Tempest Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 I always use the down for the stay exercise when given a choice as Jess tends to go into a down if I leave her in a sit stay but for some reason on Tuesday night she just refused to down All the other dogs were in their postitions and Jess was just looking at me as if we'd never done a down before and I was talking Japanese Eventually I managed to get her into a down using a treat as a lure which we phased out ages ago but 10 seconds into the down stay she broke it I replaced her and she completed the stay but we stayed behind after class to have another go and once again she just refused to go into a down I'm 99.9% sure it's a kind of teenage rebellion she's going through, testing the waters and seeing how far she can push me and she's timed it perfectly before the test We've just been practising in the garden today (I've been meaning to practise since Tuesday but have been useless and tbh I thought Tues was just a one off as she's got a solid stay) and we literally went through the same procedure with her refusing to down. I basically repeated the command and hand signal twice and when she refused I just stayed there and decided that I wasn't going to repeat it or give up until she eventually downed (which she did). I gave her loads of praise and released her and we just did lots of random heelwork with 'downs' thrown in around the garden. Usually she drops like a stone but she was sooooooooo slow and I was having to repeat the command First down stay we did she broke immediately and the second but she completed the third and the fourth (we did other activities in between to break them up). I'm convinced it's just a battle of wills at the moment and she's trying her luck but I'm just wondering if anyone has any tips of what we can work on in the next couple of days just to make me a bit less worried about Tuesday night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safneo Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 I'm no expert but firstly I wouldnt keep repeating the command for her to ignore you. That way she will learn to keep ignoring you. Just do as you did and stand and wait it out until she does 'down'. Then loads of praise and special treats. Good luck for Tuesday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khanu Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 Firstly I would want to rule out any physical reason to be honest. Especially if she used to down quickly and every time and is now refusing or completing it slowly. Also doing things slowly can be a calming signal, so you may be in a bit of a viscous circle with it, in that she is stressed about it you get frustrated, she gets more stressed etc - this may have led to a "poisoned cue" - maybe reteaching the down with a different cue will help. Finally if the dog I'm training doesn't respond, or responds incorrectly to a learned cue, I don't wait them out (I want them to respond with zero latency ideally so waiting and rewarding for a slow response is rewarding for something I don't want) I just turn my back to them and count to 3 - this is a clear no reward signal, I don't tend to say anything (some people say "too bad" or wrong or something) as I can get frustrated at times and it comes across in my voice and 2 of my dogs are very sensitive to it. Then I turn back and try again. If they still aren't responding after 2 - 3 attempts then something is wrong imo, and I maybe need to retrain what I thought was a trained command. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LurcherGirl Posted July 20, 2007 Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 I went to an obedience competition a few weeks ago and my lurcher broke his sit stay for the first time ever! I didn't know why, but found out a few days later when I noticed a sore on his back foot! Since that's heeled, no more problems with sits and stays! So I too would be tempted to have your dog checked out, perhaps by a chiropractor too. Vera Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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