During the adolescence stage of your dog, though he knows obedience commands, there is no “magic manners” button to push for results. When you want your dog to do something, pick up the leash and give him a formal direction like you would in a training session. This is a very successful way to communicate a need and direction to your dog. It is also faster than waiting for the magic remote control to appear.
(Check out Secret to Effective Dog Training)
Don’t expect that once you’ve picked up the leash a few times in real life that your dog will automatically know what to do by himself. It takes many months of using your dog’s skills in public to fully create good manners in your dog. Once you’ve taught the skills, keep using them in real life until your dog does it by himself. It can take a few months to develop some behaviors.
Obedience training problems!
All of the skills that are taught at the onset of each stage may take the completion of that stage or moving on to the next stage to fully set as behaviors. Keeping a working knowledge of just how long it takes to build behaviors will make you a more patient teacher and owner. Create a road map of “stage-appropriate skills” for your dog’s journey through the stages.
