.

[pamelamarxsen]

@Marypogo Every dog is different. Some pick things up very quickly and others take a little time. I love clicker training, because you can start training RIGHT away, it is humane, effective and fun for both trainer and trainee. :) I call everything "cues" and to me the difference is a cue is a request to do a behavior. A command is a do it or else get a correction. If you train your dog what you want him to do and he is rewarded for good behavior, he will choose the proper behavior. :)

[pamelamarxsen]

@Marypogo If you ever have questions, please feel free to send me a message. I sometimes get busy, but I will eventually respond! :)

[nicolebodea]

I love the crunching in the background! :)

[pamelamarxsen]

@nicolebodea Funny that you noticed that! Bandit was on the floor hanging out and Isabelle was on the bed. When I would click and treat Twix the other two got food for just hanging out being calm. :) It was great for them to start learning how to be calm around Twix as he worked!

[nicolebodea]

@pamelamarxsen Lol I bet Isabelle was the most fond of this training session. She's like the queen of the household! :PP

[hunkymonkeykaine]

Great video Pam! Twix is doing a truly awesome job learning how to operate his environment:). I really like how you are teaching him that being in the crate is a positive place to be versus just shutting the door and letting the puppy cry for hours.

[pamelamarxsen]

@hunkymonkeykaine I hope you would know that I would never just toss him in his crate. I want him to love it! Bandit loves his crate and will go in when ever he chooses and he always goes in to sleep with the door wide open! It is so important to me to make sure my dogs love everything that I do with them.

[kikopup]

Awesome!!!  Well done Pam!

[mollybrandybillly]

oh my what a clever puppyy! i too am starting crate training with rusty. he doesnt like the door being zipped up

[pamelamarxsen]

@mollybrandybillly Mine did not like the door being shut. Is there a place to drop a treat from the top of your crate. So, you could click when calm in the crate when it is zipped and drop a treat from the top. Sometimes with my other dogs and eventually this one, I zip a little and click and treat, then unzip click and treat, and do this until I can zip it all the way and drop treats from the top. Then I work on walking around click & drop a treat in. Good Luck!

[thistlemiss]

Hi Pam, What are you using for management while working on the crate training? I've had a number of clients "poison" their crates because they had to use them right away for confinement.

[pamelamarxsen]

@thistlemiss He is with me unless he is sleeping in his crate and everytime he goes in his crate he has ice cubes for teething, a teething bone, a toy and a kong with some cream cheese in it. I want him to LOVE his crate. I know what you mean. Some people just toss them in as a way to get stuff done, but I just have him on leash and he has to be next to me. If he lies down when next to me doing dishes etc. I drop food between his paws. It is good to be next to mom. hehe!

[pamelamarxsen]

@thistlemiss Also, if he is next to me, I can prevent any potty accidents! :)

[pamelamarxsen]

@thistlemiss Oh, you can use a playpen, but Twix would just pee in there and I did not want that to become a habit. He will not pee on the pee pads. He will pee right next to them. So, he is not ready for the playpen yet. :)

[kikopup]

@thistlemiss I like to reinforce the area the dog has to be left alone in, so even if I were training the dog to be in a crate, but leaving the dog in a pen- I would play "crate games" with the dog in the pen. Or if the dog was just being left in a room- play games with the room. No "poisoning" happens through conditioning. I would worry more about someone just leaving there dog in a room/crate/pen without working on conditioning first.

[thistlemiss]

@kikopup Yes. I saw your great video on the subject. A lot of people do leave their puppies in the crates or pens too soon though. They don't have the time to be with their puppies 24/7 at first.

[chihuahuabulldog]

That is so funny (and precious) when he has figured out how to get treats, go into the crate and lie down! 3:37 LOL Is that Isabelle on your left ankle?

[pamelamarxsen]

@chihuahuabulldog Izzie was on the bed and Bandit was at my left ankle. They all loved it. I think Isabelle was happy to get free food for doing nothing again!!

[chihuahuabulldog]

@pamelamarxsen No, I meant the tattoo!

[pamelamarxsen]

@chihuahuabulldog Yes, that is Isabelle on my ankle! :)

[pamelamarxsen]

@chihuahuabulldog She will be with me forever!

[chihuahuabulldog]

@pamelamarxsen I can tell in the videos that she is a very special girl/dog.

[dibassett]

See how she is building duration by clicking the pup while he's just staying in the crate? Going INTO the crate and staying in the crate are two different things.

[pamelamarxsen]

@dibassett YES! That is totally true! My pup likes to door dash, so we need lots of duration. hehe! I started with closing the door today. That will have to be another video. :) 

[dibassett]

@pamelamarxsen And I love how you're going nice and slowly-- not rushing the "shut the door" part. Beautiful dogs. I'm promoting your video to my clicker training students.

[mariswithdogs]

He is such a sweetheart:). He learns so quickly and he surely will be a awesome clicker trained dog:)! Great work!

Maris

[newbear95]

The puppy is so cute and smart! Isabelle and Bandit is so calm and patient!

[haylz27]

Hehe, such a smart boy. I like the name Turbo... that name randomly came to mind. :-o I hope you find a name for him soon! :)

[bondfrenchbond]

Good job Pam! Lots of love

[bordergirlsmom]

What a cutie! He looks all at home already ;-), Love the name!!!

[MultiAnimalcrackers]

Great vid Pam...loved it. Will be nice to follow the steps of Twix:)) great name by the way Incas dad was called that:)) Lots of hard work and lots of fun ahead of you. ENJOY:))

[Zehrrien]

Name him Nestle! It fits him well. Of course you don't have to.....

[thatcrazyjack]

He's sooo cute & love that your clicking training him too!! Just curious does the clicker confuse the other dogs and make them wonder why they hear the sound , but no treats? We only have one dog, so never had that issue, but I was just wondering watching your video. I just love your videos!!

[pamelamarxsen]

@thatcrazyjack I was feeding them and dropping them food too. I really think that they are not confused, but I feed them anyway. :) I was feeding them because they were patient and calm. I think that if I clicked my other dogs and did not feed the puppy that the puppy would get confused. THANK YOU!

[BBTricksters]

Wow, Pam! he is SMART! How old is he???

[pamelamarxsen]

@BBTricksters Thanks, he is 10 weeks.

[DestinyRed23]

He is so smart!!!He is so adorable!!!I love his name zoomy!!I am getting a German Shepherd Dog in a few months (2-3 months) his name is going to be Riley,but this video will be very helpful for when I get him!

[azmauigirl]

Pamela, this video will be soooo helpful for people with a new puppy, or just a new dog, and in a multi dog house, as well. You'll find just the right name for him. Searching for it is part of the fun. I love his markings. Will be interesting to watch these as his hair gets longer. Puppies are so much fun and he has the best new mom/teacher any pup could ask for!

[LeoxPomeranian]

What a smart boy!

[sharonmtucker]

great video Pam. I wish I had your videos when we got our puppy two years ago, I can only imagine how much further along she would be. This is so helpful to watch you with your puppy and not with a dog that is already trained. It shows that patience pays off!

[hszucker]

I don't know you yet but I LOVE your videos. I am a trainer in the NYC area, have deaf dogs. I think you somehow know my good friend and mentor Deb Manheim

My mom lives in San Diego and when I visit her I want to meet you.

I also work in film as a set decorator and quite impressed color co-ordination here and finally I have the same shoes,

I love your videos. They are so helpful. I refer tons and tons of folks to them

take care

[pamelamarxsen]

@hszucker I would love to meet you when you come out to visit! I know my dogs would love company. Thank you so much for watching my videos and for referring others to them. Have a great evening.

[1949pink]

Excellent demonstration of his work with the beautiful puppy

[NanaBorderCollie]

Great work, Pam!!! I love how Border Collies learn so quickly, and I love watching them think as they learn!

I suppose since you decided not to call him Zoom, what do you think of the name Rocket?

[Court22132]

Such an adorable puppy! I love how fast he is picking up. He is so lucky to live with you. You are an amazing trainer. He looks like a little "Jake". I was going to name my dog Jake, but we ended up getting a girl. I love the name. I can't wait to hear what you name him!

[zsianz1]

so cute he is! great training pam, love to watch you work and just LOVE watching your baby! 

[tehrenberg]

Great job Pam. . . looks very familiar! Course you're better at getting the material up and running on youtube; for me these are still projects to be completed. I admire your energy! Oh, and I love watching him think too ; )

[ThePamperedPuppy]

Your puppy is adorable! He is really lucky to have come to a house with so much love! I hope you have a wonderful day, take it easy friend!