# impulse control- what age do they start to develop this?



## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

Hi everyone! Our puppy, Bash is 13 weeks old now, and while I know he is still just a baby now, I was wondering what age they start to develop impulse control. Thanks in advance!


----------



## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Depends on the impulse 

We started to see a big difference after he was one and a half.


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Teach it to him. 

Start by teaching him to relax in situations.


----------



## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

Jax08, We are working on "wait" when he's playing with toys, and that is going well. Sunflowers, I'm specifically wondering when he'll be able to control the impulse to just jump on our other dog's head. We want them to play, but he's a little much for Roxy at this point! Any suggestions on ways to teach him not to do this all the time?


----------



## Lykoz (Dec 6, 2014)

GypsyGhost said:


> Hi everyone! Our puppy, Bash is 13 weeks old now, and while I know he is still just a baby now, I was wondering what age they start to develop impulse control. Thanks in advance!


I start Impulse control training from the moment my puppy enters my house...

I expect my dogs to wait and sit before their food bowl touches the floor, and not to go to the food bowl until they are told to eat...

For me this is a non-negotiable behaviour... 

They usually get it after a day or two... I might spend a lot of time the first few days in getting this right... Upto half an hour each time I feed them... But they quickly learn that if they just sit and wait... They eat sooner...

I have never had a food aggressive dog... And I believe this is in part one of the reasons.

They understand I give them their bowl... And its not theirs until I say... They understand that if I come near the food bowl it's always positive... I.e. throw in a piece of really good chicken...

I dont take their food bowl away or harass them when they are eating once I say eat...


----------



## tcass (Sep 26, 2014)

heck, i have a hard time just working on my impulse control......the dog does pretty good at 7 months....however he does have his moments but thats to be expected.


----------



## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

Lykoz- We do make him sit and wait for his food. He is extremely food motivated, so it was easy to teach him that if he sits nicely, he gets his food. Is there a way to translate that into him leaving our other dog alone?


----------



## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Jax08 said:


> Teach it to him.
> 
> Start by teaching him to relax in situations.


^This. Some dogs have more trouble with impulse control than others because of differences in temperament, but I'd never expect my dogs to suddenly develop it without working on it in training.


----------



## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

Cassidy's Mom, do you have any advice on how to teach him to relax?


----------



## ksotto333 (Aug 3, 2011)

My dogs are full sisters separated by three years. My young one is (10 months) obeys well, but even now it's harder for her to do it. Tessa was much more laid back from day one, and easier to rely on to do the right thing. Della will sit, but talks, moans, wiggles until released. And when I come home from work her brain leaves her body for a little while...


----------



## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

GypsyGhost said:


> Sunflowers, I'm specifically wondering when he'll be able to control the impulse to just jump on our other dog's head.


I wouldn't consider that an impulse control issue. To me, that's more about learning to play nice, and that's something I'd expect to work on too.

While I do all my training separately, one dog at a time with the other dog put away, I also work with both of them together in a more informal way - having them both do sits or downs together for treats, or reinforcing eye contact, and impulse control when I'm giving them a bully stick (sit and watch with the chewy in front of their faces until I release them to take it), that sort of thing. Also, when Keefer was a puppy I'd break up his and Dena's playing frequently and have them do some quick OB stuff, and I did the same thing with Keef and Halo when she was a puppy. 

I want them to be able to stop what they're doing immediately, no matter how much fun they're having together, and redirect attention to me. If they didn't, they'd get a brief timeout in their crates, a little cool off period. That way, if I saw things start to escalate to the point where one dog wasn't having quite as much fun as the other, I could nip it in the bud before it started getting serious.


----------



## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

GypsyGhost said:


> Lykoz- We do make him sit and wait for his food. He is extremely food motivated, so it was easy to teach him that if he sits nicely, he gets his food. Is there a way to translate that into him leaving our other dog alone?


I make both of mine lay down. I teach them a place command where I direct them to a spot and tell them to settle. I don't try to single one out for it, its both of them. I never noticed anything else carrying over, like food bowls or anything. Its always seemed like it needs to be specific to the dogs contact with each other, when its ok and when its not.


----------



## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

Thank you to everyone... these are all great ideas that we will start working on. We've never had a puppy before (we rescued our other dog when she was around 3), and I just didn't know if he was too young to start working on all of this. Doesn't sound like it, so we'll amp up this type of training immediately!

Cassidy's Mom- Thanks for the advice. I couldn't quite decide if this was an impulse control issue or not. It seemed like it might be, because he LOSES HIS MIND when he sees our other dog. Everything goes out the window... he only has eyes for Roxy. We will definitely try to redirect his attention to us, then crate if he won't.


----------



## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

GypsyGhost said:


> Cassidy's Mom, do you have any advice on how to teach him to relax?


At 13 weeks old he doesn't have much of an attention span so keep training sessions very brief, but you can still start by reinforcing calm behavior and anything else you want to encourage. When Halo was a puppy I marked ("yes!" or with a clicker) when she laid down on the floor (later to be named "down", but uncued in the beginning), when she offered me eye contact (later to be named "watch"), when she came towards me (the start of a recall), etc.

I started mat work when she was 5 months old, (no reason you couldn't start this sooner, that's just when we covered it in a class), and in one 10 minute session I was able to get her to go to a mat and lay down on it. I rewarded her in place, released her off it, then sent her again. She liked this game so much that sometimes I couldn't get her to leave the mat when I released her! :wild: Here she is in that first session, on her mat in the kitchen:










One of the other things I did was to reinforce her for laying her head down like in the photo. I call it "calm", but you could name it anything you like - chill, relax. This book has lots of great exercises for training calm behavior: Chill Out Fido!: How to Calm Your Dog (Dogwise Training Manual): Nan Kene Arthur: 9781929242634: Amazon.com: Books

And lastly, the It's Yer Choice is great for impulse control. I did this with part of Halo's lunch kibble for the first month or so. It's basically a default "leave it", also uncued, where the dog learns that by leaving something alone you'll give it to him. I added eye contact, which made it a default "watch" as well. 






By working with her every day, she was able to do this in her second week of puppy class at 14 weeks old: 

A down and calm, off leash in a room full of people and other puppies










A down with eye contact and a treat on the floor in front of her










And with treats in my hands


----------



## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

Looking at her calmly on that mat, then seeing how she can explode over hurdles and hit that box with all those other dogs, pretty good directions for what you'd want to work towards GG.


----------



## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Steve Strom said:


> Looking at her calmly on that mat, then seeing how she can explode over hurdles and hit that box with all those other dogs, pretty good directions for what you'd want to work towards GG.


 Thanks Steve! And hearing her scream with excitement when we go into the flyball ring while I hang onto her for dear life.... :laugh:


----------



## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

Cassidy's Mom- Thank you so much for all of your advice! I am definitely going to start doing the It's Yer Choice stuff tomorrow morning (Bash has already put himself to bed for the night). I'll report back with an update on how things are progressing!


----------



## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

Oh, I should also mention that Bash starts obedience classes in February, and our other dog, Roxy, has been through extensive training as well (itraining was just different with her as she was not a puppy when we got her).


----------



## glowingtoadfly (Feb 28, 2014)

Skadi is looking forward to her walk with Bash!


----------



## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

Emily, Bash can't wait!


----------



## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Sunflowers said:


> Depends on the impulse
> 
> We started to see a big difference after he was one and a half.


Yep! The younger the dog, the lower the level of distractions.

A 13 week old could sit-stay while a leaf blows by but a one year old should be able to sit - stay when a stranger calls him/her.


----------



## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

Ok, here's an update. After one day of doing It's Yer Choice and working on reinforcing "calm", things are already going better with our other dog. When he starts to bother Roxy too much, we call him over and work on It's Yer Choice. We can already put treats on his paws and he leaves them! We started working on it with Roxy, too. More impulse control is never a bad thing, right? Thanks again for the suggestions, Cassidy's Mom! And thanks everone else that has chimed in. This is our first GSD, as well as our first puppy, so we're flying blind here!


----------



## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

wolfy dog, we're still working on ignoring a blowing leaf while in a sit-stay. Bash sees things and then he has an "Ooooh shiny" moment. We'll get there!


----------



## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

GypsyGhost said:


> wolfy dog, we're still working on ignoring a blowing leaf while in a sit-stay. Bash sees things and then he has an "Ooooh shiny" moment. We'll get there!


LOL. Stay right next to him to make it easier on both of you = success


----------



## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

wolfy dog, I do try to stay next to him, and he mostly stays put. He definitely has moments where all concentration goes out the window! We'll just keep working on it! I can't wait until he starts obedience class. While he is already doing really well with things, I think the distractions that a class full of puppies is going to offer is going to help him focus even more.


----------



## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Yay, good job! :happyboogie:


----------

