Training. Are corgis difficult?
I have been training my 4 1/2 month old puppy and she doesn't seem excited when i ask her to do something she will just lay there and then finally get up and do it. If I ask her to come she will just sit there and look at me, like is it really worth my while to get up and come over there. and if i dont have a treat usally it isn't. I asked her to get in her box this morning and she layed there and after a few seconds she finally got up and went in. i only asked once and didn't keep saying it i just stood there. I was teaching her to weave through my legs and she was doing in slow motion not all excited like the dogs on the videos. My question is, is this pretty normal for corgis are they kinda lazy unless it is what they want to do? Also on walks she will lay down and look at me. I have to drag her some times. i watch alot of training videos and most are for if your dog pulls on the leash well mine just doesn't want to go. I would apprecite comments from those of you who have taught your dogs and how it went. if this is just her temperment or is it a corgi thing? am i expecting too much?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Your girl is beautiful!
Every dog learns in her own way, but in general Corgis are pretty enthusiastic, especially if there is a treat involved.
Can I ask how you reward her? I find that often people's praise is fairly subdued. Imagine how a dog behaves when she is thrilled to death about something. That is what I try to mimic when I am teaching my dogs something new and I am happy with their effort. I have a real praise party; I say "Good boy!" or "Good girl!" several times in a row in a high, excited voice. I clap my hands. Sometimes I hop up and down a little. If I don't get my dogs dancing, then I haven't done enough. Mind you, I don't do this every time they do something right; a quiet "good" is enough to let them know I'm pleased after they've already learned something. But early on in the learning process I really go overboard. Sometimes upping the ante in your own enthusiasm level will step your dog's eagerness up a notch.
Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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She is very young and the attention span at this time is very short, keep up the training, 15-20 mins daily is good. Is your corgi motivated by food? make sure it is something that she'll drool for, your tone also create the atmosphere.
Corgis will challenge and continue to push the envelope, she will go through the "teenage" years, be firm and make sure your family have a united front when it comes to training. Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Carla on
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I'm sure other more experienced owners than me will have great advice, but from my own (short) experience, I will say that at 4 1/2 months, she just might not want to walk yet. Casey wasn't really "into" walks until she was 6 months old or so. Before that, it was just sort of a wander/sniffing adventure (sometimes it still is!)
Regarding the lack of enthusiasm, are you making it fun for her? If there's no motivation for her (treat, play, attention, toy), then can you blame her for not wanting to do it? As well, your own attitude can greatly affect the dogs - there was a VERY shy dog in my puppy obedience class, who had very calm/timid owners (talked very softly all the time, very slow movements, etc). The dog was never really "into" any activity. Then one class the instructor went over and was like "you've gotta get into it or your dogs not going to be into it" and she started getting very loud and rambunctious, excitedly calling the dogs name and getting her riled up. Needless to say, it was a completely different dog when working with the instructor as oppose to its owners. Her tail would wag, she would actually come out of her shell and look happy about doing things in class (like running through a tunnel, etc).
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Absolutely! Our dogs look to us for the signal on how to behave, and if we are calm and disinterested, they will likely be too. If we are excited and look like we are having fun, they will likely join in! A happy dog is very demonstrative (waggles, pants, grins, bounces) yet we tend to think that a smile and kind word will convey our enthusiasm to our dog. As we work with them longer, they learn to read our subtle body language better, but puppies are still learning to read "human" and usually whatever we were planning on doing to convey happiness needs to be increased about ten-fold to get that across to our dogs!
You are also 100% correct about puppies getting bored/tired etc on walks.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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Just make it fun! Corgis can be wild or calm, I have one of each. The calm one has always been a lot easier but I do find that I have to be more enthusiastic and use a more high pitched baby voice to get her interested. Acting that way with Sparty when he was a pup would have sent him over the top with excitement but for Izzy it is needed. Be happy you have an easier one and especially have lots of fun with her. Walks at this age usually are an adventure so try backing away from her making fun little chirping noises and let her wander a little. Sometimes we get so into training we forget the fun part. Everyone including dogs learn better through fun.
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Permalink Reply by Kari & Quin on
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I think maybe its cause I take too long to take a picture haha. She gets very excited about the cat he is her favorite squeeky toy. and right now she is chaseing around the house like crazy. She also knows exactly where the squeeker is in her skunk and runs around squeeking it. if she is off leash she is alot more excited about the walk but... I live on 4 acers in the middle of the desert so i am very worried about coyotes and i feel like if she is on a leash at least if we come upon one i can grab her faster. Also on our walks i have had to grab her up as other big dogs roam around our area and you never know what they are like. She hasnt had very many positve encounters with other dogs so i am not sure but the dogs on the other side of the fence from us (boxers i believe) really would like to play and i know she would too cause they whine to each other and she sticks her head through the fence. but she doent go out with out being on the leash cause she is too small and it wouldnt matter if my yard was fenced or not the coyotes could get her. We are working on a large pen for her that will be attached to the house with a dog door and it will be completely closed in roof also. But as for walks i think she will always be on leash. I lost my last dog to a coyote and he was about 20 feet from the front door. She eats fine sometimes she will carry it into the other room and throw it around first before she eats it.
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Permalink Reply by Alice on
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She's an adorable puppy! I live in Az as well and I do not let Finn off leash unless we are at the dog park. Especially in the desert there are risks such as coyotes and snakes so I think you are right to keep her leased. Aside from that, I think Finn would get excited and run off. :)
When Finn was this young it was sometimes hard to get him to focus but good treats were his motivator. He'd try hard to do what we were asking but if he wasn't getting it right he'd get quickly frustrated ad that meant it was time for a break. We tried to do 10 minute sessions about 3 times a day and that worked well.
You may want to try having her leashed while doing the training. Some dogs resend better on a leash and it allows you to get her going should she decide to lay there and ignore you (if you ask her to come or move in some direction and she doesn't do it, it's ok to give a gentle tug to get her moving then relax so she is moving on her own).
Overall, Finn was easy to train and caught on fast but all dogs are different so be patient and consistent and she will get there.
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Permalink Reply by Sky and Lyla on
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I just want to start by saying this is not the right method for every dog, and I'm not sure I'll ever have another dog again that this works for but.....
Lyla was very timid as a pup and training was almost scary for her. If I sat down with treats (no matter how good they were) and tried to "teach" her things, she would lay on the floor and completely shut down. She seems to get very uncomfortable with my whole focus being on her. So for the first 6-8 months that I had her, I didn't "train" with her. I made sure was was "polite" to get the things she wanted (food, out the door, on the couch, etc). Through that she learned little things like sit, down, etc without the pressure of 100% of my focus. She just simply had to do it to get the things she needed/wanted. She learned come through little games of fetch and "come and go." I enrolled her in a formal obedience class when she was just 2 weeks shy of a year. I was actually floored by how much she knew even though I had not "trained" her since she was 14 weeks old. She progressed through the levels of class and we are now (8 weeks later) in the advanced level obedience class and will be starting training for Rally soon. She is now able to have brief training sessions without getting too nervous as long as they are short and I don't expect too much of her.
So, again, it may not work for your dog, but for Lyla, the best way to train her as a pup was to stop training her.
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Markley on
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I found with Seanna that once she learned something, which is usually very quickly, she thinks there is no more purpose to doig it over. Unless there is food involved--then she'll do anything...I need to put her on the corner with a sign that says "will work for food". I think that since they are such an intelligent breed, it's kinda the "been there, done that" attitude.
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie on
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Same problem at my house...Bear will learn the new thing, then gets bored. So I have to constantly change it up. When we were in obedience classes, he was fantastic for the first 30 mins or so, then he would sit and stare at me, or try to frap around me on his leash, while we were attempting to heel. Short attention span, bores easily...
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Permalink Reply by Ashley and Copper on
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I'm with Beth all the way on this one. PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE when they do something you want them to do and treat after. They LOVE their cookies or treats, whatever you may call them. Anything that excites them. I taught Copper 3 tricks using the tennis ball as motivation because he loves it and wants it. Good luck. By the way, they are very smart but can be lazy when they want to. Don't let them fool you ;)
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