Bamm is driving me nuts this morning, but I think it might be a communication error between us today.
Anyways, I'm working on trying to teach him a bow. Anytime I see him do a bow naturally I give him a lot of praise to encourage him to do that behavior more... but when we're actually working on teaching it, it's driving me nuts. I'll have him standing and I'll hold the treat down low and just ahead of his front legs so he'll bow as he reaches for the treat. That part he's getting and I'm clicking the instant he hits the bow. I can't seem to get him to hold it though. After he got the drop into a bow part down I decided to try and get him to hold it a little longer by waiting a little longer to click... I wasn't even waiting more than a second or two longer to click, but by then he's already dropped his back legs down so he's laying down. It's like he's not understanding that the bow and lying down are two separate things and I don't want him to think that the act of bowing and finishing with a lie down is the behavior I want when it's not what I want... he's doing it in one big move if that makes sense and I'm worried he might be confused and thinking I want him to actually lay down even though I'm only clicking when he hits the bow part. I'm probably doing something wrong here, which is why I'm asking for a little help.
Also... we've been working on a "stand" since yesterday. He's got the standing up part right, but the problem is he stands up and moves forward towards me at the same time and as of today he thinks he needs to bump my crotch with his nose at the same time which of course is not at all what I want. He had stand perfectly yesterday and it's like today his brain is all mushy and he thinks I'm asking for something else... I want him to learn to stand up in place from either a lie down or sitting position. I'm trying to click as soon as he is in standing position, but by then he's already in the act of moving forward so I need to take it back a notch
Anyways, I'm working on trying to teach him a bow. Anytime I see him do a bow naturally I give him a lot of praise to encourage him to do that behavior more... but when we're actually working on teaching it, it's driving me nuts. I'll have him standing and I'll hold the treat down low and just ahead of his front legs so he'll bow as he reaches for the treat. That part he's getting and I'm clicking the instant he hits the bow. I can't seem to get him to hold it though. After he got the drop into a bow part down I decided to try and get him to hold it a little longer by waiting a little longer to click... I wasn't even waiting more than a second or two longer to click, but by then he's already dropped his back legs down so he's laying down. It's like he's not understanding that the bow and lying down are two separate things and I don't want him to think that the act of bowing and finishing with a lie down is the behavior I want when it's not what I want... he's doing it in one big move if that makes sense and I'm worried he might be confused and thinking I want him to actually lay down even though I'm only clicking when he hits the bow part. I'm probably doing something wrong here, which is why I'm asking for a little help.
Also... we've been working on a "stand" since yesterday. He's got the standing up part right, but the problem is he stands up and moves forward towards me at the same time and as of today he thinks he needs to bump my crotch with his nose at the same time which of course is not at all what I want. He had stand perfectly yesterday and it's like today his brain is all mushy and he thinks I'm asking for something else... I want him to learn to stand up in place from either a lie down or sitting position. I'm trying to click as soon as he is in standing position, but by then he's already in the act of moving forward so I need to take it back a notch