Training sessions with your French Brittany puppy

Your first training sessions with your French Brittany puppy should be all about fun.

The early stages of training with your puppy have little to do with the things you are teaching them, and everything to do with introducing them to the game of learning. What I mean by that is learning should be their favorite game to play with you. That is how you will create the bond needed for their devotion, provide needed mental and physical exercise, and most importantly teaching them appropriate ways to try to get what they want.

The game of learning is all about a puppy learning it can offer up behavior you want in exchange for something the puppy wants. This might be praise, a favorite toy, a favorite treat, some rough housing… Really it can be anything the puppy wants and needs from you. I believe in motivational training, not training by compulsion. There are exceptions, but generally not with this breed and never ever at this early stage. Compulsion training is forcing a dog into behavior you want with physical force, and often with the threat of pain or actual pain. They are learning to avoid punishment, not learning the behaviors.

Motivational training on the other hand is all about getting the dog to do what you want it to do because the dog wants to do it. It knows there is some reward at the end of the behavior and it is seeking a reward instead of fearing a punishment.

At the very first stages of training we are going to use a lure-reward program generally for high value food items such as cut up pieces of hotdogs or nutritional treats from life’s abundance

See our article from yesterday for more information on lure reward training

The most important aspect of all of this regardless of what methods you believe in is that we have to create a learning environment. What that means is we must set up an environment for teaching where the puppy has a high chance of being successful. In the middle of a busy park for example is not a good place for a puppy’s first obedience session. Later on it is ideal for proofing what we have learned under distraction. However a first session should be done in a small space with no distractions and no opportunity to self reward or leave the game.

I tell all my students that it is easy to train dogs, even under distractions if you understand this basic principle. You have to be the most exciting thing in the room. If the puppy doesn’t want to play the game of learning with you, or doesn’t stick around for the game or pay attention; then it isn’t the puppies fault. It is yours. You are not being fun. You have to be fun to be around. Animated, enthusiastic, and using our “puppy voice” a voice that is high and fast and inviting.

There is nothing worse in the training world than when I see some idiot call their puppy to them to punish them for something the puppy did wrong. It is that trainer that did everything wrong, and all he is teaching the puppy is not to come to him.

Stick within the puppy’s attention span. For an 8 week old puppy this may be as short as one minute. We will work on extending the attention span, but work with what they have. Always end on a good note with what I refer to as “gas in the tank” You could have done more but you stop before hitting the point where the puppy can’t do more. This avoids the very difficult situation of trying to end on a positive note when the puppy is done learning and hasn’t performed correctly. If you find yourself in that place, you have to patiently and happily work through to a good stopping point and learn not to push your luck.

You can have several lessons in a day, so remember it is far better to have 3 five minute sessions with your puppy spread throughout the day than it is to have one 15 minute session

Watch in this video as a young puppy has it’s first lesson in a distraction free environment and learns to trade obedience behavior of “down” “Sit” and “stand” for a treat. Watch how fast they catch on. Watch how many mistakes are made and how it is handled. It seems to be going poorly at first but watch the clock. It is a matter of minutes in which the puppy learns the game of learning, these three body positions, and is beginning the association with those words.

Sit and down are necessary for a dog to know in order to live with them in harmony. Stand is going to be the start of a “whoa” command. As the puppy gets a little older we will begin working on “heeling” and “loose leash” walking which are two separate things.

Later this week we will make a video on introducing the retrieve.

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