I was working on Harvey's Stay this morning and for the first exercise I planned to do 2mins in-sight followed immediately by 2mins out-of-sight and then another 2mins in-sight (for a total 6mins Stay), all in the Sit position. The first 2mins were uneventful. About half way through the out-of-sight section I heard him shuffle and sneaked a peek - he had moved into a Down : I gave him the Sit command again and continued the rest of the exercise without any further issues. It wasn't until later that I wondered about whether I was right to have done my usual C&T when I released him at the end of the exercise. He had remained where I put him in the Stay but he'd strayed from a Sit to a Down. What do you think?
Re: To reward or not to reward, that is the question I don't care if Charlie lies down. If he's more comfy in a down, it's fine with me.
Re: To reward or not to reward, that is the question For practical purposes, I don't mind if Lilly lies down, but when we were doing obedience training we had to correct if she did this. Depends on what you are aiming for.
Re: To reward or not to reward, that is the question Yes, I think you did right. But next time go back to a much shorter time for the out of sight part and C&T success at that. Gradually build up the time again (but sometimes do short ones too). Maintaining the exact position is important for formal obedience, but it probably doesn't matter otherwise unless that's the standard you want.
Re: To reward or not to reward, that is the question I would go for a shorter out of sight stay too. I'm never bothered if Riley changes position as long as he stays put....it can be a tiny bit frustrating if he does it in class though whilst some chat is going on as very occasionally he hasn't switched back into marking mode cos he's chillin 8)
Re: To reward or not to reward, that is the question I asked the gundog trainer today about the fact that murphy lies down after a while during a long wait. He said that he looks for a dog to be comfortable and that he can shut down whilst waiting as it means they are happy to wait and so if it means hes lead down then its fine. I guess its because when working in the field there can be a lot of waiting for the dogs and so its good that they can happily chill out and wait?
Re: To reward or not to reward, that is the question Thanks for the feedback. I'll drop the duration of the middle, out-of-sight, section and gradually build back up again. Although, as suggested, I guess it could just be a comfort thing and I don't want to be pedantic about Harv staying in a Sit if he doesn't find it comfortable. [quote author=Stacia link=topic=10409.msg153568#msg153568 date=1427917770] Can you leave him in a down? [/quote] Yes, when we do the Down stay in the same scenario we have no problems - he doesn't suddenly feel the need to Sit. I'll see how we go. Thanks again.
