claireybell Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Hi guys, I'm looking for some help with my dogs drop/stay. She used to be really good at it but lately she just wont do it. Everytime I drop her she pops back up again within a second. The only way I can sometimes keep her down is if I crouch down with her and keep giving her food. This however doesn't always work. Any help / suggestions / advise you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fbaudry Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Hi guys, I'm looking for some help with my dogs drop/stay. She used to be really good at it but lately she just wont do it. Everytime I drop her she pops back up again within a second. The only way I can sometimes keep her down is if I crouch down with her and keep giving her food. This however doesn't always work.Any help / suggestions / advise you can give me would be greatly appreciated. mmmmm.... no tips here, Archie has actually started doing it the other way around and will go from a sit/stay to a down/stay (especially after he's had a long run!!!) since we're on the training forum, could you share your tips on how you taught Jesie to say her prayers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claireybell Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 Sure can fbaudry. I put her in the sit position, get her attention on the food reward ( like thats hard!), lift it just above her head and say 'pray'. She puts her paws gently round my hand while eating the reward. It looks totally adorable! Will try and get a pic of it for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildatHeart Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Try going back to the start again. Like she has never been taught drop before. Tell her to drop, as soon as she does reward and release. Then start increasing the length from the drop to the release word. And in general, make sure you enforce the release command all the time, not just here and there. Maybe this is whats happening or she’s just testing you. Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claireybell Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 Thanks, will give it a go. Not sure why she's all of a sudden stopped doing it though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 I found that using a NRM really helped cement the drop stay in Ziggy's spotted head. He was doing them beautifully for some time then decided to 'experiment' We don't get much of a chance to do them as a group exercise so when he was rock solid amongst a number of dogs that broke I knew he really 'got it' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claireybell Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 Stupid question but what is NRM? I found out that Jesie would have won her last trial at dog club instead of coming third if she had of got the drop stay right! So frustrating! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Stupid question but what is NRM?I found out that Jesie would have won her last trial at dog club instead of coming third if she had of got the drop stay right! So frustrating! NRM = Non Reward Marker I just use "Oh well"" - however, it's really, really important to keep your voice calm and almost "whatever" - it keeps your body language neutral too which is really important because, from what I've observed, this is where so many people fall down. It means to Zig: "oh well, you've missed your opportunity to get a reward but you're not in trouble and you can have another go." I find it extremely useful when Zig almost has the exercise in his head.......then he starts to experiment to try and get the reward faster e.g. he might break his sit stay for the recall or move a foot in SFE. I just say "oh well" and walk back to where I originally left him. Without any cue he is heeling beautifully in desperation to correct his wrong Calmly ask for the position again and he nearly always gets it right Works for us anyway ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claireybell Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 cool will definately give it a go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seita Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 (edited) Just a thought, do you always release your dog from a stay using a release command? I've noticed that many people who have stay trouble will often inadvertly use stay at home and don't release the dog from the stay command. For example you are leaving and you tell the dog to stay at the gate while you close it and then walk off and forget to release the dog - often this teaches the dog that stay doesn't really mean stay but rather that once you're away from the dog it can do as it pleases. What someone else suggested is probably a good way to go about fixing this problem - go back to the beginning once the dog drops reward it - then gradually increase the time while you're still with the dog and then begin to increase distance again. Your dog will probably pick it up again very quickly but often going back the start and reminding the dog what stay is works well. Edited January 16, 2009 by Seita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBen Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 I would think it would be difficult for dogs to distinguish the sounds between 'pray' and 'stay'... I think they only recognise part of the word... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claireybell Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 Just a thought, do you always release your dog from a stay using a release command? I've noticed that many people who have stay trouble will often inadvertly use stay at home and don't release the dog from the stay command. For example you are leaving and you tell the dog to stay at the gate while you close it and then walk off and forget to release the dog - often this teaches the dog that stay doesn't really mean stay but rather that once you're away from the dog it can do as it pleases.What someone else suggested is probably a good way to go about fixing this problem - go back to the beginning once the dog drops reward it - then gradually increase the time while you're still with the dog and then begin to increase distance again. Your dog will probably pick it up again very quickly but often going back the start and reminding the dog what stay is works well. My release word is OK for everything. I've done some training with her the last couple of nights and have gone back to basics. She's still popping up pretty quickly but I do feel that we made some progress tonight. She managed to stay down until the count of 4. Small miracle's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claireybell Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 I would think it would be difficult for dogs to distinguish the sounds between 'pray' and 'stay'... I think they only recognise part of the word... Jesie seems to understand it. I pronounce my commands very clearly so there is no confusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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