German Shepherds Forum banner

Anticipating commands problems.

1K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  David Taggart 
#1 ·
So my puppy is doing this with the sit and down command. I also can never get him to down without going into a sit first. This is bothering me because I try to make it more challenging by walking around and sitting him as he follows me but he waits until he is either right in front of me or close of enough before he sits. Sometimes I don't even have to say it and he will just sit. Obviously he is understanding sit but he does it when he wants not always on my request. And now that we have been working on down he'll go to sit and then go to down with me telling him to do so. Any advice?
 
#2 ·
Do you have a release cue, something that tells him he can stop doing whatever you've asked him to do? I use "okay", and there are all sorts of reasons why that's not the best word to use, but old habits die hard. :) If you haven't trained anything for that yet, pick a word or phrase - some people use "free" or "release", or "take a break". Others use their marker (a click, or a verbal marker such as "yes!") to indicate that the exercise is over and the dog can now move.

For the going into a down after you've told him to sit, I'd give him a couple of treats in rapid succession while he's in position, and then release him from the sit before he has a chance to lay down. Pick another word (such as "good"), to signal that he's doing what you want when he sits on cue, but that he needs to keep doing it. If you miss and he lays down before you can stop him, you can use a negative marker, aka a "no reward marker" - NRM), such as "oops!", and then re-cue the sit. Not everyone uses a NRM, but I think it's good to give the puppy as much information as possible. Start with very short duration before extending the amount of time you expect him to remain in position, so he has the most opportunity to succeed. Once he'll hold a sit for a few seconds without breaking, start to mix up the amount of time so he doesn't start anticipating the release - this time it might be one second, next time 4 seconds, then 2 seconds, etc.

Also, if he's only sitting when he wants to and not when you cue it, he probably doesn't fully understand the cue. To us, sit means to plant his butt on the floor/ground, but dogs are more literal and don't generalize well. So if you mostly train in one place, at the same time of day, and with him facing you toe to toe while you're standing in front of him, he'll learn that's what sit means. Train in different rooms every day, train him while you're standing, while you're sitting in a chair or the couch, or on the floor with him. Train him to sit next to you in addition to in front of you. Train him in your yard, then on the sidewalk in front of your house, until no matter where you are or what you're doing, he'll consistently respond to the cue.

Distance commands are more challenging, so I would wait to work on that until he's solid sitting in front of you or at your side in a variety of different circumstances. Automatic sits are fine, I wouldn't worry about that too much. I actually like an automatic sit at my side when I stop walking, and train my dogs to do that by luring at first, then simply waiting for it, then marking and rewarding.
 
#5 ·
I don't have a release word but I sometimes say yes or good. Im trying to do clicker training. So when training him im not sure if I should only click when he does what I ask or also give him praise. I don't want to confuse him which I probably am. And unfortunately I have only been training him in the living room. But that is why I have started walking around trying to get him to do automatic sits. Another thing is he sits so slowly. Not sure if there's anything I can do about that or not. I will stop with the verbal cues and start using only hand cues. I'll find those on YouTube or something. Thanks for all tje advice.
 
#3 ·
You may also find that while he likes to down from a sit, he's completely baffled by the sit cue from a down position. "Sit" doesn't just mean sitting from a stand, just as "down" doesn't just mean laying down from a sit. If you train the stand position you can randomly move between all three, which makes anticipating more difficult, and at first you may need to go back to luring for a bit.

In Halo's Puppy 2 class we trained sit/down/sit/stand/down/stand, so the puppies had to learn each position from each other position. On the last day of class we had to demonstrate that we could do the complete sequence with just verbal cues and with just hand signals. It's easiest to train with hand signals first, since the lure motion can be faded to a hand signal (no food in the hand), and then once that's solid you would add the verbal cue just before the hand signal. Don't do them at the same time, wait a beat or two after saying the word before using the hand signal - you want him to learn to associate the two, so he needs some time to process the word or he'll just tune it out in favor of the hand signal that he already knows.
 
#4 ·
puta treat in your hand and put it level with his nose. Push the treat towards him so he backs up. Eventually he will back into a down without sitting first.

These dogs are the great anticipators. You have to mix the commands up and never train in a pattern unless that is what you want. I trained Jax to Front and then Heel. Eventually she started skipping the Front and I had to retrain it with a new command.
 
#7 ·
When Venus did this in puppy class, the trainer had us put the treat in our fist and give the down command while holding the treatfist between the front legs then down to the ground.

If they did it like a playbow without the butt touching the ground, they got the treat. Didn't do it right, no treat try again.
 
#12 ·
Here's a video that shows the various positions being lured, and talks about transitioning to hand signals and verbal cues:



I had the volume down low, but it sounded like he was telling the dog "up" to go from a down to a sit - I would NOT do this! Sit means sit, no matter what position the dog was in prior to the command. There should be no distinction between sitting down from a stand or sitting up from a down, it's all just sit.
 
#13 ·
According to Michael Ellis, this is a good thing i thought. I think he said it means the puppy is actually trying to figure out ways to please you instead of only doing things because he sees a treat. Its supposed to mean your puppy is engaged and is actively trying to figure things out. He had a term for this.. i dont remember. All you need to do is properly show him exactly what you want out of him and a puppy like yours should be more driven to please you than some other pups. You've got a smart one! Take advantage of it!
 
#14 ·
my puppy is doing this with the sit and down command.
One thing is here, shouldn't be missed. Dogs go from "stand" into "down" position differently if they sit first. If they lay down from sitting position - they put their back down first, and their front second. If they lay down from standing position - they put their front to the ground first, and their bum second.
He sits because it convenient for him. Introduce a third command and use as intermediate command. Train "Stand" by softly pulling leash forward when he sits. Draw one hand under his belly, and try to lure his nose to the ground with a treat in the other. When training, change the order of "Stand", "Sit" and "Down" commands more friequently.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top