a little help

[debbiej]

Hilda and I have been working on some basic training. she learns quickly, she sits and stays, sits and waits for the ok for her food and comes when called. But she is very reluctant to lie down. I think she gets it, and she is not usually obstinate. I have to count to myself to keep from repeating the command. she looks and looks at me then she tries to give her paw and when I don't take it or say anything, she slowly inches down. I give lots of praise and a treat when she finally lies down, but why does she dislike doing it so? she lies down all the time when SHE wants to.

[damp]

You don't say anything about your dog's age and if she really understands the command, but try this...

Turn on your dog’s drive… use food, toy, a ball or what ever she loves and use a happy voice and your body. Play “this is mine…you can’t have it “. When you dogs is in drive… turn the “bait” to the ground very quickly and give your command. As soon as she is down… reward her… give her the food or throw the ball/toy away. and tell her how smart she is.

In this stage it's not about how long she can stay down...but how fast and how fun (even) down can be.


Good luck with your training.

[debbiej]

my sweetie is about 7 mo. I think she gets the command, but maybe not! She acts like its a bad thing to have to do, even tho I praise her a lot. so we'll try making it fun. thanks!

[Rott-Wiley]

You also can try using the food as a "lure" to get her into the down position. Try not to let her move around much because that will cause problems further down the road in training.

Are you working her in a basic obedience class? It would be a real good idea to enroll both you and your dog into one, possibly a local club which is a member club of the AKC. You should be able to find one by going to AKC.org and looking for a club in your area.

[debbiej]

I've checked into classes but they don't start till Feb for one group, March for the other. I really wish there was a class for us to start in sooner. I've taken my other breeds of dogs to ob class and enjoyed it, but it was long enough ago that I don't remember a whole lot. but we are working on thing I do remember, and I'm taking her lots of places all the time. She is a little less hangdog about laying down when I used some little bits of swiss cheese as a treat this evening. she is such a personality!

[misty_blue16137]

Hi debbiej,
I was just wondering what command you are using for the down.And what command do you use when you want her to stop doing something,such as jumping on people,counters,furniture,etc.?If it's the same word she may be just confused.I use "DOWN" when I want Draco to lay down.I use "OFF" if I want him to quit jumping or get off the furniture,etc.If you are using the word "DOWN" or even "GET DOWN" for everything she may think she's being reprimmanded when all you want is for her to lay down not get off and the reluctance may be cause she's unsure of what you mean.Just a thought from personal experience.
Kathy

[debbiej]

Kathy, that's true, and we do use 'off' for off and 'down' for lie down, but your reply made me realize that since we have only had her three weeks, her previous home may have used 'down' when she was in trouble for being up on something...hmm. she is pretty well trained and a little sensitive so that may be it. thanks

[CJW]

We own a 9 month old rott, and she is an alpha, in other words she doesn't have a submissive bone in her body. One of the reasons yours may not want to lie down is because the down position is a submissive position. Our trainer warned us about that, and it took a couple of weeks of working our rott to do it. She still doesn't like it, but she knows that we are the boss and she has to do it. We were also told by our trainer that the use of food as a treat for doing something right is bad because then the dog is doing the command for the treat and not for you. We have found that the pinch collar works best when she is being stubborn about a command.

[debbiej]

she is doing fine with the command now, I think she was confused. she would try offering her paw to shake, I figured someone touched the back of her front leg to get her to do that and I was doing the same thing as I slid her front legs out from beneath her to give her the idea of laying down. I think giving treats help them get interested in what you want to teach, but it isn't long before they graduate to praise alone. My girl is pretty submissive with us but a little resentful when someone she dosen't know tries to show me how to accomplish something with her. I had an alpha girl once and she kept me on my toes constantly. Oh the stories....

[Rott-Wiley]

Originally posted by CJW
We own a 9 month old rott, and she is an alpha, in other words she doesn't have a submissive bone in her body. One of the reasons yours may not want to lie down is because the down position is a submissive position. Our trainer warned us about that, and it took a couple of weeks of working our rott to do it. She still doesn't like it, but she knows that we are the boss and she has to do it. We were also told by our trainer that the use of food as a treat for doing something right is bad because then the dog is doing the command for the treat and not for you. We have found that the pinch collar works best when she is being stubborn about a command.

You forced this dog into being a survivor by putting a choke collar on her at 12 weeks and next going to a prong collar at 15 weeks old.

[CJW]

She is an extremely headstrong girl, and by doing what we did, we have curbed a lot of bad behavior that she had developed in the pet store. She is a very well adjusted dog, knows where she stands in the family, and has been happier since the training began. She was not forced into becoming a submissive dog, she is still just as headstrong. We would never do anything to break her spirit, that is just one of the things that we love about her.