Insider's Guide To Th - PDF document

Insider's Guide To Th e Pu g - 13 Simple Tricks For You Pug © 2006 - 2011 www.myperfectpug.com 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication m ay be reproduced o r tra n s m itted in any form or by any m eans, m e c hanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or by i nfor m ation storage and retrieval syste m , without per m ission in writing from the publisher. Requests for per m ission or further info r m ation should be addressed to; Sharda Baker www.myperfectpug.com Contact us at; http://www.asksharda.com/support/ Legal Notices While all atte m pts have been m ade to verify infor m ation provided in this publication, neither the author nor the publisher assu m es any responsibility for errors, o m issions or contrary interpretation of the subject m atter herein. The publisher and author assu m e no responsibili t y or liability whatsoe v er on the behalf of any purchaser or reader of the m at erial provided. Insider's Guide To Th e Pu g - 13 Simple Tricks For You Pug © 2006 - 2011 www.myperfectpug.com 2 Free Bonus: Teach Yo u r Pug Amazing Tricks! 13 Simple tricks for your Pug Insider's Guide To Th e Pu g - 13 Simple Tricks For You Pug © 2006 - 2011 www.myperfectpug.com 3 You and your Pug want to while away the idle hours togethe r ? Then, what better way can there b e th a n to get tog e ther and teach hi m / her so m e trick s? If you decide to do that, your f i rst consideration would be w h en training your Pug is his lear n i ng en v i ron m ent. Is your ho m e environ m ent f a m iliar a n d friendly to your Pug? Do you have a yard? W ell then, you could use this yard as a “learning ground” to train your Pug. After a while, perhaps you could go inside t h e house where, in its privacy, your Pug m ay just fare better. And please bear in m i nd that dogs have very short a t tention spans. Add to that the k n owledge that you’re training h i m in an unfamil iar p lace, with unfa m i liar objects and scents and that w i ll only render him unable to f o cus on the lesson at hand. Another contributory environ m ental factor is the nu m ber of people present at training sessions. At any session, you s hould be the only perso n to be present to train your Pug. It should always be a one on one process, so t h at an easy familiarity is developed, leading to trust between the teacher and the taught. F u rther, this m i n i m i zes distractions. Once your Pug learns to execute each trick, yo u should teach the trick to t h e rest of the fa m ily by seating them down quietly, and d e m onstra t ing the ste p s to the m . Once they lear n , allow them to pro m pt the Pug to do the trick, using the sa m e hand motions, com m ands and tone of voice. R e w ards and pun ishments: W h i l e teaching your Pug all kinds of tricks, you should m ake rewards and punish m ents an integral part of your lesson. These could be your Pug’s favorite snack, either s m all in size or b rok e n into s m all pieces or v erbal praise. But re m e m ber, it m a kes sense to give your pet re w ards only if it has perfor m ed the trick perfectly. If you want to punish him for not perfor m i ng a trick correctly, this should be li m ited to withholding rewards with a firm “No.” Aft e r all, you want your Pug to respect you, n ot be afraid of you. If you scream at him or physically tor t ure hi m , he will resist learning anything from you. Your tone of voice: Another i m portant factor in training is your tone of voice. True, your commands should be clear and fir m , so should your “N o” be. Equally loud, loving and encouraging should your tone be when you are handing out praise to hi m . You m ay e ven add verbal praise, such as “Good boy,” with a pat on the head or a quick back scratch. But repeat the words o ver and over again. Y o ur ch o i c e of words is extre m ely crucial because yo u r pet is in the process of linking words with actions, so y o ur tone of voice will also be registered. You could, if you like, choose one word or phrase as an aid to m e mory for each trick. If your p et doesn’t respo nd at first, don’t c h ange the word or phrase nor should you be discouraged or this will confuse your dog. Insider's Guide To Th e Pu g - 13 Simple Tricks For You Pug © 2006 - 2011 www.myperfectpug.com 4 W ith all these factors in pla c e, you’re all set to train your pet — and that will be fun and si m ple. Spend one hour trying to teach one t r ick, but d o this just three ti m es a week. Divide the hour into two half - hour sessions and practice with your pet. Tips to dog training: If you’re a first - ti m e dog owner, you need to know what m a kes dogs learn f ast. Rationale: If your Pug is m otivated, he will lea r n faster. If you want to teach your Pug to perform so m e tricks, choose one that you t h ink he m i ght enjoy. So, if he has never carried anything in his mouth, don’t ask him to fetch or retrieve things. Instead, start with so m ething easy like “shake hands” o r play hide and seek. You’re getting there, buddy: As he learns the trick, your pet needs to know if he is on the right track. You need to give your Pug cl e ar instructions so th a t he m ay f ollow them the way you want him to. To “tell” him that he’s doing fine, praise him the m i nute he begins to be right. For exa m ple, when he grabs the newspaper or tennis ball or toy between his teeth and takes his first step towards you, i m m ediately shout out, “Good boy!” He m ay just drop the ball or object and run away fr om you, in which case you need to reissue your com m and. After this, if he walks towards you, praise hi m . Now, t he Pug will begin to see what you wa n t him to do. Once he gets the whole picture, you can heap the pressure on to hi m . Which reward does doggie appreciate? So m e l ong for love treats – a hug or a kiss, while others expect food or yet others like to play with their favorite toy for a while. However, you can just easily use your voice as a rew a rd — tell them in your happiest voice how s m art your dog is, particularly when he does the right t h ing. This way neither you will n o t have to use treats every ti m e you train your dog because he will understand that the verbal praise is for a job well done. If you begin by telling h i m that he has not done what you e xpected of him, you can t hen go on to give him m ore praise than “nos.” Be consistent in your praise, once he does the right thing. If the t r ick is co m plicat e d, break it d own into several substeps and then try to piece it a ll together. It’s better to pr oce ed slowly when the task at hand is co m plicated. Then, again, don’t practice too m uch at a ti m e, but do this often, m aybe about three ti m e s a day for short durations. If you stop when he s till wants to go on, he will be m otivated to learn well and continue next t i m e. But if he see m s disinterested, take a break or teach him so m ething else. Preparation: You need to decide w hat you would like him to learn and why. Allow your Pug to feel successful by starting with si m p l e tricks (shake hands, dance, retrieve Insider's Guide To Th e Pu g - 13 Simple Tricks For You Pug © 2006 - 2011 www.myperfectpug.com 5 so m ething, etc.) and then go on to the m ore difficult ones, if he learns fast. Start w i th one trick and then take it from there. Now, think of a com m a nd for that particular trick — so m ething different that will signal only this trick and nothi ng else in the Pug’s m i nd. It will not rese m ble anything else that the Pug already knows. Short words are a good choice. Your Pug can a m use you and while away the hours for you by entertaining you with so m e easy a nd fun tric k s. If you use food and p r aise to m o tivate hi m , he will learn that much faster. You’ll find that you need neither yell nor shout at your Pug — he’s so intelli g ent that he lear n s fast enou g h! Ins t ead, all you need to m ake him perfo r m some tricks are food and patience. Here a r e so m e of them to get you started: Tricks for your Pug: 1: Teach him to sit: This is by far the ea s ie s t trick of them all. Tea c h him this trick over m ealti m e for a few days consecutiv e ly and watch him perfo r m for you like a professional! Tell your Pug to sit. No w, gently but fir m ly press his hindquarters to the ground until he sits co m pletely. W ait for him to sit down to your satisfaction before you give him his dinner. This m ay take a few tries, b u t he will get it soon eno u gh. Now it’s ti m e for you to praise hi m . 2: Beggi n g or sitting up: The next trick is “beg” or “”s i t up.” This is quite easy as well. Tell your Pug to beg, and t h en hold a p i ece of food over his h ead. His natural instinct is to sit up to reach the food. W hen he is begging properly, then prais e him and give him a treat. Note that with small puppies you want to be careful not to injure their backs. Now that you and your Pug know t hat fun is in store, don’t practice one trick at a ti m e . Learn to m ultitask as in the trick given below. 3: Play dead: Also called “bang - bang,” the key to m astering this trick is to let your Pug roll on its back by gently turning him over once you’ve said “bang - bang.” Once he’s on his back, you can feed hi m . W hile he is on his back — even if for only a m i nute or two — p raise him profusely. Initially, your Pug m i ght f i nd this t r ick a little di ff i cult, b u t as always, practice m akes perfect. 4: Shake hands, boy! To teach your Pug to shake hand s , say “Shake,” and then gently pick up your dog’s right paw. Now, every ti m e y ou say the w o rd “shake”, see that you pick up the sa m e paw. As you pick up his paw, praise him and gradually, he will link the action with the praise y ou give, a n d will soon begin volu n teering his paw to you. The mo m ent he does this, praise him verbally an d give him a treat. Insider's Guide To Th e Pu g - 13 Simple Tricks For You Pug © 2006 - 2011 www.myperfectpug.com 6 To take this trick for w ard, you can also put a treat on its paw and use the “Stay!” command till you want him to let go and eat the treat. Once your Pug has lear n t to do this, take the trick forward by asking him for his other paw by saying the words, “Other paw,” and moving your hand slightly to t h e left or right, depending on which paw you want. Keep f litting f rom right p aw to le f t until y o ur Pug lear n s to alter n ate between p a ws. 5: The “speak” trick: Here, you need to speak e v er y ti m e you hear your Pug bark. Follow this up with a h eap of prai s e. In ca s e he’s one of those silent types who rarely barks, urge him to “speak” and m ake a noise that will lead him to bark. He will soon link the two and bark when you say, “Speak.” He will also u n derstand that if he obeys you, you will gi v e him a treat. 6: “Hey, sleepyhead!” W henever you see your Pug yawn, shout a com m and to him such as, “ C ’ m on, give us a yawn” or “He y ! Are you sleepy ? ” If he yawns frequently, obviously he’s going to h ear your commands of t en enough to link the t w o actions. You’ll f i nd that ev e ntually he w ill y awn whenever h e h ears those w ords. But y o ur Pug req u ires more patie n ce than intelligence to learn t h is trick because t h is ta k es a l o ng ti m e to learn. And yes, lavi sh h i m w i th praise when he y awns to yo u r c o mmand. He will b elieve he’s doing so m ething to change the world. 7: Teach him to stay: Make your Pug sit. Now, stretch out your hand, your palm flat as if you w e re asking so m eone to s t ay right there. As you mak e the action, say the word, “Stay.” Repeat the word “Stay” every five seconds as you move farther and farther away from your Pug. Don’t move your hand from its extended position, b ut when you are about 10 feet away from hi m , take down your hand and say, “C o m e here.” Now that he has m astered your trick, reward him with a treat only when he waits for your hand to co m e down and for you to call hi m . Repeat the exercise, and now see if his ti m i n g is right. If he co m es over to you before ti m e, say, “No.” Next, h old up a treat while y o ur “Stay” hand is still extended towards hi m . But if he does not stay, say “No” and hold your flat ha nd close to his face, sa y i ng “Stay.” Now, push your hand further forward when you hold up the treat, so that your Pug focuses on you r com m and rather than on your reward. 8: Catch: Find a s m all treat and throw it gently in your Pug’s directi o n. He will try to catch it. Do this a few ti m es and he will foll o w the direction you take and catch the treat. 9: Bo w : W ith this trick, teach your Pug to bow before you before giving it a treat. Hold a treat in front of your Pug and m ove it do w nwards, but not touch i ng the floor. W h e n the dog follows its descent with its head, you give the com m and “ B ow.” You have to do this repeatedly before he learns to obey your com m and. 10: Walk: Here, your Pug learns to stand on its hind legs and perha p s walk a little too. Begin teac h ing this trick with a treat. Hold the treat high ab o ve your Pug’s head so that Insider's Guide To Th e Pu g - 13 Simple Tricks For You Pug © 2006 - 2011 www.myperfectpug.com 7 he can reach it if he stood on his hind le gs. T hen, shout the command, “ W alk,” while helping him up by taking its paw. W h en it wal k s, give him the tre a t. 11: Dance: The advantage of teac h ing this trick is that once the dog “dances” on or d er, he won’t put all his weight on people when j u mping on them. So, m ore than a trick, it is good replace m ent behaviour for one who ju m ps too easily. When your Pug is excited and ju m p s all around you, say, “Dance.” Gently hold his front legs and lift them up so that he now stands on his hind legs. Now, p r aise him lavishly and give him a treat. Now, put him back on his f ours on the ground. Once he learns to do this, see if he can do it on his own. If your Pug is s m all or m ediu m - sized, he will balance better than most other large dogs. 12: Roll over: First, t ell your Pug to sit, then to lie down. Take a treat and hold it near your pet’s chin. Circle it slowly low ov e r your Pug’s head, l e tting him follow the direction of your hand. Now, s i m ultaneously say the words, “Roll over” when the treat is n ear the top of your pet’s head. According to plan, your pet should roll over naturally at this point, trying to get the treat. W h en he rolls over on your command, don’t hesitate t o give him your reward and praise. 13: Find or retrieve somethin g : Does yo ur Pug enjoy carrying things in his m outh? If he does, then this trick is tailor - m ade for h i m . All you have to do is to bring your Pug’s toy a few steps away from where he is sitting, j u st so that he sees it. Ask him to find it by saying, “Find” or “Toy” f or any object that you hide and want him to retrieve for you. Once he locates the toy, praise him immediately, even if he doesn’t touch it. Repeat this each ti m e he is n ear the toy and in t h e process e n courage him to h o ld it b y t h e teeth. W hen he does thi s the first ti m e, praise him and give him a t r eat. Now, ret ur n the toy to him and play with hi m . Once he learns to take the t o y in his m o uth, teach him t o bring it to w here yo u ’re seated. If he does this s u ccessfully, begin by praising hi m . Then, praise hi m only when he brings it and plac e s it in your hand. Now, you can exchange the toy for a treat. Now that he has learnt the b a s i c co n cept, start h i ding the toy in more difficult places. Good luck and remember that patience and consistency go a long way i n helping your “best f r ien d ” achieve t h eir be s t .