She won't stay down! This is a new thing too!

[Kay]

We're training for our CD title, and we have trials in 2 wks. Everything has been great up until now. My gal has always been a little distracted by what's going on when she's in the ring (we go to sanction/fun matches), but her heeling is still great despite that (she improving/maturing). Her stays have ALWAYS been her best exercise (even when she was 5 mths old!), I would put her in a stay and she would not move. Everyone in class was always so impressed because she would never move. It was very nice!

But lately... within the last 2-3 wks she has been breaking her downs. Not in the sense that she sits up; she stays down, but the does "creepies" (or "Navy Seal" crawls) toward me, very slowly.This has come out of nowhere. I have tried revisiting our first stages of the stay(from a few seconds besides her until where we are now) and she does fine. The weirdest part is that these "creepies" are very random; she never does them when we work at home, and does them every second or so class/fun match.

I'm not sure what is causing her to do this, or how to stop it. Any advice is more than welcome! I'm nervous because we have trials in 2 wks too!

[Elaine]

If you say she understands the exercise, it's time to correct her for breaking it. As soon as she starts to creep, use your negative marker so she knows immediately what she did wrong, calmly go back to her, pick up her leash and move her back to her original position, give her the command down with a collar correction, and leave her again. As she holds it, you can tell her good girl and go back a couple of times with food to reinforce it but without releasing her. When you do go back to release her, make a big deal out of her.

[Stosh]

What she said...

[Kay]

That is a good idea. We did our downs in class last night and she didn't move. When we practice our stays I'll reinforce with food as she stays. It's so weird that she would start this out of nowhere. Maybe I'm doing something different when I leave her, I thought maybe I was looking away from her or something, but I don't think I am.

[BlackPuppy]

Yes, time for corrections.

Balto started laying down on his sit stays. I was doing some proofing training at a different dog training place.

Anyway, he always gave a cue that he was thinking of laying down, he would move one of his paws about 1 inch. Then about 15 seconds later he would lay down.

When I saw his do this during mock trials, I would lean forward and give him my "stink eye". That helped a lot, but what really helped was when the trainer, acting as judge, walked over to him and tapped that paw with her foot. He sat up straight. What I liked about that is that he will now always wonder of the "judge" is going to correct him.