Training two dogs

[VanillaBean]

Am thinking back on how we trained Vanilla, and we are doing things the same for Honey, apart from trying not to repeat the mistakes we did with Vanilla in the early days.
Now I know that you have/should train your dogs separately, which for certain things is easy. You can take them out into the garden or into a different room, given that we can't take Honey out anywhere yet. So for all things of just rewarding for the behavior and then adding cues is fairly simple.
But my main question is around training with a whistle. Vanilla is trained for recall on the whistle and we have started the Stop whistle. Now thinking back to when we did it with Vanilla, how to those that use a whistle and have a second dog did you do it with your first dog still in the house? We used to use the whistle when Vanilla used to run towards us and then started to work through the 'Total recall' book. I am thinking of using the same pip's for recall as I am think that would be easier or do I use separate one?

 

[kateincornwall]

When I was training Millie ( the terrier we had before Nelly ) I used the same whistle , same cues , same visuals as I did for Sam , otherwise it would get terribly confusing ! Nelly is very hard of hearing but does hear a whistle , so again I use the same pips for Reuben , good luck x

 

[Leanne]

When it came to recall (as Leo was already trained) I just did it at the same time - so Leo would run back and Mas would follow him.. in a short space of time Mas cottoned on to it independently.

I also used it to reinforce the stay and wait with Leo - so Leo would be in a stay and would use a verbal call to Mas.

 

[MellowYellow]

I agree with Kate and Leanne - same whistle and same recall cues. (I do use different cues for retrieving, but that's a different story).

And Leanne is right - teaching the recall is much easier with a second dog - assuming the first has a good recall!! You call the older dog back and the puppy automatically follows.

Another trick I used was combining the whistle with feeding. Every time I put the food bowl down I would blow the recall whistle, both dogs learned very fast that the recall meant something wonderful was about to happen!

 

[VanillaBean]

Thanks I did want to try and use same recall cue, otherwise I can imagine calling one but actually wanting to call the other.
If I do it in the house and train through all distractions, clearly Vanilla is going to come too even if I am aiming at Honey ie: Honey heading towards me I blow whistle Vanilla will appear no matter where she is. So will need to reward both all the time, right?

Out and about seperate once I feel that Honey can be trusted

I will.have to work out how to deal with the retrieving part, as are working our way through books with Vanilla currently. But am thinking might stick with same

 

[Boogie]

I do all my training in the house with both together - it works really well, Tatze loves showing the puppy how it’s done. Out and about all their training is separate.

 

[snowbunny]

So will need to reward both all the time, right?

Yep, all my dogs come when I blow my whistle, and they all get reinforced for doing so. It would be really bothersome if I had to blow a different recall cue for each dog in an emergency situation

With my whistle cues, if I have multiple dogs with me I expect them all to respond, unless I have one of them with me and the other one out at a distance. For example, if I had a dog sat at heel while the other was doing whatever elsewhere, I would recall that one but my other wouldn't move out of their sit.

 

[VanillaBean]

Sweet, nice and easy and I am sure Vanilla will think all her Christmases have come at once...