For the most part my pup is doing great with obedience and he is now almost 6 months of age, but he has a few areas that need some work.

I have a few issues. I introduced the stay command and I have found that if I put him in a sit reward him, and then tell him to stay he will often break it. The same with the down only its worse with the down.

If I withhold a reward (food) for the sit, give him a stay command, then he will hold it until I release and reward him. I want to reward him for sitting, but If I do so he will often break the stay command. He is not quite 6 months so I haven't entered the prong collar/correction phase.

Also, I do the crate command with him and he stays in the crate but he stands with his head out until I release. When I move up to the phase of keeping him in the crate for extended periods of time with the door open I think it will be hard to transition because he does not relax while he is in there.

1 more - My pup has become very conscious of the floor because I do the watch command with a treat in my mouth that I drop. If I give him the watch command he will often look at me briefly and then start searching the ground. I have found that withholding the reward for a while and keeping his gaze has improved this, but in general he has a tendency to search the ground and lose focus while we are doing training sessions - nit just for the watch command.

Any thoughts?

Also, some people argue that the stay command is unnecessary and the dog should hold the sit or the down until released. I have had more success keeping him in position by adding the stay command???

Also, I havn't been working on a heel - just loose leash walking. I have found that if I am carry a tug, or a stick, etc. while on a walk he will naturally fall into a competition/obedience type heel (pressed up against me with his head up concentrating on me or the toy).

Is this something I should exploit as I do eventually plan on training this type of heel (He is just a house pet though)????

Matt,

I've been given the same advice not to give a separate stay command, and it makes sense to me. I'd be interested to hear what others think. To me, it's just the next step in the pup's education that he doesn't get the reward until you give the release command.

Having said that, my pup learned the stay command separately (at the door when he wasn't allowed out with me) so it was easy for me to add the 'stay' after 'sit' and then reward him once released. Now that he's conditioned to it, I've dropped the 'stay' and he knows what to do (most of the time <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ).

I have a few issues. I introduced the stay command and I have found that if I put him in a sit reward him, and then tell him to stay he will often break it. The same with the down only its worse with the down.

If I withhold a reward (food) for the sit, give him a stay command, then he will hold it until I release and reward him. I want to reward him for sitting,
ok how i handle this is tell my dog to sit and then when she reaches the desired time than mark and treat


Also, some people argue that the stay command is unnecessary and the dog should hold the sit or the down until released. I have had more success keeping him in position by adding the stay command??? ok it depends on what descipline you are going for. schutzhund,bh and most of the european sports you are not allowed to have a stay command.akc it is allowed.

it is harder for me at anyrate to teach with a stay command than without.


do not know about the crate problem


the watch me thing is just the dog anticapating the reward either change how you are rewarding the dog or start lengthing the watch.


hope this helps

You need to remember to keep it simple. Why over-complicate things by turning one command into two. Unless you plan on doing AKC obedience there is no reason to us the stay command in this situation. The dog needs to know that sit means sit until you release him, no matter what. Taking a step back might be your best bet here. Read Ed's article on intermitant rewards. If you understand this concept you should fix your problem. Also remember that you dog is still a pup at 6 months, make sure you are not pushing him to hard.

The problem with your dog watching the floor is one that you have caused. There is a great link here on the board about the "Look at me" command. It is the "Making eye contact" topic in the Compition Obedience board.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for all the advice. I'll take a look at the article and the "look" link!!!

Hi Matt

As far as stay, I used the stay command with my first pup too, as it made sense to me.

Since your pup has already been rewarded in the past for sit, he shouldn't need the sit reward all the time, just say 'sit, then 'stay', and he can be rewarded for the whole lot. It is fine for him to accomplish two commands before his reward.

Now I have had several more pups, I don't use stay any more, just sit, sometimes I reward them immediately, sometimes I count, I make the length of time variable, before the reward. In this way, sometimes, the sit itself is rewarded. The same with the down, and also 'look'. If the dog breaks position or looks away, I say "uh-oh" and move and we start over. At first with the look, reward him immediately he makes eye contact, and gradually extend the time he looks, and then change the time, so sometimes reward immediately, and sometimes a little longer, if he looks at the ground, we move and we start again with a new command. Never reward him after he has looked at the ground, then back at you. He learns that it is ok to look away as long as he looks back.

Make sure the crate is a nice place to be, feed him there sometimes, also, break up treats and place them all around inside, sometimes give him a chew toy or bone, so that he gets used to being in there in a relaxed manner.

Louise

Dont ever allow the dog to get a treat off of the ground. If you choose to drop food from your mouth and the dog misses it, thats just to bad. It has to learn the food is coming from your face, period. If the dog looks down,searching for food, do a hard change of direction and reward the dog when it is looking at you again.