down stays-2 part question...

[yogi53]

How long can I reasonably expect my 7 month old to down stay? 10 minutes seems to be her time...after that she forgets what we were doing..should I decrease the time and do more sessions until I am able to increase? second ??..Last night in class we were 5 minutes and she was perfect and still giving me great eye contact and attention and a shepard 2 dogs away broke and went right for her - he was a little more aggressive then I would have liked - so he had his mouth on her neck (the top of it) before she knew what hit her...needless to say after I regained control she did not want to listen anymore...I pulled her out and we watched the rest and then joined in the recalls my instructor says I should have made her continue, but I felt she was not going to give me the attention to be successful so we took a break...comments?suggestions?

[RottiMomCT]

If you know the time limit is 10 minutes, break it up - do 5 minutes, 3 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, add 30 seconds to the 10 minute time...vary it.

WHY are you doing 10 minute down/stays? We only do 5 minutes max...

Regarding the incident in class - I would have left the building for a little walk outside, to allow both you and the dog to 'regroup', and then rejoined the class. You know your dog better than your instructor - if you knew her attention was out the window so you took her out of the situation to allow her to get her head back...good choice.

[yogi53]

I have read that people do 30 minutes so I guess I just figured we would work our way to that mark! Never 10 in class only 5 but I can get 10 at home....

[dmoniz]

30 minute down stays are informal. You don't need to worry about eye contact, just don't let her get up. If she does, put her back in the spot, no fuss, no talkingjsut put her back. Do this as many times as needed during the 30 minutes. She will slowly catch on and not get up until released. When you release her there is no praise, just a quiet relsease word. The point is that she needs to do this because you told her to, no ifs, ands or buts about it. It is a leadership exercise.

[yogi53]

ahh ok, that makes perfect sense...so I could put her in a down stay and say...make dinner...not actively managing her? It's funny when that light bulb goes on..

[dmoniz]

exactly, jsut pay enough attention to her to make sure she doesn't get up and walk away. 30 minute downstays are boring, but she should learn how to sit back and relax when asked to without any entertainment such as a toy or bone. I may be wrong, but I think 7 months is plenty old for this exercise.

[yogi53]

Thanks - it really makes a lot of sense I will try will preparing dinner tonight..hmmm. its Friday there;s no way I'm making dinner tonight!! Well Sunday anyway...

[dmoniz]

you can also practice it while watching tv/movie, reading a book, etc. The key is to keep one eye on the dog if you forget you have to start over :)

[Judi W]

The 30 minute downs that you have heard me recommend are for deranking a dog. It can be done at any age, starts with dog simply lying beside you while you sit in a chair and is used "you are going to lie here quietly because I said you will"

Correct, it is not a formal obedience down stay, is not positioned as one, and does not use those signals or body language.

[yogi53]

thanks for the clarification...I would have been wondering why we could never obtain 30 minutes with good attention and eye contact - much easier on both of us!