[vonDrehle]

Hey,
I have been working with Candy the past week on a few things and was wondering what would be the best next thing to teach her after she has finally master sit and down (What I saw for Lie Down). I was thinking maybe shake but I am not sure what would be easier for her to learn after learning sit, if there is any difference at all. You know, You have to crawl before you can walk type thing.

In addition I am also working with her own leash walking, not rushing out the door, and greeting people.

[TooneyDogs]

You can work on anything you want....try to include something the dog loves to do along with all the boring stuff. Come is obviously number 1 but, Stand is up there too (Stand/Stay) for vet visits and groomers.

[pamperedpups]

How is your dog's focus? Name recognition? Does she have a reliable recall? Those are things I would work on. Off leash heeling can also be fun if you break it down into reinforcable bits.

[PeppersPop]

Come and Stay are really important ones... you might want to take a look at the good canine citizenship test items and work towards those...

Originally Posted by vonDrehle

Hey,
I have been working with Candy the past week on a few things and was wondering what would be the best next thing to teach her after she has finally master sit and down (What I saw for Lie Down). I was thinking maybe shake but I am not sure what would be easier for her to learn after learning sit, if there is any difference at all. You know, You have to crawl before you can walk type thing.

In addition I am also working with her own leash walking, not rushing out the door, and greeting people.

[starky83]

The next command you should learn is stand. that will be like the buffer between sit and down. If you always say sit then down or down then sit your dog will know whats coming and lose interest. If you put stand in the mix then your dog will stay focused because their are three possibilities now and he will have to stay focused to know whats coming or he won't get rewarded.

[Dogstar]

I like Sue Ailsby's "Training Levels" for the progression of individual behaviors. But because dogs aren't great at generalizing, it's very possible to have a dog that is super-advanced in somethings but not in others. (For example, Lizzie has a drop on recall and is working on signal exercise (for utility) but doesn't have anything like real stays yet- she's practicing the signals on a tether and the DOR with someone releasing her.) Each behavior has it's own specific progression.