Hi ive had puppies before from 8 weeks and training has gone good . This time i have taken a rescue labrador at 5 mths old . She is house trained , and she cant sit on command but gets up straight away , she has no other training , just wanted to know 2 things , she sleeps in a crate at night do i need to put water in with her , he previous owners didnt but is all night too long to go without water , also is recall training the same as if she were a small puppy as she has never been let off lead and both my other dogs were , not sure if at 5 mths this is still possible to train
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General training of a 5 mth puppy
- Thread starter Tinaf197
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Yes, you can train a dog at any age 
With the sit - what has probably happened is that the previous owners may have trained her, inadvertently, to sit and get up in order to get a treat. You see it lots of times. The dog is told to sit, the treat is held an inch or so away from the nose and the dog gets up in order to get it! The dog thinks that is what is required and so does it every time. You can work on it by holding a treat right on her nose while she sits and then release it after a second or two in the sit position. Gradually stretch out the seconds until she sits for slightly longer each time. Once she seems to have grasped that then you can start to move the treat away from her nose for a second or two while she remains sitting and then give it to her quickly before she gets up. Gradually move the treat further from her until she will wait for it while remaining sitting.
Recall can be taught at any age. The dog just has to learn that fantastic rewards are available if you respond to the recall. Choose your word or, better still, use a whistle and then use it around the house and garden to call her for a fantastic treat. Never call a dog to chastise it. The dog should associate coming to call as a positive experience. Once all is going well, around the house and garden, then move to a safe environment away from home and use a long line that you can stand on if the dog does not come when called. Move away from the dog when you call her and be fun and friendly when you call her. Never let your voice be angry or frustrated. At first use fantastic treats and give about five, one after the other as soon as she gets to you. Do not ask for a sit or any other position. Just feed lots of lovely treats and give lots of cuddles. The harder it is for the dog to come back, perhaps from another dog or an interesting smell, the better the reward should be. Once recall is well established you can drop some of the treats off for easy recalls and save them for the difficult ones for the dog to do.
Mix up recalls so that you don't call her just to put the lead on. They soon cotton on that a recall means the end of their fun. It should be practised all through the walk so that she can be released to run around again.
With the sit - what has probably happened is that the previous owners may have trained her, inadvertently, to sit and get up in order to get a treat. You see it lots of times. The dog is told to sit, the treat is held an inch or so away from the nose and the dog gets up in order to get it! The dog thinks that is what is required and so does it every time. You can work on it by holding a treat right on her nose while she sits and then release it after a second or two in the sit position. Gradually stretch out the seconds until she sits for slightly longer each time. Once she seems to have grasped that then you can start to move the treat away from her nose for a second or two while she remains sitting and then give it to her quickly before she gets up. Gradually move the treat further from her until she will wait for it while remaining sitting.
Recall can be taught at any age. The dog just has to learn that fantastic rewards are available if you respond to the recall. Choose your word or, better still, use a whistle and then use it around the house and garden to call her for a fantastic treat. Never call a dog to chastise it. The dog should associate coming to call as a positive experience. Once all is going well, around the house and garden, then move to a safe environment away from home and use a long line that you can stand on if the dog does not come when called. Move away from the dog when you call her and be fun and friendly when you call her. Never let your voice be angry or frustrated. At first use fantastic treats and give about five, one after the other as soon as she gets to you. Do not ask for a sit or any other position. Just feed lots of lovely treats and give lots of cuddles. The harder it is for the dog to come back, perhaps from another dog or an interesting smell, the better the reward should be. Once recall is well established you can drop some of the treats off for easy recalls and save them for the difficult ones for the dog to do.
Mix up recalls so that you don't call her just to put the lead on. They soon cotton on that a recall means the end of their fun. It should be practised all through the walk so that she can be released to run around again.
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