Chickentrain's Dog Q&A

[RDchicken99]

How old is the dog and what do you use for treats? I would suggest that you have a special treat that you give him ONLY when he is in his bed and never anyplace else, and never for any other behavior. So for example, don't give it for rolling over, or for standing on his back legs. Only give it for Down-stay and only on his bed.

Also, once he gets the treat, end the session. Forget about what he does after that. If you want him to stay in one place at bed time, get him a crate. This isn't a behavioral issue so much as it's a management issue IMO.

Anybody else have any other suggestions?

He’s around 19 months old, and I’ve just been using kibble for treats. He already has a crate, he goes in there at night or when he needs a nap. I’m training him place so he can have a place to chill out whenever I’m doing work or drawing and can’t watch him. He just needs to know that chilling out is good because he’s a spazzy teen and needs a spot just to hang out on.

I would suggest that you have a special treat that you give him ONLY when he is in his bed and never anyplace else, and never for any other behavior.

I‘ll try and find a special treat for him to use on his place, and see if that helps him. Could someone tell me how they personally trained their dog down-stay? Hearing some other methods will help me piece together one that’ll work for my pup. And thanks for the help @BigBlueHen53!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Does the dog know Down reliably?

 

[RDchicken99]

Does the dog know Down reliably?

It’s a work in progress. He’ll down automatically if you have a treat, so I’m working on phasing them out.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

It’s a work in progress. He’ll down automatically if you have a treat, so I’m working on phasing them out.

When I say a dog will Down reliably, I mean if you say Down one time, he drops to his belly, first time, every time. I never expect or train an "Automatic Down," so I'm not sure what you mean by that. The only Automatic thing I ever taught in my classes was Automatic Sit, which means, when your dog is walking at Heel and you stop, the dog sits beside you without you having to say Sit. The dog is only expected to Down on a verbal command, "Down," or a hand signal. It does not Down unless asked to do so.

Having said all that, once the dog reliably knows the Down command and drops on command, we can begin to teach Down-stay. I only teach this on leash, where I have control of the dog. Every time a dog disobeys a command, out of confusion, fear, lack of experience, distraction or any other reason, it has learned the command can be disobeyed. So you always want to set it up for success, not for failure. This prevents frustration on the part of both handler and dog.

What I do is first praise for the Automatic Sit. Easy on the praise, a simple "Good boy" will do. We don't want to hype him up. Holding the end of the leash in your right hand, with the dog on your (sorry, dog on your LEFT), say "Down." Let the belly of the leash drop to the ground between you and the dog without making a big deal of it. With the dog lying down beside you, quietly and calmly slip your left foot over the leash. Now give a Stay hand signal as you say "Stay." The hand signal is simply your hand, palm facing the dog, in front of his face. Don't touch the dog. Do this calmly, don't be jerky or over-emphatic about it. Now move your RIGHT foot to the right and back again. Say Heel, gather up the leash, and move forward.

That's it for your first lesson. Congrats! Your dog just did his first Down-stay! Doesn't seem like much right? But do about four or five of those the first day, then quit. The next day, move both your right and left feet half a step away, then go right back and Heel away. The third day, move your right foot FORWARD like you're doing the Hokey-pokey, bring it back, and Heel away.

Day Four. Move your right foot forward. Be sure there is slack in the line. Step forward, turning as you go, so you're facing your dog! Wait a second, go back the way you came, Heel away.

Day Five. Repeat Day Four, but see if you can WALK AROUND YOUR DOG. When you get back to heel position, take a deep breath, then Heel away.

Now all you have to do is start practicing going farther away (still on leash) and alternatively staying away longer. That's two different things, so do them on alternative days.

When you can stand in front of your dog for a whole minute, occasionally practice the Recall, where you call your dog to you. As he comes, trot toward him. He should pass around behind you and end up in Heel position. Let him. Keep moving forward and Heel away.

These exercises should keep you busy for a while. When you and your dog can do 3-minute Sit-stays and 5-minute Down-stays, let me know, and we'll talk about Blind stays. Where he will hold a stay when he can't see you.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

PS, I never train with treats; I find them difficult to impossible to time accurately, and they are more of a distraction than anything. You always have your voice with you. If he is treat motivated, transfer that motivation to your voice. Every time you give him a treat, at the same time, tell him "Goood boy!" in a big happy voice. But only say it once per treat. Over time he should start to respond to your voice, so when you say the Praise Phrase you should see him act happy, just as if you had given him a treat.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

Oliver (again) has been vomiting a lot. The vet is closed now, any ideas of what to do?

Yesterday morning, he ate a small piece of soft silicone. I wasn't too worried, but he vomited in the evening yesterday and 3 times today (once this afternoon, twice in the past hour)

Any ideas on what to do? I've been feeding him regular meals, and haven't been giving him any unusual treats. It's a yellow foamy liquid, no food in it.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[RDchicken99]

When I say a dog will Down reliably, I mean if you say Down one time, he drops to his belly, first time, every time. I never expect or train an "Automatic Down," so I'm not sure what you mean by that. The only Automatic thing I ever taught in my classes was Automatic Sit, which means, when your dog is walking at Heel and you stop, the dog sits beside you without you having to say Sit. The dog is only expected to Down on a verbal command, "Down," or a hand signal. It does not Down unless asked to do so.

Having said all that, once the dog reliably knows the Down command and drops on command, we can begin to teach Down-stay. I only teach this on leash, where I have control of the dog. Every time a dog disobeys a command, out of confusion, fear, lack of experience, distraction or any other reason, it has learned the command can be disobeyed. So you always want to set it up for success, not for failure. This prevents frustration on the part of both handler and dog.

What I do is first praise for the Automatic Sit. Easy on the praise, a simple "Good boy" will do. We don't want to hype him up. Holding the end of the leash in your right hand, with the dog on your (sorry, dog on your LEFT), say "Down." Let the belly of the leash drop to the ground between you and the dog without making a big deal of it. With the dog lying down beside you, quietly and calmly slip your left foot over the leash. Now give a Stay hand signal as you say "Stay." The hand signal is simply your hand, palm facing the dog, in front of his face. Don't touch the dog. Do this calmly, don't be jerky or over-emphatic about it. Now move your RIGHT foot to the right and back again. Say Heel, gather up the leash, and move forward.

That's it for your first lesson. Congrats! Your dog just did his first Down-stay! Doesn't seem like much right? But do about four or five of those the first day, then quit. The next day, move both your right and left feet half a step away, then go right back and Heel away. The third day, move your right foot FORWARD like you're doing the Hokey-pokey, bring it back, and Heel away.

Day Four. Move your right foot forward. Be sure there is slack in the line. Step forward, turning as you go, so you're facing your dog! Wait a second, go back the way you came, Heel away.

Day Five. Repeat Day Four, but see if you can WALK AROUND YOUR DOG. When you get back to heel position, take a deep breath, then Heel away.

Now all you have to do is start practicing going farther away (still on leash) and alternatively staying away longer. That's two different things, so do them on alternative days.

When you can stand in front of your dog for a whole minute, occasionally practice the Recall, where you call your dog to you. As he comes, trot toward him. He should pass around behind you and end up in Heel position. Let him. Keep moving forward and Heel away.

These exercises should keep you busy for a while. When you and your dog can do 3-minute Sit-stays and 5-minute Down-stays, let me know, and we'll talk about Blind stays. Where he will hold a stay when he can't see you.

Thank you so much! I need to work on amping up praise for him. Also by automatically I meant that he will down when I ask. I’m taking it you teach sit stay the same way? Again thanks for the help.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Oliver (again) has been vomiting a lot. The vet is closed now, any ideas of what to do?

Yesterday morning, he ate a small piece of soft silicone. I wasn't too worried, but he vomited in the evening yesterday and 3 times today (once this afternoon, twice in the past hour)

Any ideas on what to do? I've been feeding him regular meals, and haven't been giving him any unusual treats. It's a yellow foamy liquid, no food in it.

Thanks for any suggestions!

When did this start? Could he have eaten a larger piece of this silicone, resulting in a blockage? Does he seem to be in pain at all or depressed?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Thank you so much! I need to work on amping up praise for him. Also by automatically I meant that he will down when I ask. I’m taking it you teach sit stay the same way? Again thanks for the help.

I teach Sit-stay without treats if that's what you mean, and on leash. When I teach Heel, I always step off with my left foot, the foot nearest the dog. That way, when teaching Stay, I move the opposite foot, the right foot. It helps keep from confusing the dog. Left foot = Heel; right foot = Stay. It's very cool when demonstrating to my friends that the dog can "read my mind," Heel or Stay with "no" signal or command, lol.

This also worked wonderfully when my dog was cast as Sandy in the Annie play at my local community college and the Annie character was to sing "Tomorrow." She was to move about the stage at one point with the dog moving with her, then return to center stage, sing some more, then move to front stage center with the dog remaining behind. The director was tearing out his hair, wondering how we were going to accomplish this. "It's supposed to be a stray dog," he moaned. "She can't give the dog any commands or signals!" "No problem," I told him, "as long as your Annie knows her right foot from her left." She did, and it worked great.

To teach Sit-stay, yes, but keep your left hand over the dog's neck with a little slack in the line. As you begin to walk around the dog from one step away, watch hiis head. If the dog drops his head, indicating he is about to stand up, snap the leash straight up in a sit correction. Then continue around him. Don't say anything. When you get back to Heel position, vary the length of time you stand beside him before you Heel away. Sometimes Heel away immediately, sometimes wait a few seconds. Sometimes ask for a Down, then Heel. Other times do a Down-stay. Mix it up. At this stage of training they start anticipating so don't do anything 2 or 3x in a row!

 

[Cecisflock]

Never heard of a lick mat, what is its purpose?

Enrichment and releasing oxytocin.
https://chopperandotis.com/collecti...inders/products/jigsaw-enrichment-licking-mat

He’s around 19 months old, and I’ve just been using kibble for treats. He already has a crate,

Are you doing down-stay in his crate? if not I could see why he is confused. Kibble for treats sounds best if he is so excited.

I‘ll try and find a special treat for him to use on his place, and see if that helps him. Could someone tell me how they personally trained their dog down-stay?

Here is how i did it
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/teaching-the-stay/