Tried some "stop" practice on our walk just now, on the advice of Heidrun who was discussing that this might be better than trying to achieve a Recall when your dog has his or her nose down and ready/already in chase mode. We have trained "stop" as a flat hand and something done walking either on lead or to heel. So our equivalent of a STOP command is "sit" with a raised hand, which has the same effect as a "stop" in this context. It is quite slow. The actual sit I mean. I think mainly because Lilly first looks around to find out WHY I want her to stop/sit. Clearly there is something interesting that I have spotted that I don't want her to see/get/chase : : Bearing in mind I am not a fan of the long lead, and mostly that is because I am limited to one area really I can walk her on the long lead. The farmers track is in, any sort of woodland out, and I do walk her a lot in woodland. Should I persevere with this "sit" command? Should I change completely and go for a different command? The other thing is, does she have a slow sit because of her hips? - I don't know, but am reluctant to "shape" her sit to an instant one for this reason. Any thoughts or tips from you guys who have had more sucess?
Re: Our "Stop!" Hi Jac I can't give advice regarding her hips. As you say she could have a slow sit because of her hips. :-\ Have you looked at Pippa's training articles for the stop. That's what I used. The first is to get a stop at heel when you stop then move onto a stop at heel while you keep moving. That way you can practise without a long lead she just needs to walk to heel. Rather than sit you could use 'stop'. Scout has a very quick stop, spin around and sit. Scott has a quick stop but his sit is slower than scout. I can't remember who told me, sorry whoever it was, but some people don't worry about a sit as long as they have the stop. It might have been Heidrun and spaniels. ??? That would help if there is a problem with a quick sit because of her hips.
Re: Our "Stop!" Jen and Jac, I don't expect a sit when I blow the stop whistle. I don't care whether she sits or not in that situation, I just want her to stop, and look to me for further direction. So Jac, I think I'd be inclined to retrain with 'Stop', rather than 'sit'. If that makes sense!
Re: Our "Stop!" No sit on a stop whistle here either. Stop in our house means "stop whatever you are doing and look at me for further direction". They know another command always comes after a stop. When training the stop, I decided I didn't want to risk poisoning my sit command.
Re: Our "Stop!" Jen, I had a look at the stop training previously, but your right, I need a refresher. Thanks for the reminder. I was trying to capitalise on a not bad sit when out in the field and develop it, but you are probably right, to retrain the stop/look at me without any strings. [quote author=heidrun link=topic=7937.msg111758#msg111758 date=1411316196] What is her normal sit like, Jacqui, when you hold her food bowl up for example? [/quote] Hmm.....yes....not instant, but a heck of a lot quicker than with her outside sit! Point taken Shall re-read and re watch over the next day or to. Thank you.
Re: Our "Stop!" Heidrun's tips again - Charlie's stop means "look at me, I'm likely to throw something". His bum hits the floor faster than I've ever managed in any other situation, no matter how hard I try. I don't care whether I have a sit or not, but "sit" is his default, so he does and that's fine. So I'd say go for the biggest reward you can think of, delivered as fast as possible - if that's a bowl of king prawns 8) so be it. She'll soon stop looking round...also, you could try training it in the garden until it's as you want it?
Re: Our "Stop!" Oh I thought a sit was part of the stop, Hattie does what Lilly does, I blow the stop she comes to a halt looks at me scans around to see what I am blowing my whistle for and then sits, so I don't have to insist on a sit then? x
Re: Our "Stop!" Lots of training books suggest that when teaching a stop you ask for a sit because it is obvious - no doubt about whether the dog has stopped, and is still. But stop is stop, not sit. I doubt my Charlie will ever do anything else but sit though, and I think that's fine.
Re: Our "Stop!" [quote author=Jen link=topic=7937.msg111759#msg111759 date=1411316288] Hi Jac I can't give advice regarding her hips. As you say she could have a slow sit because of her hips. :-\ Have you looked at Pippa's training articles for the stop. That's what I used. The first is to get a stop at heel when you stop then move onto a stop at heel while you keep moving. That way you can practise without a long lead she just needs to walk to heel. Rather than sit you could use 'stop'. Scout has a very quick stop, spin around and sit. Scott has a quick stop but his sit is slower than scout. I can't remember who told me, sorry whoever it was, but some people don't worry about a sit as long as they have the stop. It might have been Heidrun and spaniels. ??? That would help if there is a problem with a quick sit because of her hips. [/quote] we have started to ignore the sit at the end of the stop for the same reason..Bensons stop it reasonably quick..but add a sit and the sit became really sluggish. To train the stop we used Pippas Youtube video, and this worked really well. We just added the sit because we thought we had too, our trainer just scratched his head and said "why" ;D ;D He says that a lot mind... :
Re: Our "Stop!" As long as the dog stops and looks at the handler that is fine. I personally prefer an instant sit. Spaniels tend to get up close and personal to their quarry when hunting, so a sit is far more steady than a stand.
