CoffeeKath Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Our obedience class homework is to do two 20 minute sessions of mat stationing a day. Yesterday seemed fine but this morning we put a harder test for him with my husband doing stuff in the garden and in and out of his car whilst I tried to get Eddie to stay on his mat. He was very hard to keep in one place, he was dying to run off! My question is, how do I keep him on there? I was told not to keep repeating 'on your mat' just to say it once. So I do that but then when he gets up and tries to walk off I'm kind of pushing him back on to his mat. I don't want to get this wrong so would be grateful for any advice. He keeps on trying to assert his dominance with me. Steps it up every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kynan Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 How old is your boy? If he is only young then 20 minutes is a long time if you dont build up to it slowly. You could try smaller durations say one or two minutes and then releasing him with a word such as "free" so that he learns that he has to wait until you say he can get up instead of him deciding when to move (same goes for any other command such as sit and drop). You could also try giving him a treat every 10 seconds that he remains on the mat and gradually increasing the time between treats before phasing them out. Having him on lead while teaching stationing will help you control his movements and prevent him from running off. You could also try exercising him first to drain some energy which may help him settle. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 I would use intermittant rewards to build duration. Reward him on the matt at random intervals, gradually spacing out the intervals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roguedog Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 be persistant if he is testing you, the minute you give in, he wins. When I was mat training my muttskies, everytime they moved off the mat, I would say uh-uh (our "naughty word") and point to the mat, if they ignored me I would get up and use my body to block them and have them move back on the mat, I didnt push them or touch them with my hands and I didnt repeat the mat command a million times either. Another thing you can do is everytime they move off the matt, say the naughty word and put them straight outside... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeKath Posted March 17, 2009 Author Share Posted March 17, 2009 How old is your boy? If he is only young then 20 minutes is a long time if you dont build up to it slowly. You could try smaller durations say one or two minutes and then releasing him with a word such as "free" so that he learns that he has to wait until you say he can get up instead of him deciding when to move (same goes for any other command such as sit and drop). You could also try giving him a treat every 10 seconds that he remains on the mat and gradually increasing the time between treats before phasing them out. Having him on lead while teaching stationing will help you control his movements and prevent him from running off. You could also try exercising him first to drain some energy which may help him settle. Hope this helps! He is 7 months old, I've only had him a couple of months ;) I did him for 10 minutes on Sunday and he sat beautifully, today was more of a challenge. Ahh..I was wondering about the release. At the moment I am holding him there on a lead and then I call him to heel as I walk away. Thank you :D I would use intermittant rewards to build duration. Reward him on the matt at random intervals, gradually spacing out the intervals. Thank you He is not really treat driven, I am working on lots of praise when he is good at the moment, which I'm also doing on the mat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeKath Posted March 17, 2009 Author Share Posted March 17, 2009 be persistant if he is testing you, the minute you give in, he wins.When I was mat training my muttskies, everytime they moved off the mat, I would say uh-uh (our "naughty word") and point to the mat, if they ignored me I would get up and use my body to block them and have them move back on the mat, I didnt push them or touch them with my hands and I didnt repeat the mat command a million times either. Another thing you can do is everytime they move off the matt, say the naughty word and put them straight outside... Thank you Yes I'm being persistent with him, he is definitely pushing boundaries though. It's to be expected as he's reached this age with no training at all poor soul. I wonder if wherever he lived before he was hit because if he is naughty and I sound angry at him he will sometimes cower as if he is expecting to be hit ;) Although at other times he is so dominant - or rather he tries to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 I would use intermittant rewards to build duration. Reward him on the matt at random intervals, gradually spacing out the intervals.Thank you ;) He is not really treat driven, I am working on lots of praise when he is good at the moment, which I'm also doing on the mat. Praise is a reward. Tell him he's being good (quietly and not in wildly stimulating way) at random intervals. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeKath Posted March 17, 2009 Author Share Posted March 17, 2009 I would use intermittant rewards to build duration. Reward him on the matt at random intervals, gradually spacing out the intervals.Thank you ;) He is not really treat driven, I am working on lots of praise when he is good at the moment, which I'm also doing on the mat. Praise is a reward. Tell him he's being good (quietly and not in wildly stimulating way) at random intervals. :D Oh great, thank you, will keep doing that then Although perhaps I wasn't doing it quietly...I'll do it calmer next time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 I would use intermittant rewards to build duration. Reward him on the matt at random intervals, gradually spacing out the intervals.Thank you ;) He is not really treat driven, I am working on lots of praise when he is good at the moment, which I'm also doing on the mat. Praise is a reward. Tell him he's being good (quietly and not in wildly stimulating way) at random intervals. :D Oh great, thank you, will keep doing that then Although perhaps I wasn't doing it quietly...I'll do it calmer next time The reason I suggest you do it in a soothing tone is because you don't want to stimulate them to break what they're doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeKath Posted March 17, 2009 Author Share Posted March 17, 2009 I would use intermittant rewards to build duration. Reward him on the matt at random intervals, gradually spacing out the intervals.Thank you ;) He is not really treat driven, I am working on lots of praise when he is good at the moment, which I'm also doing on the mat. Praise is a reward. Tell him he's being good (quietly and not in wildly stimulating way) at random intervals. :D Oh great, thank you, will keep doing that then Although perhaps I wasn't doing it quietly...I'll do it calmer next time The reason I suggest you do it in a soothing tone is because you don't want to stimulate them to break what they're doing. Yes that makes perfect sense thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lablover Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Our obedience class homework is to do two 20 minute sessions of mat stationing a day. If you are in a beginners or other early class, this is a pretty difficult "stay" on "target" exercises for novice owners. Did the instructor suggest very low distractions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeKath Posted March 17, 2009 Author Share Posted March 17, 2009 Our obedience class homework is to do two 20 minute sessions of mat stationing a day. If you are in a beginners or other early class, this is a pretty difficult "stay" on "target" exercises for novice owners. Did the instructor suggest very low distractions? I'm so very new to all this, I must seem so ignorant I'm sorry. I am assuming it's a beginners class as our dog has not had any other training and they are all being taught to sit, stay etc which I assume are basic commands. No...very low distractions weren't suggested. Am I perhaps making the distractions too high for him in the early days then? At class a couple of people walked around the mats squeaking toys and throwing balls past them in an attempt to distract them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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