Sit/stay

[Doberluv]

LOL....it's cute and very amazing to me how they can make sense out of our language. LOL. Well, now that she uses "stop" as meaning to stop and sit, you could use a completely different command word for stop (and staying standing) I use "halt." Lyric can be walking ahead of me or way far from me, and if I holler out, "halt," he stops and just stands there. If he's walking next to me, and I stop, he is suppose to automatically sit. But with all the snow here...for soooo long, I've gotten lax on making him sit. (that poor little bare Doberbutt) so we'll have to refresh his memory. So, now lately when I want him to stop/ sit when we're walking (when I'm not feeling very compassionate) I'm finding I have to say "halt" because he's not stopping right away when I stop. Grrrr. Moms getting sloppy on his training. Of course it doesn't help that most of the time, I don't have my leash. Grrrrrr. Catch up in spring.

 

[Rubylove]

That's a great idea, thank you! It would be much easier for her to keep `stop/sit' the same in her mind, and just teach her a new command like `Halt'. (and I have to be honest - easier for me, too...lol) I've noticed that the sits can get a bit lax if they're really stuffed - you know, after a HUGE romp at the park with the other dogs, they get so tired that on the way home their sits can get a little selective. Poor babies don't want to go to all that effort just to sit down! Its almost like they're thinking, `Yeah, yeah, we get it. Stop, Sit, Stay blah blah blah just get me HOME!'.

 

[Doberluv]

Yeah, yeah, we get it. Stop, Sit, Stay blah blah blah just get me HOME!'.

LOL. Exactly! I see my Lyric just like that. He sits sometimes as though he is an old man with an aching back and he's only 2-1/2. "OH Gawd....here we go again....another sit. Gee wiz. I know it all right all ready...sit, sit, sit...yada, yada, yada." Poor things...what we put them through. LOL.

 

[Rubylove]

LOL! I mean, surely a sit can't be THAT taxing??? It's not like I want them to stop, sit, shake, roll over, jump through a hoop and then walk in a backwards circle every time we cross a road. But they ONLY resist when they're tired. (Well, Chester resists fairly regularly but he's at the `adolescent I will do as I wish whenever I wish' phase **shakes head**). It's funny with Chester - I refuse to tell him to sit twice, and will just stand there until he does it. It's become quite the battle of wills - one he always loses, I might add, and partly because Ruby has already been sitting there for ages and just gives him this look as if to say `Siddown will ya!! There's a park to get to! Dogs to play with! Birds to chase!!'. They are so delightful...

 

[amymarley]

Sorry, I have not read through all the posts... but if you can get the basic commands down, and use treats...and it works, that is wonderful.

The next step is to stop using treats reg., make it a surprise...you dog will never know when he/she is going to get them. Mix it up.... there should be a point in time when your dog will just do as you command...with or without treats. And when you start to mix up the treats by not giving them once in a while every other day, every other 2 days,,,,make the treats BETTER! Use good stuff in the ending stages. Even steak, chicken, turkey hotdog (not in that order,lol). Again, It will keep him guessing.

But....always end on a postive note, even if it is saying good boy or good girl and a pet on the head. That is also a reward, but not food motivated, but still postive.
Amy

 

[Doberluv]

I refuse to tell him to sit twice, and will just stand there until he does it. It's become quite the battle of wills - one he always loses, I might add, and partly because Ruby has already been sitting there for ages and just gives him this look as if to say `Siddown will ya!! There's a park to get to! Dogs to play with! Birds to chase!!'. They are so delightful...

LOL. That's cute. Well, I know what you mean. I do the same thing, just wait or show with my hand signal or tap his butt with one finger to remind him.... so it sounds like both our dogs need a little refresher course on sitting more promptly.

I guess what I'll do is stop using my mediocre treats and get out the big guns and shape the behavior by giving a treat when he sits, even if it takes a little longer and then not (like Animalbiz said) then start over (walk him around to indicate the beginning of starting the exercise over).....then sit again....get him a little hyped up and excited to try and get him to plunk his rear down quicker and then reward IF he is quicker. LOL. Then not again if he's not quicker/better still. Etc. It's a good situation for a clicker. It really doesn't take long for them to figure out what's getting them the treat. Once the behavior is good, quick and consistantly that way... and he's getting a treat every time when it's so good....then I'll stop using treats every time and that should keep him on his toes. Once it becomes the norm, the usual thing that he sits well, way down the road...he won't need a treat at all, just a friendly acknowledgment, but knowing me, I'll still give him a treat now and then. They're always in my pockets anyhow. LOL.

This snow has got to go. Now it's been raining and it's a slushy mess. How can I ask my poor baby to sit in that? See how hard this is? LOL. I guess I'll have to practice that in my tiny living room. Lyric is big enough that with just a few steps, we're at the end of the living room though. LOL.