Come

Many prefer to train "stay" before "come", but teaching a dog to come when called is simply a lot easier to do than making a young dog sit still for any length of time.

I like to train a dog or young puppy to come by having two people a few feet apart sitting on the ground. Have one person hold the dog while the other calls the dog, and squeaks a toy or offers treats. Next have person one release the dog and watch as the dog travels to person two. Person two will then need to reward the dog with praise, treats or a toy.

If the dog is older, or already knows how to stay on command then having two people isn't really necessary, but taking a different command out of the situation makes it easier for the dog to focus.


Helpful Links
Video of training stay and come
Alternative verbal method
Alternative which turns training into a game

Update: July 7th, 2014
Did this activity with 12 weeks old Tallinn today and it was a lot of fun!

Not only did she learn that coming to people is a good thing (we tried to pair it with the word "come"), but she was very tired and slept for hours afterward (our favorite part).

Fetch

I'm going to preface this post by stating that I have never really dealt with a dog which actually fetches. We've found as a breed that Keeshonds see very little point in fetching toys except for a scarce few with more traditional hunting breeding lines in them. Therefore today we'll be reading a post from Dummies.com for those of you with dogs which are remotely interested in fetching.

Teaching Fetch

The instinct to retrieve is all in your dog's genes. Some types of dogs take to it naturally, some don’t. As the name says, any type of retriever loves chasing things and bringing them back (of course, getting them to give you what they caught make take some training!). But if you have a terrier, for example, whose instinct is to burrow, trying to teach “Fetch” will probably just frustrate you both.

To teach a full retrieve — go out, bring it back, and give it up — you go through each of the steps individually before bringing them together.

Anything a dog puts in her mouth is special, at least to her. So the first step in teaching her to retrieve is to get your dog psyched to show you her “treasure.” All your pooch has to do to learn this step is come back with her prize. The focus here is on the Bring, not the Give.

1. Line up several toys and treats.
   If your dog is too treat focused and won’t leave your side if there’s a treat on the scene, leave food rewards out of the picture. In this case your overwhelming enthusiasm will be your dog’s reward.
2. Gently toss a toy a few feet away from you and point to it.
3. As your dog brings the toy back to you, shower her with praise but don’t take the toy away.
   If your dog ignores you when she gets the toy, try running away from her after she’s picked it up. If she still won’t bring it back, pretend to eat some of her treat.
4. As your dog catches on and trots happily back to you, say “Bring.”
5. When your dog arrives, toy in mouth, praise and pet her heartily (give her a treat if you like), leaving the object in her mouth.
6. Toss a different toy and go through the procedure again.

Dummies also notes that if your dog is playing keep away to stop and move to a smaller room where the dog can't run. Personally, I would say that if the dog wants to play keep away after playing fetch for a while to just go ahead and stop training for the day and let the dog be. Or if you're so inclined you could keep playing with yourself and turn it into a game of "throw"

Week-old Puppies "Celebrating" Easter