As Coton de Tulear breeders and owners, our dogs are a huge part of our family. Jo (thats me) has a back ground in dog psychology, and zoology and counselling and was diagnosed with fibroblastic rheumatism an incurable joint & muscle wasting disease, that requires multiple operations every few years, splits, interal wires & battery source running at 4 volts usually, medication blah blah the list could go on but many years ago once diagnoised with this condition I decided to train our dogs to assist us when we need them as can be seen from our home page. If you fall why not train your dog to bring the telephone this can certainly happen to anyone. Here are a few training tips to get you started
Training your Coton de Tulear to help you
Training your Coton should always be fun for you and your dog. Never train for longer than 10 minutes as dogs get bored doing the same things over and over again. The first training should start as soon as you get your dog with basic commands like down or sit. The down is an important command as it trains your dog to be under control. Let your Coton mouth or chew toys as putting items in its mouth is a big part of the dogs job. Puppies like to teeth on anything, sometimes things that they are not allowed, so exchange the item they are chewing for something they can chew. Never shout at a dog for chewing or chase them if they have something they shouldn't. Wait until the dog has laid down and then exchange the item for a treat and say good girl/boy. The dog will soon get bored of stealing items if they do not get the fun of being chased.
SOME TIPS OF UNDERSTANDING YOUR DOG
If your dog lies down and puts her ears back you know that she has understood what you are telling her.
The play bow, she is telling you that she wants to play and also wants your attention whether it be good or bad attention.
When your dog has its paws in the air and rolls over onto her back she is saying you are the boss.
We usually train the roll over exercise just to let the dog know we are the boss and they must submit as this makes it easier to train them.
Reward training
1, Give the dog lots of praise and a huge cuddle to show them they have done well.
2, Give the dog a food treat that they really like to encourage them to learn tasks
3, Let the dog play with a special toy only given to them when they are learning a new task. This toy must be put away and only used for training purposes, Never let the dogs have it for nothing.
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR COTON TO DIE
To train your Coton to die first of all you must train her to lie down. Either by giving them treats when they are already laid down or by gently pushing down from behind your dogs shoulder blades. I prefer the first training method. When she is in the down position gently guide the head to a side using a treat as a lure and then gently push the body over to one side saying bang as you do this. After you have done this gently hold the head to the floor giving her the treat in your hand to keep her in position. After going through this procedure a number of times saying bang at the start, begin moving the treat to the side you want the dog to lay when dead. Pointing at her, when saying the word BANG, like you are shooting her with a gun. This is a wonderful trick for children to do with their dogs as now they have a true play mate.
How to train your Coton to Roll Over
Once you have achieved a good instant down, kneel at the side of your dog and hold a treat so that it is at the side of the dog’s nose. As she turns her head to get the treat, move the treat along side her face and back towards her collar. So that she twists to try to reach the treat. As she reaches for the food she should roll over to a side if not gently guide her body over if she needs any help. To do this exercise your dog must be very relaxed. Keep practising and eventually she will be able to do it without you touching her and just follow your hand signals.
Ozzy our Havanese assistance dog
