# To watch something / someone



## grantK9 (Nov 9, 2007)

Want to teach my 5 month old to watch something or someone specifically. Didn't really have to teach my last dog it came naturally. Even though Alex is alert and will watch something, he isn't connecting what he is doing with the reinforcement of watch him.


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## dOg (Jan 23, 2006)

It will come naturally for this one too...but @ 5 months, you are perhaps a bit impatient.


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## Maraccz (Sep 3, 2005)

He is just a baby.


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## george1990 (Nov 24, 2008)

Honestly, it doesn't matter his age. You can teach a 5 month old to watch something. 

Also, even though being protective is natural, I don't think it is inherent that the dog is selectively protective of what you specifically want them to watch.


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## grantK9 (Nov 9, 2007)

He is just starting his protection work. I spent all of my early time with him socializing him and forgot to play enought tug. He seems to be taking to playing with the bite tug, but isn't quite catching the hold on part. However he doesn't have problems holding on when playing with his big sister so I think that will be ok as well. Having two at the same time is a lot of work but it is great. He is really enjoying this first Christmas.


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

My almost 8 month old is like that at tug of war.She wants nothing to do with tugging with us but she tugs like heck with her 30 lbs big sister. Is there anything you can do to get her interested? My hubby is convinced she won't protect us when she get older if we need it.He wants to get her into some protection program but I can't find anything around here.


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## colthedol (Aug 15, 2008)

i am wondering how does playing tug help a dog become protective. I play it with maxx often,,he almost 8months..but i am not sure that isee any protectiveness there?
col2258


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

> Quote:I am wondering how does playing tug help a dog become protective.


My understanding (and my dog) doesn't have a coorelation between our dogs tugging and becoming more protective.

Instead the tugging is a bonding and training method used to help motivate our dogs when we train them. 

One of the many many reason going to a great trainer and classes help with so many aspects of training.

Here's some info about tugging and training:

http://www.thedogathlete.com/playing-with-prey-drive/

http://siriusdog.com/articles/prey-drive-schutzhund-promotion-winkler1.htm

http://www.clickerdogs.com/createamotivatingtoy.htm

http://www.beardieagilitydiehards.org/BADagility/foodsock.html

http://clickertraining.tv/product.html?item=FREE-28


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## MrLeadFoot (Jan 4, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: Art GWant to teach my 5 month old to watch something or someone specifically. Didn't really have to teach my last dog it came naturally. Even though Alex is alert and will watch something, he isn't connecting what he is doing with the reinforcement of watch him.


If you're talking about watching in connection with protection training, this is very easily accomplished, however, you absolutely must have the dog good on obedience first, and the dog must be a confident dog. You should also teach the dog a "stop" command prior to teaching it to watch something.

And, although 5 months is not too young to train this, I must warn you that once you train this "watch", the dog will forever be changed. In fact, this command alone can actually switch the dog from a happy-go-lucky puppy to a more mature dog capable of serious contemplation, and therefore, you must be willing to be "on top" of the dog from this point forward.

If your desire of a watch command is indeed what I've described, know that this can be accomplished in 5 minutes or less quite easily, and because it will trigger the dog's natural instincts, it will be very difficult to "untrain" later (ask me how I know), so you must be absolutely sure of what your aim is for the dog and its future.

With that said, I highly advise that you think this through very carefully, and consider all kinds of circumstances in which the dog could mistakenly go "on guard". For example, what if the dog goes "on guard" at the mall during a children's puppet show? This is why the dog must have a strong foundation of obedience. 

This is important to consider: If the dog is not a confident dog and/or you do not have a solid foundation of obedience, you're going to have a real problem on your hands after the 5 minutes it takes to train a "watch" command.


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