Anyone With Suggestions On

[Tunsafun Boxers]

Hi guys,

Im in the process of training Charlie for an obedience trial.

She's doing really well on automatic sits, her drops have straightened up a little but she is still inclined to roll onto a hip which makes her slow to get to her feet, and she's going well on her stays, although we haven't done much of this.

The trouble i am having is with her stands and her stand for examination.

She has always been taught to sit when you stop walking, never to stand. I had to do a lot of work with her regarding showing, but it wasn't enough. She still wants to sit every time we stop, even if i guide her with my hand under her belly.

I cant afford to have formal instruction, nor can i afford to attend obedience classes at this stage, so i am very much working on my own, which is why i thought i'd ask you guys. lots of knowledge floating around here lol

Also, once we get the stand organised, how can i encourage her to stand still for the examination? she's inclined to turn to lick, greet whatever.

This girl you cannot raise your voice to, growl at or show any sort of displeasure. she absolutely goes to pieces if you do, or gets offended and does her donkey impersonation. however cute, not the desired result.

any tips would be greatly appreciated

Jenna

PS. She is two years old. knows sit, drop, stay and heel. knows come for recall (very slow doing that at this stage). we haven't worked too much on her stays at this stage as im trying to get other things organised first.

[leopuppy04]

Teach the stand out of heel position first to avoid confusion.

to get her to stand from a sit - get a pice of food and lure her forward - hand going slowly and straight out from the nose. click or 'yes' the minute she stands (hopefully without moving front feet).. If she moves the front feet, you have moved the food too far.

To stand from a drop - lure forward and at a 45 deg angle to raise her from the drop - get the stand from sit really solid first, so she has some understanding of what the word means.

then progress to heel. When she is sitting at heel step forward with your left foot and ask for 'stand' - give a hand signal of straight up in front of her nose - flat palm facing her. When she stands give treat (which should be in your hand!) along with 'yes' or click.

Once she has that rock solid from a sit and drop in heel - then add movement - take a couple of steps, say stand offer hand signal and if she goes to sit - gently raise her back up from the chest. no reward if she does this... if she does it more than twice.... go back a step .

For the stand for exam - practice stand stays with you walking all around and standing infront. Hold onto her collar and pull forward - the moment she resists and doesn't move any feet - reward (build up intensity of this).

start with someone simply walking past and click/ 'yes' if she doesn't move (and even better if she maintains eye contact with you). Gradually that person will reduce distance between the dog and themselved and then add the examination.

does that help?

[Tunsafun Boxers]

Thanks Leo,

It does help lots.

I cant maintain eye contact with charlie because it will cause her to sit.

Are you anywhere near me, location wise? Im in Cockatoo.

Jenna

[leopuppy04]

sort of - about 30- 40 mins away - are you coming to our training day at KCC on Sat - it is after the show if you are going to be there - spaces are still available!

[MonElite]

how do you get her to stand in the show ring?

[Tunsafun Boxers]

At the show when i came back to the judge from our out and back, i had to put my hand just under her waist to keep her on her feet.

I've been doing this at home and saying stand at the same time. She's getting there and stands probably 1 in 5 times, so we're getting there.

Jenna

[Keshwar]

At the show when i came back to the judge from our out and back, i had to put my hand just under her waist to keep her on her feet.

I've been doing this at home and saying stand at the same time. She's getting there and stands probably 1 in 5 times, so we're getting there.

When she stands reward her. when she doesn't no reward. I bet the ratio of stands to no stands will inprove.

This might also be a good case to use a clicker. Click and treat when she stands. When she is doing it reliably - 80%of the time - then add the cue "stand" This should also help in the show ring.

Bear.

[MonElite]

Sorry Tunsa - I need a bit of clarification.

When you come back from the triangle or an up and back and you supposed to free stack the dog so the judge can look at it standing naturally what do you do? Surly you dont put your hand under her belly to make her stand.

If you watch this video

the first run is ended with the stand and the judge examines the dog. I understand that if your dog sits you would put the hand under the belly to prevent it from sitting, but than after the triangle the dog freestands, and the handler faces the dog, what do you do than.

Btw I did teach the dog to stand as a movement from a sit or a drop so the dog understands the change of position. If it was to do an auto sit Id hold the outside flank slighlty when it was to sit.

[Tunsafun Boxers]

I put my hand on her flank briefly and said stand, which she held.

I cant watch youtube at the moment but have copied the link to look at when i can again.

Originally charlie was taught to sit when we stopped. Since then i have been show training her, and she's getting the hang of it, but is still inclined to sit when we put the brakes on because this is what she has been taught since she was about 4 months old.

[MonElite]

Does she understand the word STAND?

As a change of position I mean.

[Tunsafun Boxers]

Honestly, i dont think she did.

Ive been doing work with her yesterday and today and she's getting the idea, but i think she was confused to begin with, which means i wasn't making myself clear.

She's learning more from the hand signal i think, rather than my voice. is that possible?

I always give the signal at the time that i give the command.

[MonElite]

teaching the word first is the key - its possible that she understands hand signal before she gets the hang of the word.

But if in two days the dog didnt get the understanding of the word Id say you are doing something wrong.

How many repeptitions did you do?

[Tunsafun Boxers]

i do about 5 repetitions per session and 2 sessions a day. the sessions are only short.

im no longer working on anything else with her, just stands at this stage. i figure everything else can wait.

[MonElite]

you can do more than 5 repetitions in a session and more sessions in a day. it only should take you 2 minutes each.

[Tunsafun Boxers]

I was worried about her getting bored or tired with the exercises.

Ive got time to spare these days, so should i do more sessions in a day?

I was thinking along the lines of 4 or 5, but keep them short and when she's doing well to end the session (this is how i've always done it with horses) with some playtime.

How many repetitions should i do? in your opinion?

Charlie is 2 years 2 months old. has a very sensitive personality but loves to be with me. she enjoys her walks but anything that requires energy she tends to do rather slowly.

she lives with 2 other bitches and her father, spends her days outside playing or lazing around, and her evenings and nights inside either on the couch or her overnight pen.

she was bottle fed from birth and seriously babied by myself and my OH from day dot. she still thinks she's a lap dog at some 30kgs, even though we dont let her on our laps. much to her disgust.

just thought i'd give you some background on her in case it helps.

thanks for your advice, i appreciate it!

[MonElite]

Tunsa - think for a sec.

How long does it take you to do 5 repetitions of a stand comand? 1 minute?

You do that twice a day so thats is 2 minutes in a 24 hour period.

So if this is the only thing you work on what is she learning for 23 hours and 58 minutes in that period?

yes keep the sessions short and dont get her bored with it. Its not some magic number of repetitions its how the dog reacts and when you see it really interested or start to see it loose interest.

When I was teaching a recall Id do 20 repetition, have a break of a play and than do another 10, but this is one of my dogs, and it varied each day. I also observed how the dog reacted and if it wasnt interested and I couldnt get it interested I didnt train during that session at all.

I personally think that you need to find what motivates her and what demotivates her and untill you do that you will be pushing *** up the hill so to speak, with any excercise that is.

[Tunsafun Boxers]

Okay, i can see where im going wrong now, thanks Myszka.

The only time i've seen charlie spark up is when there is a big fat stick around to play keepings off the kids with.

I'll try uping the repetitions and giving more breaks and see how we go.

also, is it correct to give the hand signal at the same time i give the verbal command?

[Tunsafun Boxers]

Oh, and do you give your dogs a day off or do you train every day?

[MonElite]

Tunsa you need to get yourself to a club or get yourself some videos of training, describing over the net is too painfull.

I give my dogs a break when I see they are off colour.The get breaks as at times I simply have no time to train them, but each day, several times a day they are asked to do simple things, such as sit before I open the door, or down stay when Im eating.

They are walked each day and given recalls during the walk few times, for no reason other than reinforcement of training.

And majority of my comands are verbal+hand signaled

[Tunsafun Boxers]

Hi Myzska,

Thanks for the tips. I have an instructor meeting up with me and giving me a hand next weekend so that should help.

Im going to do more sessions with her today and see how we go.

Chatting with you has reminded me of a lot of stuff that i was taught years ago when i was trialing, so thanks for refreshing my memory too lol

Jenna