Most of you know in between the story of my disabled Charlie. The other three learned sitting quasi immediately. I only had to hold my baited hand in front of their nose and gradually holding it higher and they sat. It was also easy to put it then on cue and also to teach the sit stay.

With Charlie I can't do this, he doesn't follow my hand, it seems he doesn't like this. I then began to stroke his backside and at the same time press it very gently down. Then he sits, but only for a very short moment. Nevertheless should I go on like this? I'm prepared I'll have to do it for a long time.

The down I've dindn't even try yet. He also doesn't give me his paw, a behavior I found one of the easiest for my other ones. I then took his paw, but he locked against this. Meanwhile he allows it whithout problem, but doesn't give it himself.

For a short while I thought, maybe the Vet, who said he was untrainable, was right.

But still I don't believe it. He understands for example "Kennel", "Garage" and "Door" and goes there immediately. He also comes between my legs and walks with me like that in every direction. He additionally has the best recall of all my four.

He loves in between swimming. When we were moving away from the entrance stair he had no problem with this, but when I wanted to swim back with him he used to swim against the walls and the panicked. I of course was always with him and could steer or carry him to the right angle, so he could find out of the pool. Now he knows it without my help

Is this an untrainable dog??? I don't expect from him to become a champion.

Has any one an idea what else I could try what refers to sitting? I'd really appreciate, because once he has a sit stay I can train many other things with him.

I think you've proven that he's definitely not untrainable but how far you can go is still a guess.

As long as he's not stressed or physically uncomfortable I say keep going.

Some would take their forearm and push in on his rear legs in the bend above the hocks and cause the knees to buckle/bend into a sit position.

Again, how uncomfortable this may be for him is up to you to determine.

Kudos for your efforts!

Thanks, Bob! He sits now, when I stroke his backend for a while. If I hold at the same time his chin slightly upwards with the other hand it helps The sit stay is probably still quite far down the road. I will today also try your tip, it sounds very logic aned maybe this will be easier for him.

One strange thing: sometimes he takes the food reward from my hand, sometimes he doen't want to take it, only when i let it drop on the floor. (It doesn't depend on the type of food.)

He is very fond of being petted. He presses himself very often against my legs and asks me obviosly for being caressed. Should I give him this as reward instead of food or perhaps alternate between the two?

If he isn't always crazy about the food reward and loves being petted then for sure try it.

You should be able to see a different response between the two rewards and go with what gets the best response.

You'll ALWAYS have the petting reward with you.

True! This I can't forget.

By the way, I tried your tip yesterday. He locked very much against it. Nonetheless I'll continue trying. He's just not used to it. Same procedure with the front paws. He at first didn't want me to take them. Then I began just touching them regularly. Now I can take them in my hand and he remains totally relaxed. In the beginning he even yelped when I touched his backside and screamed when I tried to lift him up a bit behind. I don't know, what that dog has gone through in his first 1 and 1/2 years.

But no issue any more. What imports is he's gained trust. This makes it possible to work with him.

 Quote: Christina Stockinger

True! This I can't forget.

By the way, I tried your tip yesterday. He locked very much against it. Nonetheless I'll continue trying. He's just not used to it. Same procedure with the front paws. He at first didn't want me to take them. Then I began just touching them regularly. Now I can take them in my hand and he remains totally relaxed. In the beginning he even yelped when I touched his backside and screamed when I tried to lift him up a bit behind. I don't know, what that dog has gone through in his first 1 and 1/2 years.

But no issue any more. What imports is he's gained trust. This makes it possible to work with him.

Isn't this Board the GREATEST thing ever, Christina ??? I continue to learn SO MUCH from every one of our "tried & true" Regulars here !!! God bless all the "good guys" at Leerburg

 Quote: Christina Stockinger

True! This I can't forget.

By the way, I tried your tip yesterday. He locked very much against it. Nonetheless I'll continue trying. He's just not used to it. Same procedure with the front paws. He at first didn't want me to take them. Then I began just touching them regularly. Now I can take them in my hand and he remains totally relaxed. In the beginning he even yelped when I touched his backside and screamed when I tried to lift him up a bit behind. I don't know, what that dog has gone through in his first 1 and 1/2 years.
But no issue any more. What imports is he's gained trust. This makes it possible to work with him.

I should have mentioned that you might go back to loading the marker with the new reward, praise and petting.

I've used treats, tugs, kongs and a bite as rewards and the transitions have gone very smooth.

With your dog in particular this may be a big leap so I would reload the new reward just as you started out with marker training.

Obviously you can still use treats but what it is isn't an issue as long as it holds value for the dog.

Not a big deal what the reward is if it has value to the dog and that consistency of marking the behavior.

You will figure out what has the higher value.

This is a big tip that Bob has given ... !

I didn't think of it, but he is so right that it never hurts when using a new reward to charge, or load, your marker again. In fact, IMHO, it never hurts to "back up" and refresh the training steps, even when you're not changing rewards! JMHO ...

Christina, is that clear, what re-charging (or re-loading) the marker means?

"back up and refresh" should be a staple part of any dog training.

Look at it as batting practice even for the professional ball players.

 Quote: Bob Scott

"back up and refresh" should be a staple part of any dog training.

Look at it as batting practice even for the professional ball players.

It took me personally a long time to understand that backing up a step (or more) was never negative. That is, that even if it's unnecessary, it's never a bad move to reinforce previous steps ...

Thank you to Michael Ellis ...