Guest Dynamite Tess Posted August 19, 1999 Report Share Posted August 19, 1999 At the moment Pepsi and I are in the middle class at our obedience club as we still haven?t reached the required standard to go up. I have started working with her towards the Gold award of the Good Citizen Dog Scheme and unfortunately it is in this last class at my club where you start on ?send aways?, which is one of the exercises you need to pass for the award. There is one trainer at the club who is working on this scheme but she has to help the others achieve their bronze and silver first before she starts on the gold. I would appreciate any help, tips, advice etc. I can actually send Pepsi away to a treat, but the moment I give the command ?down? she heads back to me and goes down at my feet. Should I use a different command word? Thank you in advance, Regards, Val Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orionbc's Posted August 19, 1999 Report Share Posted August 19, 1999 Val, Although i'm not the big odedience trainer, the methods i have been taught seem to work for the people that use them! First you might want to start with a closer distance, maybe she feels uncomfortable lying down far away from you. The "big" trainer here in the states starts on a short lead(6 ft) and sends to the treat, and here its a sit, as soona s they get it, pop the leash and say sit. Thats from a super competitor though, a little to rough for me. Have you guys gotten into clicker training over there yet? It works great for go- outs. One other way people train(here its the speed to the other side of the ring)is to use a crate. HTey target their crate(plastic vari kennel kind) and run as fast as they can to get the treat in the crate. I know a dog that flips the crate over she hits it so hard! So, i would try the closer distance, to give her more confidence. kelli and the herdin'herd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dynamite Tess Posted August 20, 1999 Report Share Posted August 20, 1999 Thank you kelli,shortening the distance really does make sense. I started today on the shorter distance and there was definitely some improvement. I'll continue that way until she drops immediately then gradually increase the distance. Yes, in fact I have a clicker bought at a seminar given over here by the American behavourist Gail Fisher. I found it really helpful in getting Pepsi to hold a retrieve item. She refused to hold anything in her mouth, yet somehow the clicker worked. Once again, many thanks. Regards, Val Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merlegirl Posted August 21, 1999 Report Share Posted August 21, 1999 Hi Val, Another thing that you might try is working on a fast down along with the closer distance. I had a similiar problem with one of my guys. I taught her to do a lightning fast down (with increasing distance).By the time she was doing the run-out and I gave her the dowm command,she dropped like a brick before she even had time to think about it!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dynamite Tess Posted August 21, 1999 Report Share Posted August 21, 1999 Thank you Merlegirl. What's happening at the moment is I am putting a treat on an object and sending her out to that. Of course, you can imagine what she's concentrating on while I'm calling 'down'. Now she's actually going to the object I think I'm going to have to start doing this exercise without the treat. It's all in the timing as well isn't it. Regards, Val Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gildenwood Posted September 7, 1999 Report Share Posted September 7, 1999 I've trained several dogs to utility degrees and the way I teach the send away (or go back) is to start the dog with a treat, just like you are doing, but start from a shorter distance and follow the dog out as she is going for the treat. That way, you are right there to reinforce the command you are giving to sit or down. I would really recommend you get away from the treat as soon as you can, however, or you will end up with a dog with it's nose down on the mat and this is not good in an obedience ring. I prefer to treat after the fact, and again you can do this very easily if you follow the dog out. As the dog gains confidence and understands the command, you can start giving the command from further away. I believe the biggest problem with go backs is that the dog simply doesn't understand what is being requested. Good luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dynamite Tess Posted September 8, 1999 Report Share Posted September 8, 1999 Thank you Gildenwood. I must confess, just recently I have been concentrating on long distance 'down', and 'stand stays'. I still can't get used to having a large garden. Before, all training was done in my hallway at home. This made for nice close heel work, but didn't help for much else. When I'm in my new garden I still stick to the old exercises, and it's only when we've finished our exercises for the day that I think, 'Geeze, I could've done the send away'. Any way once again, thanks. Regards, Val Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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