Hi all, Just back from our evening training session. Despite being the youngest there Harv excels at pretty much everything in these sessions and his boundless enthusiasm always makes me smile (and often makes others laugh out loud!). One thing we do struggle with though is the speed of response to a Down request - Harv is invariably the last to get into the Down position! This evening's trainer suggested physically encouraging Harv into the position to try to speed him up a bit - nothing harsh but it doesn't sit right with me. What have you found to be the best approach to getting reliable, quick responses? Is it a matter of tightening the criteria for C&T - only responses that are quick enough are rewarded? Or should I blitz the Down request and have a few longer sessions just working on this? Or something else entirely?
Definitely don't get physical (even in a gentle way) with the Down - that will make him more reluctant. The solution is to tighten the criteria for a C&T, exactly as you say. Start with a few very short sessions before dinner (when he's hungry), and have the best possible treats on hand. Keep a mental track of how fast he is and how fast you want him to be, and reward any tiny improvement (or equivalents to previous bests) towards the goal. Throw in lots of Downs when you are out and about (starting with less distracting environments and building up). The Down is now the in thing! It's all about Downs. You even want him to get to the point where he will drop spontaneously because he thinks Down is the best way to get you to pay up. Don't do long sessions though - you want him begging for more Downs. Only a few in a row for the pre-dinner sessions, and then just one at a time when out and about. Make it unpredictable and hugely exciting. Just a question - does his unwillingness to do Down happen everywhere (at home too) or just at training or just when he is close to other dogs? Some dogs are less keen to drop in company. The solution is still the same though, but working up to proofing with other dogs around. Until you're seeing improvement don't ask for Downs in the more challenging environments (this might mean not doing Downs in class for a bit). Tell the trainer you are re-training from the ground up and will do a Sit or Stand instead for now.
Thanks Rachael, that's really helpful. His Home Downs vary between OK (no treats) and 'so fast he's a blur' for his favourite chew! It seems to be outside / on lead that is the issue.
Massively upping the value of the reward works for Charlie. If I up the treats for long enough, the speed of response seems to sort of stick as I fade down the value of the reward.
Shadow has an excellent down without me even really trying. It's his favourite behaviour to try to get something, despite it being really tedious to try to lure him into the position at the very beginning. Willow sounds like she's a bit like Harv. She seems disinterested with it and is very slow. If I do a short session just focussing on downs, I get very high-pitched and squeaky when she does it, telling her what a good girl she is in addition to treats. This seems to work and, after five or six repetitions, she will be moving a lot faster and looking a lot happier about it. Sadly, when I next do it, she goes back to looking at me like I'm talking Hebrew and I generally have to start with a lure again :/
I think you got part of it in your intial post...only rewarding the quicker responses at home. I thought Scout only had a problem with other dogs in class (he also was very slow/refused to do a down in class) but it turned out to be a more general attention problem. If I tried to walk around him during a sit, he would pop up as soon as he couldn't turn his head to see me. If someone walked between us during a stay, he would get up and walk over to me. So maybe try similar things at home - walking around him during a down, dropping a treat while holding his focus with his chew, etc.
