How to put a rock solid handle on a dog?

I am by no means as experienced or seasoned as many of the members on here, but I’ve learned a lot by listening to their advice and what I’m doing now has been working pretty well.

I start with pups (now that I’m raising my own this is pretty easy). I will use bits of hamburger meat or small treats and I will give the pups a few bites to make them taste it and realize they want it. Then I’ll just stand there while they whine and bark or try to climb on my leg for the treat (I’m talking around 8 weeks old or less) and I won’t do or say anything. Once one puppy gets bored and sits, I immediately give that puppy a treat with the command of “yes”. It only takes a few days and they’ll all start doing it, monkey see monkey do. My last litter I raised, at 5 weeks old the whole litter would sit and wait for me to put the food bowl down. As soon as they get it with treats, I do it with the food. Once all of them will sit and stay sitting until I put the food bowl down I start working on the stay command. This takes more time because I do it with them individually. It can be a little trying but patience is a good virtue. I will make them sit, tell them to stay, and every time they move I will snatch the bowl back up. The goal is to work up to them staying just long enough for me to say “yes” right as the bowl touches the ground. After they master that, I make them wait longer. All of my grown dogs will sit and stay and will not touch a bowl of food until I tell them “yes”. I can set down bowls in front of 4-5 dogs and they will all wait until I give the command. While this is convenient for feeding purposes, my main goal is a handle. I think that if a dog will listen to you over food, it makes them listen better in general.

With the puppies once they’re 8 weeks or older I start feeding them on the tailgate, one at a time. As soon as I open their pen I start walking them to the truck (parked 15ft away) and I tell them to “load up” as I’m walking this way. As soon as they’re physically big enough they will start jumping up to eat. Up until that point I just pick them up while saying load up at the same time. Then when they finish I say “down” as I’m setting them back on the ground. This is a easy way that’s not much extra work, and food is a great training tool. Once they start ranging out in the yard, I’ll watch them for a while and then whistle them back to me and I’ll give them a treat. I will do this several times while they’re out, but after I give the treat I completely ignore them until they go back out again. I give them a reward for returning when called, but I do not pet on them and teach them to stay at my feet. Using a recall too often with puppies will make them want to stay with you the whole time. Once they’re old enough to mentally handle a shock, I will begin time training them. At this point they already know to recall when I call them, and so if they don’t listen it’s because they choose not too, not because they don’t understand. I’ll put them in the fenced in area around my pool and call them and give them a treat every time they come over (this is with 7-8 month old pups normally) and I’ll beep the collar at the same time that they’re coming to me. I try to make this very fun for the pups and they’ll run full speed to get the treat from me. After a day or two of doing that, I will repeat it one time to start, and then I will only beep the collar, they will come right to me. Then I will take them in the open yard and do the same thing, still with treats for a reward. If they don’t come, I will give a light bump at level 2 or 3, and I will continue to go up if they don’t listen. After a few days of this I remove the treats and just give them a pat on the head when they come to me, giving a treat randomly. The trick is not going too fast for the dog. Slow progression with no setbacks is the recipe for success in my opinion. If you try to go to just the beep too fast, you will have a harder time getting them to listen.

That’s about the extent of my handle training. I only want a few things, I want them to load up easy, I want them to sit and stay when I tell them, I want them to stop whatever they’re doing if I tell them, and I want them to turn around and come back if I tone them. The trick is consistency. With a young dog I will work him for 15 minutes or so every single day until he really has it locked in, and then I’ll still work with him every few weeks to keep him tuned up. I like using short commands and they’re the same every time, if I want a dog to stop doing something I say his name and then “no”. I don’t give a full sentence that’s different every time, dogs don’t learn well like that.

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