I am hoping someone can advise me on an appropriate range of time to leave my 9 month old GSD in a down or sit stay. We are working in the distraction and correction stages of training. When training in the backyard, I would guess that I ask him to stay for about a minute or so, on average. Other times, I get a little side-tracked and he's there a couple of minutes. Now I also have him stay for very short times, just so he doesn't get to where he doesn't like it because he thinks he will have to stay forever, every time. I also remind him to stay, throughout the excercise. He very rarely breaks these commands in the backyard, as the distractions usually aren't very high and he's such a good boy .

I would also like some information on how to start training the Leave-it command. I have started this briefly with him, but want to do it right. This topic isn't covered in the Basic Obedience dvd. Although it is in my E-collar dvd, it's really at a different level and it focuses on how to correct an "already trained" dog, with an E-collar. Of course we would not even be in the correction phase for awhile. I have all of the podcasts on cd's that I listen to all the time and I have all of the eBooks downloaded. I have searched and searched the boards for this information, so forgive me if it's in plain site somewhere on Leerburg.com... just please point me to it! ;O)

Thanks a bunch!
Tracy & Oscar

When my dog was about 7 months old we took him to a professional trainer who told us "sit" and "down" end when we release him, she didn't believe in teaching "stay". Different people have different opinions of this. What she did tell us to do, at 7 months, was put him in a down with a leash on him. Then sit down and read a book for 30 minutes. If the dog gets up, take the leash and put him back where you want him, and put him into a down, then go back to reading. Repeat once or twice a day until you can get all the way through the 30 minutes without the dog getting up.

I thought I saw how to train Leave It on this site, but in searching I can't find it. Maybe someone else will be able to help you. Otherwise, you can google it and find lots of examples.

 Quote: Rich Pallechio

What she did tell us to do, at 7 months, was put him in a down with a leash on him. Then sit down and read a book for 30 minutes. If the dog gets up, take the leash and put him back where you want him, and put him into a down, then go back to reading. Repeat once or twice a day until you can get all the way through the 30 minutes without the dog getting up.

Is this 30 mins after having *worked up* to that time, or what? Or is that generally how long a 7 month old dog should be holding their positions? I think it varies dog to dog, and what you are training for...? JMO.

My trainer was the same as Rich's trainer. Sit means Sit until I tell you otherwise, and Down means Down until I tell you otherwise. Noah is 11 months old and he is reliable with down for about 15 minutes in front of the sliding doors at Walmart. Lot of people, kids, and cars. For sits, he's good for about 5 minutes, then he wants to go into a down. "Ok, we're just here, why can't I lay down?" I would say, as a rule of thumb, build time or build distraction, but not both in the same session.

For Leave it, attach a flat leather collar and leash. put something on the floor that he might be interested in (bread, say) and hold something that he's definitely interested in (cheese, say). walk up to the bread and when you're about two feet away say "leave it" and tug the leash. If he looks up at you, treat him. The idea is, "Leave it" means ignore whatever is on the ground. Look away from it. Preferably at me. Once he understands what "leave it means", slowly increase the quality of the bait item and introduce corrections.

That Leave It is what worked for us, if any pro trainers see a problem or flaw please let me know. I don't use Leave It much, I've tried to teach Noah that it is never ok to eat or lick things on the ground. Sometimes he is overwhelmed by stinky sausages though.

 Quote: rich pallechio

When my dog was about 7 months old we took him to a professional trainer who told us "sit" and "down" end when we release him, she didn't believe in teaching "stay".

It sounds like we are doing the exact same thing, except you do not add the word "stay" into the command. Right? I've always wondered whether I should or shouldn't use "stay". During the excercise, I walk up to him and pet him and praise him by saying "good down", before releasing him. If he looks fidgety or like he needs a reminder, I say "stay down". I hope somebody can clarify why this may or may not be a good idea. I can see where it really isn't a necessary command, when you could accomplish the same thing by having the dog down or sit. I do like being able to make him stay quickly, without regards to what position he is in (standing, sitting, or laying down) when I leave and/or return to him. However, I don't need this convenience at the expense of confusing him. I'm always open to altering our training, I've done it alot and he adapts much quicker than I do!

Thanks a bunch!

Tracy, if you're already working on the distraction phase of the sit/down exercise, you should be way past worrying about the length of time involved.

Remember, the correct sequence for training those exercises are:
Time
Distance
Distraction

You increase the time portion until it's flawless, then advance to distance. When those two aspects of the exercise are steady *then* advance to distractions.

Hope thast helps.

Michele,

I'm not sure I understand your question, but I won't let that stop me from answering it

The "down" training session is 30 minutes. Put the dog in the down and for the next 30 minutes every time he gets up put him back into the down. At the end of 30 minutes release him. Eventually he will get to the point where he will stay in a down until you release him.

Rich

Tracy,

The trainer I took my dog to happens to the the secretary of one of the local Shutzhund clubs. In Shutzhund they don't use the "stay" command. Since my dog isn't going to be doing any kind of competition (he's a pet), I really don't care, and we have taught him "stay" and "wait". "Stay" is stay there until I release you, "wait" is short term, like I'm filling his food bowl and he has to wait until I am done before he can eat, or I tell him to "wait" after I open his crate door before letting him out.

Someone here also posted about teaching "leave it", pretty much the way I taught it. To reinforce it, I'll put him in a down and put a treat on his paw and tell him to leave it. He stares at the treat (or looks at me) until I release him, then he eats it.

Rich