# Zippy! Zippy! Zippy!



## Kutsmail1 (Dec 26, 2007)

Hi all,

I have had a lot of dogs over my lifetime. I have never had a problem with training of any kind. Zippy is the challenge of a lifetime. Her attention span is about the size of a pin point. She is pretty well potty trained, unless a butterfly or some other object of interest arises in the middle of pottying. It is exhausting keeping her on track while taking her out. My neighbors prob go to sleep dreaming about hearing "Zippy go potty" repeatedly.

She has learned things like NO (thanks to the water bottle), come, all family names and dog names. She will ask me to go potty, but doesn't ask anyone else. She is so subtle with it. She comes and rares back and throws herself on me and starts licking me. I know it means potty, I'm hungry, or I want water. I think she is probably doing this with everyone else, but she is being ignored. All I tell her outside is "go potty" and "leave it"....as she can be sidetracked by a blade of grass...or the wind blows...or a number of things. She does understand what it means, but can't seem to stay focused. She also does this with eating.

As far as obedience or simple commands, I am having trouble holding her attention. I always start with very short sessions such as 5 minutes or less. I'm lucky if I can keep her attention all of maybe a minute. I don't feel it is right to show frustration during training as it is should be pleasant. She is 9 months old now and is a live wire. She still needs to learn the basic commands of heel, sit, stay, and down. I prefer sit to be first, then heel. I usually reserve stay for last, esp. with Zippy, but I have had to go ahead and work with her on it. She does recognize the command, and is showing a little progress, but this has been over the course of at least a month or better.

As far as grooming goes, I have NEVER had a dog as easy as Zippy is to groom, brush teeth, or clean ears. She is so well behaved for this. She listens and doesn't act up.

So, has anyone had any experience, or does anyone have suggestions for working with short attention spans like this.
:smilie_tischkante:


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

All dogs are driven in different ways. Training is never a one-size-fits-all. We have to take each dog as an individual and work from there. 

1. Find more rewarding treats. You need to experiment and find things she goes CRAZY for. Hot dog, natural balance roll cut up, Merrick sausage cut up, home made liver treats, chicken, cheese, etc. 

2. Make your training sessions shorter but more frequent. Set out 20 treats. Work for those 20 treats in the fastest time period you can. Repeat 3 times per day. 

3. Work on attention. Teach a watch me. This simply means she makes eye contact with you. You start with just getting a glance. Slowly, you hold her watch an extra second before giving her treat. Increase the time. She's getting rewarded for looking at you and being engaged with you. This is a great way to grab her when she's otherwise too busy. 

4. Put her potty times on a schedule. She will get use to going at certain times and her body will adjust to this new clock. It will help her go when you want her to. Don't forget the cookies! Now that she's older and knows outdoors is for potty, we can change the criteria of our cookies. If she hurries and potties its a cookie. If she takes her time, just a calm verbal praise. Only fast potty gets a cookie. 

5. Teach her a behavior you want as the cue to go out. Many people use a bell hanging from or by the door you go out. To start, you ring it each time before you go out and tell her its time to go out and potty. After a few times, bring a cookie and lure her to hit the bell with her face or paw before you go out the door every time. She'll come to associate the bell with going out. And if she isn't asking in her old way because you put her on a schedule, this will be more affective. 

6. Teach her some fast behaviors. Teach her to run to a plastic lid for a treat and return to you. Teach her to retrieve an object for you. Play 100 things to do with a box. Get more interactive instead of regular stationary games. Soda LOVES to heel and I taught him off leash - very fast paced with lots of fast cookies for a very short session. 

7. A tired dog is a good dog. For more sedate behaviors, take her for a long walk and play fetch before the session. She'll be more inclined to hang out. Keep it short. 

Good luck!


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

> 7. A tired dog is a good dog. For more sedate behaviors, take her for a long walk and play fetch before the session. She'll be more inclined to hang out. Keep it short.[/B]


This is key for training sessions with Jett. He has so much energy and it's hard for him to stay focused. It was hard for me to figure this out when I first got him because he is so different then Zoe. I bet if you get him worn out before training, it will be much easier to keep his attention.


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## Kutsmail1 (Dec 26, 2007)

Thanks to both of you. I am glad to get a fresh start! I honestly do realize that they are all different to train and respond to different things. I have just never had one with such a short attention span before! What really throws me off is how good she is to groom, but can't seem to be still at other times. lol

Thanks again!


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## Tina (Aug 6, 2006)

Most Maltese love to be touched. Grooming is like preening. Mom's do it to them until about 6 weeks old and then mom wants to wean them. Thats when they start coming to me for attention. Some Maltese don't "grow up" until around 2 years old. She sounds like a lot of fun.

Tina


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## Kutsmail1 (Dec 26, 2007)

> Most Maltese love to be touched. Grooming is like preening. Mom's do it to them until about 6 weeks old and then mom wants to wean them. Thats when they start coming to me for attention. Some Maltese don't "grow up" until around 2 years old. She sounds like a lot of fun.
> 
> Tina[/B]


Oh she is a lot of fun. It is hard to keep your hands off her. Everything is an adventure for her lol.
Thanks again for the insight.


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

I tend to think that the spunky ones are the extra smart ones 

Therefore, I wholeheartedly agree with the exercise & stimulation--sounds like she really NEEDS it. I'd recommend walking her at least 30-45 min per day--tire her out, and the walk is also very mind-stimulating. When you'get back she'll be nice and calm to focus better.

Also agree w/ the bell training. Hang them on whatever door you go in and out of for pottying. Just hearing them alone she will associate going in and out. You can put a dab of peanut butter on them to lure her and when she rings it, even if by accident, immediately take her out potty EVERY time she rings. Soon she'll associate ringing with going out. Ollie picked this up in about 3 days. My other malt, Cam, was from a puppymill and he'd tackle me every time he had to go--training him to learn a que took longer.

Our yard is fenced and Ollie has a doggie door--he's trained to the point where he rings, I open the door, he goes out potty, and comes right back in! I love it because he's easily distracted as well and when I'd have to take him out on the leash he'd take a while to go. Now that I'm not out there to humor him he does his business and comes right back in. (if you train her to do this, just keep a close eye on her--letting him be this independant took quite a while, also) btw, Ollie is 17 mos old. Good luck!!


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## jazak (Feb 12, 2008)

> Also agree w/ the bell training. Hang them on whatever door you go in and out of for pottying. Just hearing them alone she will associate going in and out. You can put a dab of peanut butter on them to lure her and when she rings it, even if by accident, immediately take her out potty EVERY time she rings. Soon she'll associate ringing with going out. Ollie picked this up in about 3 days. My other malt, Cam, was from a puppymill and he'd tackle me every time he had to go--training him to learn a que took longer.[/B]


I love the bell idea!!! Max is still learning, but I have learned to recognize his behavior when he is about to potty, especially in the house. Thing is nobody else in the house has, I think this will help get their attention!! Do you put the bell where it rings every time the door opens or just where he can reach to let us know he wants out. My only other concern is that Max would rather spend all day outside, I wonder if he will learn to ring it all the time just so he can go outside and play.


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

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Oh yes, Ollie also rings when he wants to go out and play and when his food dish is empty! LOL! As they get older and into a routine, you'll know if he's ringing to eat/play or to really potty. Ollie has very set times for when he has to go for real. Do a google search for "poochie bells"--these are the bells we use. They hang on a long cord. I believe the website also has training instructions. You can easliy make some too (or even use those long strips w/ sleigh bells that folks hang at Christmas, etc.). I liked the look and durability of the poochie bells. Good luck!!


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## Kutsmail1 (Dec 26, 2007)

Thanks for the info on the poochie bells. Will look for those. I thought I already had some bells that I could put on string or something, but I was wrong. Tomorrow tho, will find something strong enough that she can't pull it down and choke on anything until I can get the poochie bells.


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## Kutsmail1 (Dec 26, 2007)

> All dogs are driven in different ways. Training is never a one-size-fits-all. We have to take each dog as an individual and work from there.
> 
> 1. Find more rewarding treats. You need to experiment and find things she goes CRAZY for. Hot dog, natural balance roll cut up, Merrick sausage cut up, home made liver treats, chicken, cheese, etc.
> 
> ...


The first thing I did was to copy this training protocol and send a copy to both my husband and my daughter. These 2 culprits are the reason Zippy is having to be retrained.

Most of these we were actually already doing. Zippy is on a regular feeding and potty schedule. We play fetch with her and she loves it, BUT we have always shied away from food as a reward. We have always used verbal or physical praise depending on the dog. She loves her toys more than life, so we are starting with giving a toy when she responds to what we want. If she doesn't respond the way we want to this, we will go to cookies which I have ready.

She watched me pick all her toys up and put them in a big basket thinking we were about to play big time. When I put them in a room where she could no longer have access to them, she just looked at me as tho I had betrayed her. This was the hardest part so far. She has gone from room to room searching for a toy.

We had the verbal outside cue, but will be using the bells as soon as possible.

"Watch me" is going to take a bit. You know how hilarious and charming they can be. It is hard to be tough sometimes, but we will make it work.

Anyhow, this is only the beginning. Will update as we make progress, but thanks again.


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