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My Dog Daisy
10-24-2000, 07:36 PM
I just took my PWD puppy to her first training class. The instructor told me I have to have more control over her. She has trouble being told to lie down. Does anyone one have any hints? She is 4 months old.

scottie
10-24-2000, 07:58 PM
Try this. Take a piece of doggie treatand put it above her head and and towards the back a little to make her sit. tel her to stay and bring the treat down to the floor in front of her and that will make her lie down. If that doesn't work bend your knee a little bit, put her on one side and the treat onthe other and that will make her reach for the treat which will make her lie down. Hope it works! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif

karen israel
10-25-2000, 12:45 PM
Oh God! I actually did something right! (kidding)Scottie's 1st suggestion is exactly what I did and it worked like a charm! By the way, I must be brain dead, excuse me, but what does PWD stand for?

karen israel
10-25-2000, 01:10 PM
HOLD ON! Brain is working! The minute I hit that evil "submit reply" I realized it's "Portugese Water Dog!!" Ah Ha! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif

1_girl_and_her_dog
10-29-2000, 07:19 AM
well i find the best way to get a dog to lay is to pull its front paws gently foward to make it lay while doing this say lay. When it is in the laying position give it a reward repeat this till the dog can do it by itself. Also refresh its memory every day or the dog could get slack on your command. I hope this was helpfull

tatsxxx11
10-30-2000, 08:51 AM
I agree with everything you guys say. Grasping a treat in my hand where she could smell and see, but not grab it, then pointing my finger directly in front of her nose to the floor worked for me. The gentle paw extension thing works well too. For my YLRD, (figure that one out) Star, learning "down" was the hardest command of all. Most trainers and behaviorists will say that is the case with most dogs. In that position, the dogs perceive that they are "least in control," and to their minds, in the most "vulnerable" position. I also have SUCH empathy for you! When your trainer told you "YOU have to have more control over your dog" I thought you must have had John as your trainer! Many of the trainers I know, for some strange reason, seem to get a kick out of belittling dogowners or dogs when they don't measure up. Geees, you're there to learn!! It really made me feel inadequate and stupid; like I was a bad Mom!! Or that my dog was dumb. If you feel uncomfortable with him, try another class where patience and instruction, not ridicule, are practiced. Actually, my Star is EXTREMELY intelligent; she knows what I want her to do and how to do it. She also was (is less so now) a VERY active, independent, curious and easily distracted puppy and adult. One day she would do down; no problem. Other sessions...forget about it. She was 6 months old when we 1st attended basic obedience. Still a puppy and easily distracted. So we practiced EVERY DAY, every chance I had to voice the down command I did. By the time advanced obedience came around (1 year old) she was much more receptive to commands and less distracted. Now at 2, I can give the down signal with a hand command from 30 feet and down she goes with a long down. Don't give up, and don't let the trainer intimidate you. Puppy training classes here go up to 6 months. Most schools/trainers by me do not even allow dogs under 6 months to attend basic classes; too easily distracted; get too tired with too much input in a short time. Like sending a toddler into a second grade class. They just don't have the attention span. If your class was a puppy class, I NEVER heard of puppy class teaching down!!! Some of the pups are only 10 weeks old!! That's for socializing, trust building and introduction to a few basics like "come" and "sit." If I had to do it again, I would start basic at 6 mos., repeat the class the next time offered, then advanced at one year. Be patient; I'm sure you'll do fine. Praise, praise praise and she'll come around! Boy, I did go on. Just tweeked a nerve!

carrie
10-30-2000, 12:22 PM
Hi,
I would suggest that puppy classes can do more harm than good if they are trying anything other than socialising. I would never take a dog that didn't know at least how to walk on the lead, sit and come to any training class. It is asking an awful lot of a raw dog to learn under such extreme distraction.
If you ever go to a class and are spoken to in that manner again say quite clearly, "I don't know the best way to train my dog and that is why I am here. I am paying you to teach me and I don't learn very well when I am spoken to like that as it upsets me. Could we please start this excersise again?" Dog trainers who have such a superior attitude are not used to being challenged and as long as you are calm this will either sort out the problem or confirm that it is not the right class for you.
A friend of mine had a similar experience and asked me to come to the class and see what I thought. During a break I suggested the next time the instructor spoke to her that way she should speak up. She did and the instructor shouted that only my friend felt that way and was disrupting the class. The rest of the class then spoke up and said they all felt the same!
The following week the instructor apologised to them all and many happy years were then spent by my friend in the class.

dogncatluvr
10-30-2000, 12:33 PM
I agree with tatsxxx11 and carrie. I help teach puppy classes and although we do teach all the commands we are really teaching the "parents" how to get the puppies to do the commands at home, where there is way less distraction. We teach at least one method, since not all puppies are the same. We do not expect the puppies to be perfect by any stretch of the imagination, they are just puppies, after all. As long as they get the sit, come, and stay ( 5 to 10 seconds max.),and they don't pull your arm out when walking, that's OK for now. If they get the down that's great! As the puppies are socializing, we are just introducing them to the hand signals and voice commands, so that when it gets more serious in basic obedience, it won't be totally new to them. Asking a 4 month old puppy to do any more than that is like asking a 6 month old to recite the alphabet.

karen israel
10-30-2000, 03:50 PM
Right as usual! My 1st trainer hated Cody and me from the get go. He was pulling and crazy and she would yell at me. If she liked you or your breed, she was fine. I perservered-I was determined to show that evil, nasty witch that Cody and I could do it. I told her exactly what Carrie said. I paid her to teach ME, not yell at me or treat me like a stupid moron. She would use us as examples "that's NOT how it's done!" Very long story short, on graduation day she announced that Cody made the most progress of any dog she ever trained in 25 yrs! I asked for an apology in front of the class. Didn't get one, but the class applauded. Second private trainer was awesome. Cody was very obedient, he loved her. She had wonderful people skills adn the classes were fun!

tatsxxx11
10-30-2000, 04:43 PM
Good for you Karen!!!!

ktreva52
11-15-2000, 12:56 AM
In the puppy preschool classes I used to teach, we taught sit, come, down, stay and had socialization exercises such as a bouncing basketball (you wouldn't believe how many dogs that scared) and the tunnel. Most of the stuff we did was from Temperament testing exercises. We usually taught the down from the sit much like Scottie said, but took the treat down between the forelegs and slowly drew it out away while holding the hindquarters in place gently. I never had a puppy fail any class because I figured if the dog learned one thing at all, that was an improvement and so they graduated (as long as they CAME to class).
I got several students from a Professional Training school because of the same behavior from the instructor. I don't know how the man kept a school open, but he always had about 40+ dogs in class and he would point out the ones who hadn't "done their homework" as bad examples. Have you all learned the "watch me" command? It's a method of teaching the dog to look you in the face and pay attention. That was always our first command to learn. Use her food dish to start teaching it and once she's comfortable paying attention to your face (she may be shy since eye contact can be a dominance thing -- keep a soft look on your face and reward for even a quick glance), you can use the watch me command to keep her focused. Are there a lot of puppies in the class? Maybe she's real interested in playing with them. The PWD is a very active breed just like all the field breeds and are very intelligent, ergo, easily bored and nosy. I used to recommend using semi-moist cat treats for training treats since they're flavor intensive and easy to break into smaller pieces and easy to carry in your pocket in their pouch. They don't add a enough to the diet to screw up the nutrition, but most dogs will do just about anything for them. Also, time your practice sessions at mealtimes and you'll have her attention if you have the food bowl in hand. Good luck and if that instructor doesn't nice up -- go elsewhere! You don't have to accept that kind of treatment, but you might remind her(?) that bad word-of- mouth usually goes farther than good word-of-mouth advertising.