He's taught dogs to drive cars and fly planes, but if you just want your new pup to sit and wait, animal behaviourist Mark Vette can help with that too.
Along with 10-week-old kelpie pup Master, a doggie double for the Australian film Red Dog: True Blue, Mr Vette came into the Newshub office to teach us the basics of getting a pup performing perfectly.
And keep in mind, he'd only had one training session with Master the night before.
His method involves click training and food rewards, which he says is most effective in the two- to four-month age range.
"The most important thing about puppies in this age, is this is the time where almost all of their behaviour they're going to develop into adulthood happens."
He says it's also the best time to introduce them to other animals around your property, including cats, chickens, sheep and other pets, as well as other people.
Here are four important behaviours you can teach your puppy.
Sit
- Use a clicker when the dog's bottom touches the ground.
- Reward with treats.
Down
- Lure the dog down to the ground using a treat.
- When the dog lies down, use the clicker when their chest touches the ground.
- Reward the behaviour.
Wait
- Give the dog a hand command to wait.
- Walk a short distance away.
- Click and reward the dog when you return.
- Over time, increase the distance that you walk away.
Follow
- Initially, lure the dog with treats so it follows where you go.
- Walk them beside you.
- Click and reward the dog when they follow you.
Snacks
In terms of training snacks, Mr Vette uses small pieces of dog roll or chicken or other "high-value" foods they like.
He recommends training for 10-minutes, three or four times a day at the start - but as much as you can do, the better.
However, it's not just in the training sessions where your pup is learning behaviours.
"If you go out the door and the dog rushes ahead of you, you've just rewarded him for that. The same with barking - if he's barking at the door and you let him in, you're rewarding that behaviour.
"Make sure you're rewarding the behaviour you want, not the ones you don't. You're shaping his behaviour all the time."
He says you should never use your hand forcefully to correct a dog otherwise they'll become "hand shy".
Mr Vette's used similar training for dogs in a number of films, most recently in Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Red Dog: True Blue, about a boy who makes friends with a dog, which opens in New Zealand on January 1.
Newshub.
