When we are doing the “down” command, Sasha will sit, flop over to one hip and slide into a down, which was originally fine for what I wanted. Please keep in mind she is mostly a companion dog, but we've started messing around with some Rally OB and ended up being pretty good at it.

We got our Novice title last year in Rally, and now that we are getting into Advanced Rally, some of the new signs are "forward; down your dog; walk around" and "fast forward from down". My trainer now wants me to teach her the “sphynx down” so she can go down faster and get up faster.

I started luring her into a proper down by pushing the food between her front legs and having her drop down inbetween two boxes where she can’t flop over and then marking it. We’ve now moved away from the boxes and I’ve been releasing her before she flops and we’re up to about 5 seconds. I don’t need her to hold it for long; just long enough for me to walk around her.

I haven’t named it yet because I’m not sure how to do it without confusing her. I was going to use “drop” for the sphynx down and “down” for when she’s allowed to do the flop-over down.

My girl shuts down quickly if she gets frustrated or confused. Any suggestions on how I can make it easier for her to understand what I want?

I taught a quicker, straighter down for competition and named it "platz" (versus the "down" she already knew). It's not 100% reliable yet, but my dog understands the difference.

Sounds like what you're doing is pressure free. You're creating muscle memory, and now all you need to do is practice that until she's throwing her elbows down with a clunk and lots of enthusiasm. Name it whatever you want, just focus on creating enthusiasm and she probably won't become frustrated.

My dog also knows what Duane's dog knows. Down means she can be lazy about it and either do it by sitting down first or rolling onto her hip. Platz is the sphinx down you're trying to create. Our platz was taught by luring her, creating muscle memory, and then showing her WHY we do it that way. She can't explode forward after a ball if she's rolled on her hip and she understands that now.

Also remember that she's learning to use different muscles to hold her body into the position. Short, quick sessions will help her develop the skills she needs to control the different muscle groups without creating excessive muscle fatigue. Think of it as doggy yoga.

 Quote: SamanthaTopper

She can't explode forward after a ball if she's rolled on her hip and she understands that now.

Bingo! Thanks, Sam. This the missing link I need to make mine more reliable.

I've been rewarding in place. I will use some dynamic food presentation to get her in a higher drive for the reward, then have her spring out of it for the marked reward.

Thanks for the info Sam. My girl is a low drive American Mastiff so I'm not sure we will ever get the "throwing elbows down with enthusiasm" part but I love the idea of using her ball to reward her. I'm pretty sure we can get more speed than we have now using either a ball or her tug toy.

I'll remember to go easy until her muscles are conditioned properly. I don't want her to associate the platz with sore muscles.

 Quote: Debbie Martin

Thanks for the info Sam. My girl is a low drive American Mastiff so I'm not sure we will ever get the "throwing elbows down with enthusiasm" part but I love the idea of using her ball to reward her. I'm pretty sure we can get more speed than we have now using either a ball or her tug toy.

I'll remember to go easy until her muscles are conditioned properly. I don't want her to associate the platz with sore muscles.

And tell us how it goes!

Week one went well.

She's now holding a formal down for a count of 10 and going down quite quickly (for a Mastiff). Sometimes I'll release her to her ball, sometimes to a stand/hand touch command which she loves. The big test will be in class tomorrow night.

I love big dogs doing OB... it's like a fat guy scoring a touchdown

Love the analogy David. And yes, she does look slow and awkward compared to the other dogs in class.