Murray Training
Do you want to train or are you going to educate your Murray?
There are many different styles of training that you can do with your dog, and while most of them are not wrong, the method recommended by the Association Registrar, Ken Jelbart, is to educate rather than train, so the dog learns to make good decisions without always being told what to do or not to do by you, the owner.
Ken has been training dogs his whole life and as well as always having had a Murray as a companion dog he also breeds, trains and trials working dogs competetively at the highest level. If you ever get the chance to chat with Ken be sure to ask him about the 36 party tricks he taught his first Murray.
Types of Training
Training styles that are based on gentle methods can are often be confused as there are a few subtleties involved.
- Reward based training – once the dog does the correct thing mark the behaviour, then give the reward
- Reward Luring – using a reward in hand to get the dog to do what you want it to do. All direction comes from the owner. The shortcoming in this method is when the a distraction is more inviting than the reward, the control can disappear, because the dog hasn’t learnt self-discipline.
You may need to read that again to be clear on the difference. It is explained well in the introduction video on the public training page. If you missed that we recommend that you start with that video and watch it a few times before starting to work with your dog. We have included this content below in the Start Here tab.
If you have already watched the publicly provided video, head to the Start Here tab below and watch the Clicker Training video. Clicker training is used throughout all of the training videos.
Once you have watched both of the videos in the Start Here tab a couple of times through, browse through the other tabs and see what skills you would like to work on. The other videos do not have to be done in any particular order and most of them are only around 5 – 10 minutes each. We still recommend watching them a few times over so you can be clear with your indications to your dog to get the desired outcome.
Learning the Basics
The video below is by Chet Womac of TheDogTrainingSecret.com
He talks about the philosophy and benefits of training a dog so that it can make its own decisions.
We recommend that you watch this video through a few times focussing on the philosophy underlying the training method before trying it out on your dog.
Clicker Training
Being able to give your dog a clear signal at the exact moment it has done the correct behaviour is imperative to good training. Setup correctly it gives you time to provide a treat or reward while still marking the correct behaviour. The following video introduces how to use a clicker.
Take note of his comment in the video, “It is not always the bird”
To train your dog, first train yourself.
The first series of videos covers the basic training that every dog needs to learn to be well mannered in your home and community.
- Leave It
- Coming when Called
- Sit and Stay
- Toilet (Potty) Training
Whilst these videos focus on puppies, the skills can be worked with no matter what you dog’s age. Remember that the videos are training you, so you can direct your dog correctly for the desired outcome. When you train your dog you are just confirming for them the best way to react in each situation.
If you have an older dog with some behavioural difficulties or just a niggling issue of chasing the birds instead of coming back to you at the park, then going back to the beginning may be more useful than trying to just focus on the problem that you see. There are often other minor obedience issues that magically correct themselves along the way.
Leave It
Coming When Called
This video also covers introducing crate training.
Sit and Stay
Toilet (Potty) Training
Some problems that you may experience with puppies and young dogs are
- Stop Begging
- Distraction Proofing
- Nipping and Biting
- Jumping and Overexcitement
Stop Begging
Distraction Proofing
Nipping and Biting
Jumping and Overexcitement
If you have any difficulties or results that you cannot figure out why they are happening, send us a message via Contact Us
If you have made it this far, you must be making great progress with your dog. The next series of videos add to those in the previous sections
- Capturing, Luring and Shaping
- Drop It
- Leash manners
- Earning Attention – Dog Confidence (including training for gunshots)
- Meeting Energy Demands
Capturing, Luring and Shaping
Drop It
Leash Manners
Earning Attention – Dog Confidence (including training for gunshots)
Meeting Energy Demands
Coming Soon
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None of the video content in the members area should be downloaded or shared with others. The Association paid for the subscription to this material and offers it in good faith that it will only be used by members.