Sit, down and heel, are all positional commands. There are several different ways of getting dogs into the right position, but what are the advantages and disadvantages of each method? - find out in this new article http://www.thelabradorsite.com/training/intoposition.php Hope you find it helpful Pippa
Re: Sit, down, heel: getting your dog into position Hi have a lovely chocolate brown, 14 month old Labrador. I find that she understands the commands 'sit','down' and 'close' (heel) and she usually does them straight away, but then almost as soon as she has done them she gets up/goes in front of me again. How do I train her to extend the command? I never had this trouble training my cocker spaniel, she would do each command for a few minutes if I asked her too.
Re: Sit, down, heel: getting your dog into position Hi Kath Welcome to the Labrador Site - lots of chocolates here today! Increasing duration of sit etc Extending the time that you dog will sit for needs to be a very gradual process, and with some dogs, it needs to be more gradual than others! You need to establish a baseline of a few seconds from which to progress. Sometimes it is helpful to have the dog on the lead to begin with. Decide exactly how long you want the dog to sit for. Two seconds is a good starting point. (count one thousand two thousand in your head starting the moment her bottom touches the floor) Have some tiny treats ready, and decide on a reward marker (something that tells your dog she has got it right this time). This could be just the word ‘good!’ or ‘yes!’ or ‘clever!’ Try and make the word sound distinctive and consistent. (Some people use a ‘clicker’ and this is ideal.) When you are ready to begin, say ‘Sit!’ and as soon as she sits start to count “one thousand two thousand” and immediately you reach the end of two thousand say ‘good!’ (or whatever your marker word is). Then immediately after saying ‘good!’ give the dog a treat. If she gets up before the two seconds is up, no 'good', treat or reward of any kind. Use the lead to prevent her from wandering off and helping herself to some fun elsewhere. Just ignore her for a couple of seconds and then start from the beginning again. Once she will sit for two seconds nine times out of ten, increase to three seconds. Once she can sit for three seconds nine times out of then go to four seconds then five. Now you can increase in slightly bigger increments, seven seconds, ten seconds and so on. But try not to increase the duration by more than 20% or so a day. That way you will build a solid foundation from which to progress. Needless to say this should all take place in a quiet area with no distractions and no other people around. You can gradually introduce new locations and distractions once she has got the idea. If other family members are sabotaging your efforts by rewarding her for ignoring their sit commands, you can teach her to sit with a different command that they don’t use. I will be putting some more detail up on the website in part two of basics. Hope that helps for now Pippa
Re: Sit, down, heel: getting your dog into position Hi Pippa any tips on getting them to sit at your side? Rusty sits beautifully in front of me! I've only just started to work on getting him to sit next to me and was wondering whether it was worth using a different word specifically for this?
Re: Sit, down, heel: getting your dog into position Hi Carole I am not sure if you are asking how to get the dog to ‘come to heel’ on command whilst you remain stationary, or how to get the dog to remain seated in front of you whilst you move into the heel position next to the dog? I’ll assume it is the latter as this is usually taught first. With my own retrievers I teach the dogs to remain sitting absolutely still whilst I move myself into various different positions around the dog. I tend to begin formal ‘sit’ lessons with the dog at my left side on a lead and positioned with the dog between me and a wall to limit her options for movement. I will have established a simple 'puppy sit' with the dog indoors and offlead in advance of this, so the dog already knows what position the 'sit' command means. I start with getting a good length (15 secs or so) sit with the dog on my left side, then I teach the dog to remain seated whilst I move my right leg into various positions, touching the ground with my right foot to the front side or back, but still keeping the weight on my left foot (bit like some daft and clumsy ballet routine!). To begin with I reward after every movement I make during which she remains absolutely still. Shifting your weight from one foot to another is more likely to make the dog move so I don’t do this until she can sit very still whilst my right leg is moved around. The next stage is to have the dog remain seated whilst I take a single step in any direction (forward, right or back), then to get the same behaviour away from the wall. Once the dog is reliably still for this, I will take a step forward, and swing round to face the dog, returning to my starting position before rewarding the dog. Over time I build this up to ‘step forward, swing to face the dog, swing again so the dog is on my right side, then reverse the sequence to return to base. Finally I have the dog remain seated whilst I step all around her in either direction. This takes a few days with most dogs but gets a nice rock steady solid sit on which to build, and helps to avoid all the ‘dragging back to base’ that so many gundog trainers seem to get caught up in as they make ‘sits’ more difficult. If you are starting with the dog facing you, then the same things apply. Make sure the dog will sit quite still whilst you move either leg, touching your foot to the side or the back, lots of rewards for keeping absolutely still. Move gradually to taking a step to either side, and eventually to rotating your body so that the dog is at your side, with you both facing the same way. The basic principle is that the dog understands it must remain seated no matter what position you choose to take up. I use the same word ‘hup’ whatever position the dog is in. It simply means ‘put your bum on the ground and keep it there till I tell you what to do next'. I use ‘heel’ if I want a loose dog to come into the heel position and/or walk next to me. My dogs are expected to sit when at heel unless I am moving. Apologies if I have misunderstood your question. Hope that is helpful Pippa
Re: Sit, down, heel: getting your dog into position Hi Pippa wow! thanks for such a comprehensive reply I'll certainly try out your suggestions. Rusty is my first puppy - Barney arrived already knowing his commands so between us we've managed to teach a sit almost without trying where Rusty will sit down opposite me and await his reward, lead, etc. However, when walking on the loose lead (which he's also doing well) if I stop and ask for a sit (eg for a curb) he'll swivel round to face me, even if I hold the reward to my left side to lure him. My obedience trainer suggested practice walking next to a wall to discourage the turning but it's amazing how tight a space he can turn around in! I think the answer as ever is focus - I need to spend more time on this clearly. : thanks Carole
