I think I've messed up with Sasha...

She tends to go into a 'down' even when I don't want her too. If I have a treat, toy, or if she's just focusing on me, she automatically goes into a down, and will sometimes bark or 'whisper'. Vocal commands don't seem to matter; 'sit' 'down' 'platz' 'sasha' or 'hey goofball'.

For instance last night: I had a cookie for her, and stood holding it by my chest looking at her. She sat, then dropped into a down and 'whispered'. (A bark with nothing but air, lol). That's when I realized, i've over-trianed her!

I know *how* I did it. I created a pattern. I taught her to sit, then to down. I would always ask her to sit, then down before a treat. When in a down, I taught her to 'whisper' for her toy/treat instead of speaking (we were in an apartment). Now she gets ahead of me and does it on her own.

Not a bad thing I suppose, as she's not jumping on me for the treat/toy, but I want to start working with her on heeling etc. Very difficult when she sees the treat and automatically drops into a 'down'.


How do I undo this 'oops'? She's a very smart dog... which I think is the problem! She outsmarted me in this one! lol

It sounds like you had not given her a command but she was offering behaviors to see what would work for the cookie.

If that correct?

Not a big deal, next time just give her a command and reward. Dogs do detect patterns and anticipate easily so just make sure you start mixing them up a little bit.

Do also want to make sure that you don't always go to a down from a sit first. Been there, done that....

Pretty much. She knows that the usual request is to down & whisper (It's what I taught her so that my cousins & other kids can see she's friendly, and give her a cookie) so she automatically does it.

I'm trying to switch her to german commands, (I find it irritating when other people automatically tell my dogs to sit, or shake, or whatever they think they have the right to command) so this has kind of worked out for me. Since she already 'downs' automatically, I've been commanding 'platz' so she'll start associating the action with the new command.

Think it'll work?

You could ignore her/don't acknowledge it if she downs, then ask for something else.
If you hold the treat in a different spot or have a different body position it may help her see you want something different.

It is not uncommon for dogs to offer behaviors in the presence of rewards. When she gives the right one she gets the reward.

I have that problem w/ my pup sometimes also.

One thing that you should do is to keep the treat hidden in a bait bag or on the counter, etc so that she doesn't automatically go into a down. Also, this is a good practice in general for all training; you don't want her to obey only when she sees a treat...

Also, stop sequencing the sit and down commands as much as possible...

If my pup goes into a down when I say 'sit', I say 'no, not that' and repeat the command 'sit', and wait. She will get back into a sit position, and then I mark and reward for the sit.(I had to wait for a bit for her to figure this out...)

ps, I like the 'whisper' command!; how did you teach that?

Any suggestions as to what other behavior i could ask for? Maybe something new?

Lynne: The whisper was kind of self-taught. She was a puppy when we were in our apartment, and when she would bark, sometimes she would only get air out, lol. I started saying 'whisper' and if she barked, i would turn my back (Kind of a 'reset' button with her!) If she 'whispered', I would tell her 'good girl' and give her the treat, or reward with a ball toss or tug.

After working with a smart dog, I have to admit that Maverick (Husky mix) frustrates me sometimes! lol. Sasha makes an effort to figure out what I'm asking for. Maverick looks at me & drools, lol.

Sounds like your dog is having fun, trying to guess what you want (since you did not give a command).

If she tries different things when you do give a command (let's say you said "stand" and she lays down, whispers, then sits) - it means she doesn't understand the command.

I use this to check to see if the dog has learned the command word yet. I say the command (such as down) and do not give any body signals or movements. If the dog starts "guessing" - then I know that the dog doesn't know the command and is still in the learning phase.

In your case, no command was given, so she started guessing right away. This means she is motivated for the cookie - and she loves learning! "Clicker" motivational training uses this premise, that the dog will try and get the click (i.e. cookie) and therefore has to "figure out" or "problem solve" to find the right answer. Smart dogs love this game.

Anticipation of a command is generaly taken as a good sign.
if you dont respond immediatly to the dog doing the correct command, the dog may assume that your waiting until she does do the correct thing (we humans tend to do that) and just go through the whole routine. To keep the dog from doing this keep it up beat, and if you want the dog to hold a certain command like sit, without moving, teach the automatic stay. I did this by having them sit the praising immediatly and then saying "stay" while making sure they hold it, putting them back in position when they move. work it up from really short times and the dog will realize that you want it to just hold the command a minute instead of thinking you wanted something else. sounds like a fun dog to train

Megan, teach her something new to break the cycle/pattern. Ignore when she automatically downs and whispers for now then take a step or two backwards and call her to you in an upbeat fashion and start over.