Commands at a distance

[AndrewF]

Okay, I was out with Jake today, took him to the park and decided to put him through his paces. And admittedly, with all the work I've been doing around the house I haven't been able to teach Jake anything new lately. Now that the honey-do list is nearly....well, lets say I'm closer to the end of that list now than I was when spring rolled in and I'm going on strike, I'm going to teach Jake commands at a distance.

So far, Jake will sit, lie-down, roll-over and come when I'm around 20' away - and so long as he doesn't mix my signals up, I'm quite sure he'll be fine at much greater distances. He will even stay in place while I walk 100 or more feet away and then come with just the hand signal....which brings me to my question. How do you train a dog to stop...when their 50' from you?....when you don't have someone to restrain the full charge of a mutt on a mission?

[bridey_01]

You teach your dog down at a walk, with him in the heel position by your side. AS you are walking, slow right down (not stopping) and give the down command. Praise him as soon as he goes down. As you do this you can build up how fast you are walking, and how far behind you you want him to be. He just has to learn that the command "down" applies all the time, not just to when he is stationary.

[Doberluv]

I've been working on that with Lyric. I walk with him at heel and I tell him to "wait." I don't stop but keep going. He stands there and waits. Then I tell him, "heel up" and motion with my arm without changing my pace and he catches up quickly and heels. I'm going to get it down pretty pat before I do the same thing with the sit and down. It's easier for him to wait while standing and at the same time get the idea that there IS such a thing as him stopping and me continuing...LOL.

What he does understand, but it needs cleaning up is when he's in a down stay at quite a distance, I call him to come, then half way to me, I call out "down" and make a huge sweeping motion with my arm...my whole body....LOL and I'll get those signals more subtle later. I'll even walk toward him if I have to or throw the leash in front of him. I don't want to scare him, but am trying to show him that THAT is where he must stop and down. It's a little sloppy now, but Bridey, if you have any ideas how to clean this up so he'll stop quicker, I'd love to hear them. Oh...maybe a clicker to stop quicker. LOL.

[AndrewF]

Thanks for the suggestions Bridey 01 & Doberluv. I'll give the sit & stay commands while we're on the move and see how we progress from there. I suspect this will be slightly longer to teach when he's running at me but that's part of the fun isn't it? :)

Thanks again.

Andrew

[bridey_01]

You might want to try shortening the distance, do you have a NRM ( no reward marker?) Mine is ah-ah, which tells the dog, nope that was wrong. I use this if my kelpie isn't downing fast enough, and she doesn't get the ball unless she downs immediatly. The clicker would definetly help make it sharper. You could also try using down at random times, whilst he is walking around the house or out on a walk.

[Doberluv]

You might want to try shortening the distance, do you have a NRM ( no reward marker?) Mine is ah-ah, which tells the dog, nope that was wrong. I use this if my kelpie isn't downing fast enough, and she doesn't get the ball unless she downs immediatly. I really don't. Sometimes I will say, "nah" (like that's not it) but usually I just try again. But I don't reward unless there's an improvement upon the last try. LOL.

You could also try using down at random times, whilst he is walking around the house or out on a walk.

I like that idea. I do ask him for downs, but not too much out of the blue. So, I think I'll beef that up. Thanks for the ideas.

[AndrewF]

You might want to try shortening the distance, do you have a NRM ( no reward marker?) Mine is ah-ah, which tells the dog, nope that was wrong. I use this if my kelpie isn't downing fast enough, and she doesn't get the ball unless she downs immediatly. The clicker would definetly help make it sharper. You could also try using down at random times, whilst he is walking around the house or out on a walk.

NRM = "Hey". Usually done when Jake is off the leash and his back end passes me (and is repeated until his head or shoulder is lined up with me)....but it's versatile and gets his attention.

Random 'down's' or 'sit's' is a really good idea. I'll be giving that a shot tonight.

Thanks again! :)

Andrew