Some questions

[Speedy]

Hi again,

I have three questions ;

1-After down-stay do you recall or do you go next to him to release?

2-We have garden full of flowers and i don't want him to get in that part of the garden.Do you have any training tips for this kind of stiuation?

3-When he is off leash he is looking like saying ,if i come you'll put that damn leash again.and he won't come
Any advice?

Thanks

[Rott-Wiley]

1 -- I never do a recall from a down-stay until the dog has got a C.D. title. I don't know if that applies to your training goals or not.

2 -- Walk him next to the flowers and when he looks over at them tell him NO and pull him away.

3 -- It is way too soon to take the leash off, you are teaching him to be leash wise and making the problem worse.

[K-9Girl]

1. After a down-stay go back to your dog before you release it. While it is in the down-stay position give a small amount of positive reinforcement (give a treat or a pet on the head). Once you walk out of a down-stay stop with all praise. If you praise after the down-stay is done, the dog will think that getting up and walking forward is part of the position...and it's not.

2. What Rott-Wiley said.

3. I agree in that he is too young to be off the leash. Don't give a command if you can't reinforce it. Work more on the "come" command up close to the dog and then farther away. Always give treats and praise when the dog comes to you, no matter what. If the dog learns that he gets treats and love when he comes, he will be eager to do so. Also, when you want to practice "come" farther away then what a normal lead will allow you, get a flexi lead.

Good luck :)

Sara

[Luvs]

Originally posted by Rott-Wiley
1 -- I never do a recall from a down-stay until the dog has got a C.D. title. I don't know if that applies to your training goals or not.

2 -- Walk him next to the flowers and when he looks over at them tell him NO and pull him away.

3 -- It is way too soon to take the leash off, you are teaching him to be leash wise and making the problem worse.

I agree with everything Rott-Wiley said.

One additional thing I have to add about catching a loose dog. When you call your dog to you ALWAYS make it a pleasurable experience. If you are out playing with him and it is time to go always walk up to him to catch him. If you call him to you and then put the leash on and take him home he will associate you catching him with ending his fun time. When I take my puppies out to the ballfields to run and play (it's the only large fenced area around I can take them) I NEVER call them to me when it is time to go. I walk up to them put the leash on and we go home. If they decide that letting me walk up to them is no longer fun I take a toy with me and I put the leash on and we play with the toy before we go home. I always try to end on a fun note;)

[spidey]

If you call him to you and then put the leash on and take him home he will associate you catching him with ending his fun time.

This is true, so what I do with Rakki is call him over to me a few times for a treat and a scritch, then tell him "go play" again, so that MOST of the time coming to me means treats and then more fun. I also do this with catching him, I never want him to think that letting me get a hold of him is a bad thing - so I call him (informal call, not formal recall) and catch him just to give him a treat a few times during every off-leash session.

[Carina43]

I do the same as Luvs and Spidey when calling the dogs. If they are offleash, I sometimes carry a few treats with me and intermittently call them, praise & sometimes treat, then tell them go play! - at least while they are learning. I also make a game out of it - call them, then run FAST in the opposite direction! They all think this is a game and come running after me.

Ditto RottWiley on calling from a down-stay.
I know not everyone does the following (but it was taught at some of Cooper's earlier classes.)
The distinction is made between STAY - which means do not move until I return to your side. And WAIT which means wait until I call or release from a distance. I find it doesn't take much time for the dogs to learn the difference. To make it fun, I use WAIT while I "hide" a toy in another room, then release the dog to go find the toy.
When using "stay" from the heel position, I walk away leading off from my right foot (the one furthest from the dog.) Dogs are very good at reading body language, and I notice Cooper glancing at my feet when I give the command, like he's double-checking.

[Speedy]

Thanks all of you.
I think i am doing the down-stay thing wrong and i'm impatient about training.I think i am gonna wait until he's perfect with the leash and then go on...

[azo]

What is C.D title ?

[moondog]

Hi azo,

A CD title stands for Companion Dog and is awarded when a dog can demonstrate the skills needed to be considered a good canine companion.

Here's a link to the getting started page on AKC Obedience that has some helpful info:

http://www.akc.org/dic/events/obedie...ng_started.cfm