In easy terms how can I teach Charlie DOWN at a distance? He is doing really well with immediate down at heel and a down/wait at distance for a long time. Is it too soon to try this command? Thanks Helen x
Re: Down at a distance? I'm teaching this at the moment too. It's a totally different cue from the dog's perspective (because they think that down isn't just 'lie down' but 'lie down next to me'). There are at least a few ways you can go about it: - make it physically difficult or impossible for the dog to move towards you by tieing the lead to a fence or by putting a barrier in front of the dog. Stand right in front of the dog and give your down cue. C&T. Cue a sit or stand if the dog is still down. Now move away a small step. Repeat, then increase the distance a bit more next time. Work up to a few metres (once you are getting a really reliable down) and then try without the lead or barrier, but go back to a shorter distance at first. I'm using this approach with two bits of a puppy pen forming a barrier - don't use a barrier but gradually increase the distance. It can help to move towards the dog immediately after you give the cue, or lean towards them a bit. That will help to stop them moving forward - start with your dog a step or two away in the sit position and cue a down. Immediately step towards your dog and cue a down again. The dog might not go down on the first cue, only the second. That's ok. The principle at work here is that 'down at a distance' is a new cue while 'down right next to me' is an old cue. To teach the new cue you give the new cue immediately followed by the old cue. The dog will respond to the old cue only (probably) but you are teaching it that 'when you hear the new cue it means the same as the new cue'. This is the method described on Ian Dunbar's site 'Dog Star Daily'. You can use all these methods in parallel. No need to try or use just one. I'm sure that other people will have other methods they use too. Also, do lots of position changes on the move, and with you in different locations relative to your dog (in front, beside, behind). You are trying to teach that a down is a down is a down, no matter what your relative positions are. This can be a hard one to teach, so go in little steps and be happy with small improvements
Re: Down at a distance? I've said it before and I will say it again.....pack up your life and come to Dubai to revolutionize dog training Rachael ;D..this is really helpful for when I get there.....one day.....stares wistfully into the distance.....
Re: Down at a distance? You are far too kind, Angela.. I don't know that much, really. What's really impressive is the collective knowledge on this site. I realised that I had a mistake too in relation to the method described on the Dog Star Daily site: " 'when you hear the new cue it means the same as the new cue'." should read: " 'when you hear the new cue it means the same as the oldcue'. " I have been working on 'down at a distance' (also sit and stand) for about a week now and am going really slowly and have only moved about 4m away so far. Plus I have not yet removed the puppy pen barrier. I have to be careful in making sure I teach the sit and stand in there too - Obi has really had the down drummed into him (he has to lie down while we eat, while we wait in class for the next exercise...he does a lot of downs...) so at first he just wanted to 'down' in response to all my hand signals. I am now asking for about 20% downs and the rest are sits and stands. I have found it helpful to give a 'sit' or 'stand' verbal cue just before the corresponding hand signal to get his head in the right space - otherwise he was just dropping to any movement of my hand. I am almost having to re-teach the visual cue/hand signal with the distance exercises. So my advice would be to make sure you have a good response to the verbal cue (or whistle or whatever sound you use) so you can use it as back-up, before embarking on teaching these distance things. The hand signal looks different to the dog when you start to move away from them but at least the verbal cue sounds pretty much the same.
Re: Down at a distance? Really helpful Rachel - I've printed it out and filed it for later. I'm still on down with my hand needing to be on the floor - although have at least moved on from having to have a treat in it as well :. It's funny, down hasn't been easy for us, lots of other things have been easier.
Re: Down at a distance? 'Down' is definitely one of the harder moves to master. A lot of dogs simply do not like to lie down on cue. It's really important to keep it relaxed and fun, as any anxiety will reduce the dog's level of comfort with being in the down position. Glad you found the things I mentioned helpful, Julie I am really keen to hear how other people go about teaching this tricky exercise (at least I find it tricky )
