hey every one... i think i have a easy question this time... my now almost 6 month old female gsd is doing great with all of her obedience commands; sit, down, stay, come, get it, drop it.

mky question is this, with her age taken into account should i be starting her real obedience work yet or should everything still be all fun and games. i have been teaching and working her with food and ball.. ??

another question i have is with the down stay..if i place her in a down stay is it alright for after a minute to go by she get totally relaxed and llay on her side with head down like she is about to go to sleep??? :rolleyes:

totally bored i guess huh???
should i have no argument as long as she is still down? i would like her to stay totally focused but hey.....

thanks guys........Bounette

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should i have no argument as long as she is still down? thanks guys........

uh, Bounette...I'm not a guy, but you woouldn't hold that against me, would you? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Since none of the "guys" have answered, I'll take a shot at this one: it depends on what you are training for. If it's an AKC obedience title then only requirement is that the dog not move from it's place. It can snooze all it wants. (though even AKC judges like to see happy, attentive dogs).
From the AKC regulations:
"...the dogs must not move from the down position until after the judge has said, "Exercise finished....A non-qualifying score (NQ) is required for the following: The dog moving a substantial distance away from the place where it was left any time during the exercise, going over to any other dog, not remaining in the required position until the handler has returned to heel position, repeatedly barking or whining."

If you are going for a higher title, ie, Sch, then you will likely some lose points for the dog not being more focused on you. Some Sch competitors even teach a dog the command on a small table in order to reinforce the "tucked" down position. Going back to "attention getting" exercises should help you get the pup more focused on you.

6 months is still very young, though dogs will mature at different rates. It's not too early to start heeling, but my advice is to keep the training periods short, motivational, and fun, fun, fun! If you think you are boring her then it's time to rethink your the way you do your excercises and try to perk up her interest again: different sequences, different locations, different food/toys, etc.

Of course, this is all IMHO... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Sounds good to me....looks like you need no "guy" advise!

Same here.......all sounds good, keep it fun for now,I would not worry to much about the down at this point. Good luck.