No training luck :( *Need advice, tips or suggestions please!!*

[DogLover9501]

Well since I have decided not to bring Jasper back to classes, I have been trying to teach him the other commands on my own.

I *figured* this would be no problem, as I taught him sit, give both paws, give high-fives and lay down, STAY is a problem!!! I have been doing it like, telling him to "sit" then putting my hand in from of his face and saying "stay!" and walking just a couple feet away, sometimes he will stay and I will go further away, but I think he is only staying because he is wondering what I am doing because he doesnt seem to learn any of it lol

I would love ANY & ALL tips, suggestions, advice..etc on training! Jasper is very smart, so maybe I am doing something wrong, as it doesnt seem to get thru to him all the time.

ALSO one other thing, Jasper will not lay down on hard floors, he will only lay down on carpet, bed, couch..etc, and will not lay down on canvas(sp?), hard wood floor...etc, and my dad doesn't believe that its the floor and claims hes being STUBBORN and sometimes yells at him to lay down When I know its the floor because in my room(theres hard wood) and when doing tricks with Jasper, I have to bring his doggy bed over for him to lay down because he won't lay on the floor--Why is this

Sorry this is so long Hope some of you can help Thanks!

[CathyBogart]

Clicker training!

http://www.inch.com/~dogs/clicker.html

[binka_nugget]

Kai has a good solid stay, I'm sure I did something right so I'll offer my advice.

Don't start off in front of him when you're teaching the command. Have him beside you (on leash) and say stay while you get your hand signal. Wait a few seconds and praise if he doesn't budge. Then take a step out and turn around, praise after a couple seconds. Then you eventually build up from that one step to a couple steps, to a foot and so on. When he makes a mistake, go "UH OH!" or some other ugly sound and place him back at the very spot in the same position. Our trainers also suggested putting them even further back so they realize that not obeying the stay will not get them closer, but further from you.

I'm not sure what to say about the floor issue though...maybe someone else will have some good tips.

[DogLover9501]

Okay thanks We're going to try again today!

[micki76]

Originally posted by DogLover9501
ALSO one other thing, Jasper will not lay down on hard floors, he will only lay down on carpet, bed, couch..etc, and will not lay down on canvas(sp?), hard wood floor...etc, and my dad doesn't believe that its the floor and claims hes being STUBBORN and sometimes yells at him to lay down When I know its the floor because in my room(theres hard wood) and when doing tricks with Jasper, I have to bring his doggy bed over for him to lay down because he won't lay on the floor--Why is this

I don't know why, but Chester REFUSES to ever sit, lay down or anything on a hard surface. He only sits, etc on soft surfaces. Honestly I don't blame him, I wouldn't either!

[DogLover9501]

Honestly I don't blame him, I wouldn't either!

lol I agree, thanks, glad hes not the only one lol

[jenfer]

You are not alone. Gigi will only sit and down on soft surface. I have to brought a towel to puppy class otherwise she would just stood there and look at me. As for "stay", I am all confused with "stay", "settle" and "wait"...haha... and I think she is confused. She is smart, but she doesn't have too much patience and she is VERY food motivated and I think sometimes she pays too much attention on the food and forgot what we are doing.
We are going to take clicker class when she is done with puppy class.
Umm... I guess I am not too much help, sorry.

[Dog1,Cats2]

I've heard that when dogs aren't accostomed to hardwood floors, they have a hard time because they don't have any traction. Dogs accostomed to "Sit" on hardwood floors sit with their legs & feet all sprawled out, because their feet slip out from under them!

[Dogz]

I think that binka_nugget gave some great advice. I will also have to try this with Prince, as he is still learning 'stay'.

Otis will not lay on any hard floors either. Otis does know a few tricks that he enjoys very much, but he will only do it on carpet. (Sit, down, crawl) Sometimes he just does it for fun, and sometimes he won't do it on command. It really depends on his mood. Gotta love him though!

[Crikit]

The difference between settle, stay and wait...at least for my dogs is as follows.

Settle is a variation of the down command. For my dogs settle means to rest on their side instead of staying in the sphinx pose. It's harder for the dog to get up when they're on their side, which means that it gives me a chance to react if they're in stay.

Stay means stay here, do not move until I come back and release you. But you always always have to release the dog from the same spot that you were in when you put the dog in stay, otherwise you're teaching your dog that it's okay to break stay.

Wait is a command that means just chill for a second because another command will be coming shortly. I use wait most of the time in trials when I want a lead off at the start line or when the dog is on the pause table.

From my understanding a lot of breeds with short hair have problems with lying down on cold hard surfaces, really though you can't blame them it must get uncomfortable for them. All I can suggest is to get a dog bed or something to put on the hardwood floor for the dog to lay down on.

[Foam]

Ozzy got stay almost automatically. Those collie, man.


Okay, when teachin stay, put Gigi in a sit and give her a taste of the treat. Take a step back, and if she starts to take a step forward say 'NUH' (or thats what I do) and that will teach her that that sound means to not do that. Take a little step farther back, and i she stays, call her, or walk to her and praise praise praise. If she comes to you, and doesnt listen to the 'NUH' sound, DO NOT TOUC HER. By touching her, you are rewarding her behavior and she knows that if she comes, she'll get attention. So no touching, and if she comes, put her in another sit and try again.

I hope ths helped. I think I'm kind of repeating what Ashley said but...yeah.

[DogLover9501]

Thanks guys!!

We have been working on it very hard!!