I've been working with Cito for the last week about 15min a day (broken up into 5 min sections).

He already knew "sit" "down" "stay" "out" and "off" my question is in regards to his habit of sitting and then immediately lying down when I ask him to sit. I think it may be from my habit of rarely asking him to sit (unless I'm offering him his food).

I've tried gently putting him back in a sit, I've tried correcting him with a flat coller, and I've tried releasing him and then asking him to sit again and he's still sitting and then lying down. Initially I thought given his physical structure that it might be actively uncomfortable for him to sit so I tried doing work only in the grass or on the carpet but no change.

Does anyone have any suggestions or experience on how to break him of this habit? I also thought perhaps he associates "sit" with "down" and I might need to teach a different word for sit?

Finally, he responds well to corrections on a flat coller but they require some some strong arm movement on my part. Would a prong be a good idea for a dog with such a short coat and fairly delicate skin?

Thanks in advance for ideas and suggestions :-)

Hi,
I'm sure you'll get lots of good suggestions but here's mine :-)
First, I would make sure I separate the commands very clearly and not even ask for a down for a couple of weeks (or whatever works for this dog) while I make the sit more solid.

And, I would not do much correcting but rather withhold the treat until the behavior I want appears. He may be anticipating you want the down so throws that in for good luck. So if he goes down, just say 'nope'(or whatever your 'try again' word is) and ask for sit again. He'll offer several behaviors trying to figure it out. When he happens to offer a sit, "YES!" and Treat! He'll figure it out quickly. Sounds like he knows the commands but is getting confused. Clickers work nicely for this too. Good luck.
Lynn

I've been working with Cito for the last week about 15min a day (broken up into 5 min sections).

He already knew "sit" "down" "stay" "out" and "off" my question is in regards to his habit of sitting and then immediately lying down when I ask him to sit. I think it may be from my habit of rarely asking him to sit (unless I'm offering him his food).

I've tried gently putting him back in a sit, I've tried correcting him with a flat coller, and I've tried releasing him and then asking him to sit again and he's still sitting and then lying down. Initially I thought given his physical structure that it might be actively uncomfortable for him to sit so I tried doing work only in the grass or on the carpet but no change.

Does anyone have any suggestions or experience on how to break him of this habit? I also thought perhaps he associates "sit" with "down" and I might need to teach a different word for sit?

Finally, he responds well to corrections on a flat coller but they require some some strong arm movement on my part. Would a prong be a good idea for a dog with such a short coat and fairly delicate skin?

Thanks in advance for ideas and suggestions :-)

thanks very much for your response:-). I've thought about the things you've mentioned and tried marking with a clicker but I find he anticipates to the point that he'll only do two or three behaviors every time and doesn't offer any more behaviors then those three.

I've re-posted in general dog conversation so that more people will see the post. I hope this is alright Moderators:-). If not I'm sure I'll find out!

I've just realized that it may be against the rules to re-post. If this is the case I apologize.

He needs a reason to WANT to sit. Hold a small treat in front of his nose at SIT level. If he lays down, hold it in front of his nose, tell him "sit" and raise it up to sit level. He should rise up to follow the treat and as soon as he sits, reward him with the treat and praise. Once he does this consistently, hold the treat for progressively longer periods. As he progresses, gradually substitute a treat for praise only now and then. I would never stop giving treats altogether, I don't think all praise and no goodies are quite as appealing the the dog.

I'd also hold off on the prong and see how positive reinforcement goes first.

You haven't mentioned whether you use a treat as a reward after you mark the behavior. Here's an excellent article on training with markers: http://www.leerburg.com/markers.htm

I have had the same issue with Levi. Here is what has helped us..first of all when I put him in a sit, if I want him to stay in a sit I tell him sit then I tell him stay. If he lies down I will take his ball (he's not a treat dog but this will work great w/a treat also) and put it directly over his head and urge him to 'sit' eventually he will come up off the ground to get his ball/treat. At this point, I will tell him "good sit, stay" If he goes back into a down I tell him "No, then repeat the ball over the head, telling him to sit and stay. Once he holds the sit stay for a few seconds I will reward him with a "good sit"

Doing this has worked wonders for him. He does understand no and sometimes if he goes into a down after being told to sit he will automatically pop up into a sit, knowing he will get rewarded for a 'good sit'. Thing is, only by doing this over and over and over again has he started to UNDERSTAND what I want him to do. It takes patience and repition and reward. Think about it, if someone told you to sit and you weren't sure how long you were going to have to be in that position and didn't really understand what the command "meant" you would probably want to lean against the wall or find a more comfortable position too. I know I would, lol. Anyhow, hope this helps.

There will come a time when I will expect him to sit w/out a stay. I will expect him to stay in a sit because that is what he was told to do but for now we are just baby stepping things.

Edited by RobbinMann (11/01/2007 10:19 AM)
Edit reason: forgot a thought

 Quote: Dvijapatni Malovic

I've just realized that it may be against the rules to re-post. If this is the case I apologize.

Spamming is indeed against the rules.

The two threads are now merged, so you will want to look over this thread again for answers inserted from the other one.

The suggestion to read up on marker training is a good one.