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Pepper has been having some long down problems. He'll go down for like one minute but them pop up and once I get him backdown he'll just keep popping up. I'm also not able to go more then 2 feet away from him. Anyone have any suggestions to get him to stay down longer and stay down when I'm farther away?
Kai did that for a bit. What I did was I'd use a slip collar and let the lead loose enough so it wasn't choking him but I'd step on it so if he tried to get up, he'd correct himself. He learned it really fast.
I've tried that, but Pepper will try to get up and will be able to stick his butt up and he'll stay like that, lol
Try going back a stage or two. If he will only let you go two feet away then go one. If he will only stay for 1 minute return in 30 seconds. Also always vary it. Move 6 inches away, come back. Move twelve inches away come back. 10 inches, 5.....etc. Also vary the time. 20 seconds, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 5 seconds...etc. You don't want to give him the opportunity to break his down stay. Always try and return before he breaks it and always throw a mini party of praise when you release him.
If one of my dogs broke a stay in their training I would say something like "uh-uh" and walk back and gently put them back in position. Then I would re-give the stay signal (but not the verbal command) and just take one step back and count to about 5 slowly, then I'd step back and give them their praise party and release.
Again, if you are finding you are consistantly having problems, then just step back a stage.
My dogs have very solid stays, in fact if one of them ever broke a stay in competition I would probably faint from the shock of it, LOL
Good luck!
Just keep at it - sometimes it gets worse before it gets better. And Binka's leash suggestion is a good one. If Pepper sticks his butt in the air wait him out - he will eventually go down again. Never let him win the battle.
Also sometimes you need to go back to basics. How is his down if you are right in front of him? You don't want to start moving away from him until he is 100% on his downs at a short distance. Sometimes it is a matter of inches, not feet. :)