Obedience Training (no, that's not an HR metaphor)

Disclaimer: This post will have nothing to do with HR. At least it has to do with something, which is better than I can say for the non-posts of the last 6 weeks...

I've been thinking lately about dog training. I have two dogs, both who are fairly well behaved, and small enough that they're pretty easy to control when they're not. They're both rescues, so we didn't have a chance to shape their behaviour from day one, which probably would have made training a little easier. Their personalities couldn't be more different.

Molly, a beagle/blue-tick hound mix, is timid, slow to adapt to new things, and all nose. Toys hold no interest for her unless they are ultimately edible. If you throw a ball for this dog, she'll look at you as if to say, "Now, why did you do that? If you want it so bad, you go get it." And then she's go back to sleep. BUT, if it has an aroma, pleasant or not, she's interested. Actually, not just interested, but completely and totally mesmerized. She has a one-track mind when it comes to food, and if there is food in the vicinity, good luck getting her to do anything but watch it. It took the better part of a year before we convinced her that she really, honestly wasn't getting anything from our plates at the table. This means she's unbelievably easy to train, and everything we've trained her to do using food, she does beautifully. It also means if I'm training one dog, I'm training both, because there's no way Molly is going to miss a morsel if it's being offered.

Ella, on the other hand, is energetic, playful, and could probably completely lose her sense of smell and never miss it. She's a lab/border collie mix, so she's usually smarter than I want her to be. She gets what you're asking for very quickly, but her attention span is comically low. Even when playing with her absolute favorite toys ever, we usually only get about 10-15 minutes of play. Then she's off to the next big thing. She's just as happy to get praise and love for a reward, but food is nice too. She's younger, and bigger, than Molly, and her energy means she has more trouble with basic manners (jumping up, barking, etc).

Needless to say, training in my house can be a challenge. Is it better to separate them (put one outside while I train inside or vice versa) or to try and train them together? We've had several rules that have been in place for at least 6 months, if not more like a year, and they still don't do it without being told. One example is the "go outside" routine: they must both sit, far enough back from the door for me to get it open, and wait for me to give the release for them to go out. We do this every day, several times a day. Every time, I have to tell them to get back from the door, about half the time I have to tell them to sit, and about 2/3 of time, I have to stop and restart because one of them releases themselves from the sit/wait before I release them. It seems like they would have caught on by now that I'm not going to change the rules. But we fight every time. And Ella still jumps up on people when they come through the door. She rarely does it to us, but visitors get it all the time. Molly's started to get selective hearing on "come." That used to be her best command.

I've come to the conclusion that I haven't trained them as well as I thought I had. Apparently I've allowed the bad habits and not replaced them with good habits, so I'm looking for new methods. We were very successful training Molly with treats and praise when she was the only dog we had. She's so mellow, she really only needed the basics (sit, come, lie down) to be well-mannered. Ella responds to the treats when we have them, and gets the "trick" in one or two repetitions, but once the food goes away, the commands are hit or miss with her. I'm tired of being frustrated with her. Here are the big things that we want to do:

- go outside calmly, without the mania we have now
- sit on command, every single time
- not jump on visitors
- leave us alone when we request it ("go lay down")
- no barking at the mailman/neighbors/dogs on the street

I'd love for them to do tricks, etc, too. It'd be fun for all of us, and give them some mental stimulation. But first, the basics! Tell me what's worked for you - I'm open to all suggestions!