[Alejandro]

I know I know, "perfect" is too big of a word, but it gives an idea to where I am aiming (and I know it is an ever moving carrot)

the thing is I just have taught some things to my dog in this past months.

For now, he knows to sit and give the paw. The last one he recognizes by hand signal more than key word, but I am introducing key word.

My question is how do I make my dog do what I told him even when he already knows? What I mean is that he generaly does sit when I give him the command, but if he is lied down in the floor tired, he won't sit once at my command.

I would like to fix that. It's not that I want to bother him every time he is resting or anything like that, it's just that I would like to know I can trust in the comman.

I haven't much trained distractions yet, cause first I want to train that when I say sit, he SITS. Once he does this at least better than now I'll put bigger enphasis on distraction training (as said, I am doing some of it) but for now my main concern is the one expressed: that he does the command immidiately always that I give it to him.

Advices?

 

[lil_fuzzy]

You need to build value for the sit, so that whatever your dog is doing, he will think being asked to sit is awesome and he will do it no matter what. You do this by practicing it a lot at times when you know he'll do it, so you're conditioning an emotional response to the command. Use really high value treats, or combine sit training with a game, like tug. So you'd tug for a bit, ask the dog to drop the toy, ask for a sit, then tug again. End the session before the dog gets sick of it, you want him really excited for it. Also you could run around the house with the dog following you and then suddenly stop and ask the dog to sit. When he sits, give a treat, release the dog and run to the other end of the house. Repeat. Only reward average or better, so if your dog sits really slowly don't give him a treat, only give a treat when he sits quickly.

As for getting up from a down, that can be tricky for some dogs, it's a different movement than sitting from a stand. I would just practice it the way I mentioned above for now, and make sure the dog really understands the command.

 

[Amaryllis]

I train sitting from a stand as "sit" and sitting from a down as "up". That fixed Kabota's confusion.

How are you training and for how long? Clicker training would help, but nothing replaces time and repetition. You need hundreds of repetitions in all sorts of states and distractions to consider a command truly learned. And adding distractions is often going back to square one for a bit.

Remember, even obedience champions have their off days. Nothing is perfect with a living being.

 

[turtlesocks]

I also use the "up" command for sitting from a down. Worked great for us.

 

[lil_fuzzy]

I use "sit" for both. It's the position that's called "sit" not the movement to get to into the sit. But whatever works.

 

[Alejandro]

Thanks for the replies!

I guess I'll use higher value treats... I was using cheese because it is kinda easier and cheap enough.

I know he understands the command and is not a problem of understanding, even when it is that he is lying down (I don't call it "down" for now because he doesn't know to do it on command yet, it has been difficult to start totrain this, but I am getting there! )

Just rewarind ght quick ones worries me that will pollute the command to a point where he thinks that it is not working anymore, because he almost always takes his time x_x

 

[lil_fuzzy]

The idea is to reward "average or better". So if he's generally quite slow, you reward what's quick for him, not what would be quick for any other dog. But you never reward the really slow ones, and you don't always have to use the command either. Like if you're tugging, and you take the tug away and just wait him out, eventually he will most likely sit because he gets bored or because that's what's worked in the past, and as soon as he sits you give the tug back and continue the game. If he enjoys tugging he will see the connection pretty quickly and start sitting faster, without a command. When he's consistently doing it you can add the command as he's sitting, and then he will realise that it's more rewarding to sit fast than to sit slow.

 

[Nev Allen]

It is important that you do not repeat your commands. If you have to repeat a command you are teaching the dog he can ignore the first time. If he does not sit when you tell him, then he does not understand what you want yet.

I do not add a verbal command until the dog fully understands a hand signal.

 

[Alejandro]

I never repeat them.

thanks for the advice though

 

[qingcong]

For me, my paradigm shift was going from a "How do I make the dog always obey me?" mindset to a "How can I teach my dog that this activity is always worthwhile to engage in?". That means setting him up for success and not expecting compliance to me. Rather, I want him to tap into his desire to comply with himself.

My rule of thumb is always, if I can't bet $100 that he'll do it, I'm not going to give the cue for it.