Page 12 - Online Spring 2022 Newsletter

Training your Keeshond - an overview

By Sue Lindsay and the Mezanda Keeshonds

We have such a special and intelligent
breed but far too many times on
social media you see Keeshonds
being labelled as stubborn, which
they are not. What they are is clever,
manipulative and excellent people
trainers and it is this that makes
training with them so much fun and
very rewarding. To make progress
we need to work out what ticks their
box and ask ourselves why should
they want to learn, is it fun and Granny Mali touch and step with
rewarding for them? If it is, then baby Tala
from their point of view it is well Hamley will stop and ask to play if he
worth doing again. sees something that fits the touch
game such as a tree stump. Timing
By using play
to establish the is of course important, especially in
basics, your dog the early stages as you have to
will want to reward the action you want in an
engage with you instant, not after your dog has moved
and will be less on. I often teach clicker training to
help with timing with new owners as
distracted by
whatever else is it does help BUT it does mean you
happening need to pre-teach your dog by pairing
around them. the click with a reward first, (food
As a breed they treats normally work well with our
seem to love breed). The Keeshond's ability to
using their paws train can often lead to behaviours we
and standing on don’t want and we can often phase
whatever they those out by making them non-
can, so using rewarding. To give an example, my
this I teach Disney is an excellent pick pocket and
them to touch can remove a treat bag in an instant.
on a command Stopping this is management, not
Mali playing touch by pairing the having treats in pockets, which
means it’s not worth his while as
action with the
word and then progressing to there is no reward to be had. I do
standing on a short stool where they know of breed individuals that have
taught themselves to open fridges
will do a short wait and watch.
and owners having to resort to child
Without trying you have taught watch locks; they are a resourceful lot!
me, follow and wait and very soon a Which also means use your food
send away. When out walking, my rewards wisely and try not to overdo
otherwise that is all they will work for
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