# What can we learn next??



## Lottierachel (Mar 3, 2013)

Ive just taught Tilly how to high five! She could give me her paw, but now she can also do a proper high five in the air. It took her about 3 minutes to learn with the clicker. Clever girl  

I want to make the most of her being super clever and keep her stimulated. What other things can I teach her to do?? Currently she can do:

Sit
Stay
Down
Paw
High five
Gun dog finish
Front
Touch (put her paw on whatever I touch with my index finger)
Come
Off
Kisses
Drop it
Leave it

What shall we do next? What's your poo's best trick?

X


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## Grove (Oct 17, 2012)

We've also been thinking of new things to teach

How about the names of her toys? We have just started this today and Gandhi has learned the name of 'froggy', his green frog, and we can say 'where's froggy?' And he will go and get it, even if we put it in another room he will go looking for it! Then brings it back for a treat

You start off teaching the name of just one toy so it's not too confusing, then you can progress to other things like slippers Etc which could be useful!


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

One I tried but never mastered was 'shut the door', I think its a trick that is very impressive to watch, video I watched said to train them to touch a piece of post it note (clicker training definitely best), then put it on an open cupboard door so that when they touch it it pushes the door, gradually do it on different doors, then without the note, can't remember all the steps - maybe make the note smaller and smaller, anyway look for it on you tube, I know I saw it there and the dog would walk across the room and shut the door on command, I'll be very jealous if you manage to do it!!


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

Lady "walks"on her hind legs you could teach that


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## Lottierachel (Mar 3, 2013)

Oh my goodness dawn I'm going to try it! X


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

Lottierachel said:


> Oh my goodness dawn I'm going to try it! X


thought it would appeal to you! maybe i'll have to give it another go.


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Just building distance between you and your dog is a good way of challenging your dog.
Roll over is fun.
Emergency stop could be a life saver.


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

I love the shut the door idea!! We might try this, Lola's notorious for leaving the door open 

Lola's quite good.. We really worked on the tricks and commands training with her but with Nina we've just been so much more laid back. I really need to focus on Nina to teach her what Lola knows, I feel neglectful.

Lola can..

Sit
Stay
Lie down
Play dead
Up and turn (like a ballerina)
Rollover (but only one direction)
Shake hands
High five
"Go to the sofa" when I need her to sit nice 
Wait
Kisses
Walk backwards
Go to bed

One problem with Lola is that if I'm holding a treat for too long or I get distracted she goes through the entire routine of sit, down, rollover, sit then looks at me as if.. Well?? Where's my treat! She does the routine without a command.. Not sure that is a good thing but definitely smart! Will try anything for a treat!

Nina can..

Sit - for a treat only!
Lie down - for a treat only!
High five
Kisses
Come
Go to bed

Off to learn how to teach the close the door.. Lola will love this! She's sick of me complaining about the draught!


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## Tinman (Apr 23, 2013)

Lottierachel said:


> Oh my goodness dawn I'm going to try it! X


Ralph & ruby do a spin on their hind legs, like a pirouette - I just hold a treat up and say spin, and turn the treat above their nose 

Also,Ralph is good at roll over, from the down position x


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

Marzi said:


> Just building distance between you and your dog is a good way of challenging your dog.
> Roll over is fun.
> Emergency stop could be a life saver.


Lola is great with the distance thing.. Nina is not, she crawls along the floor after I've told her to stay, she thinks I can't see her moving because she's crawling!! 

Emergency stop is one I would like to master. I like the commands that are useful and have a safety aspect! Thanks Marzi!


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

I might call it commando crawling Ruth, I wonder what the word would be? 

Rufus can jump straight up. What I need to work on is getting him to stop racing through each and every one of his tricks like a madman to hasten his chances of getting the treat.


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Try doing distance control with dog at the top of the stairs


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

fairlie said:


> I might call it commando crawling Ruth, I wonder what the word would be?
> 
> Rufus can jump straight up. What I need to work on is getting him to stop racing through each and every one of his tricks like a madman to hasten his chances of getting the treat.


Inzi is another who does everything fast in an effort to get the treat. Her forte is doing a roll over from standing up


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## dmgalley (Aug 19, 2012)

How about find your way to Donna's house and train her dogs to do all that stuff..... 

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## Grove (Oct 17, 2012)

Another simple one to add to the list is 'up' which is to stand back up from a sitting position or from a down position 

In the book it calls it 'stand' but we taught it as 'up' because when I say stand it sounds a bit like down


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

fairlie said:


> I might call it commando crawling Ruth, I wonder what the word would be?
> 
> Rufus can jump straight up. What I need to work on is getting him to stop racing through each and every one of his tricks like a madman to hasten his chances of getting the treat.


Funny thing is the crawl is one of Milly's tricks (Nina's mum), she does it very well and Nina seems to be following in her footsteps. I'm working on adding a command to it for Nina, we just make a walking symbol with our hand and say crawl. She's getting there but only for a treat 

Lola races through like Rufus.. Without a command even.


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## Lottierachel (Mar 3, 2013)

Grove said:


> Another simple one to add to the list is 'up' which is to stand back up from a sitting position or from a down position
> 
> In the book it calls it 'stand' but we taught it as 'up' because when I say stand it sounds a bit like down


Ah yes! We can do that one too  

The distance stay is a good idea xx


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## AliAlfie (Jul 29, 2013)

Think I'd go for _'make me a cup of tea'_ or _'pour me a large glass of wine'_ maybe...??!!  Failing that, I'd be tempted to teach them to wash up instead. 

Couldn't resist!


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## Holly88 (Oct 12, 2013)

Gosh I am so in awe!! I wish I could teach Huxley: stop biting and stay in your bed- just those 2 tricks would make it all brilliant. He can do sit and down (though his down is quite daft and more like "throw yourself on the floor head first") and occasionally roll over. How do I get him to be as brainy as your babies?


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

I'm going to try for commando crawl and start doing all his normal tricks from a distance too. 

Has anyone mastered catching a treat off the nose? My old dog could do that but Rufus finds it challenging.


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

Holly88 said:


> Gosh I am so in awe!! I wish I could teach Huxley: stop biting and stay in your bed- just those 2 tricks would make it all brilliant. He can do sit and down (though his down is quite daft and more like "throw yourself on the floor head first") and occasionally roll over. How do I get him to be as brainy as your babies?


Aw he's doing great! Give him time


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## Nellies mum (May 12, 2013)

I have started to teach Nellie different coloured balls taking into account the colour blindness thing. She knows the different names of toys but her best thing is being able to direct her through hand signals when we are in a field without speaking to find her ball etc. I want to further this by using the whistle to direct her


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

fairlie said:


> I'm going to try for commando crawl and start doing all his normal tricks from a distance too.
> 
> Has anyone mastered catching a treat off the nose? My old dog could do that but Rufus finds it challenging.


Nina can catch anything I throw at her.. Wouldn't miss a treat.. Wonder if she could do it off her nose?? 

Okay my challenges for the next months are...

Distance
Catching treats off nose
Emergency stop
Lola shutting the door


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Grove said:


> Another simple one to add to the list is 'up' which is to stand back up from a sitting position or from a down position
> 
> In the book it calls it 'stand' but we taught it as 'up' because when I say stand it sounds a bit like down


You might confuse him because you'll need an "up" eventually too, for jumping up on a chair or log or slide etc... Maybe say standup or getup?


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

RuthMill said:


> Nina can catch anything I throw at her.. Wouldn't miss a treat.. Wonder if she could do it off get nose??


Your girls are so good it'll be a piece of cake. First teach the balance, then a quick "look up", then a "catch it". I think that was how we did it?


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Nellies mum said:


> I have started to teach Nellie different coloured balls taking into account the colour blindness thing. She knows the different names of toys but her best thing is being able to direct her through hand signals when we are in a field without speaking to find her ball etc. I want to further this by using the whistle to direct her


Wow, just wow.  We use voice to direct him but sound like idiots as we yell yes, yes, yes as he gets closer and no, no, no as he gets farther. I love the idea of doing it by hand signal.


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

RuthMill said:


> Nina can catch anything I throw at her.. Wouldn't miss a treat.. Wonder if she could do it off get nose??
> 
> try pretend tossing it to her 3 times before actually tossing it, helped lady focus on it and catch it


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## Grove (Oct 17, 2012)

fairlie said:


> You might confuse him because you'll need an "up" eventually too, for jumping up on a chair or log or slide etc... Maybe say standup or getup?


Good point, although we've done this for some time now so it might confuse him to change one he's already learnt? 

Perhaps we could use 'jump up' for the things in the examples


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

lady amanda said:


> RuthMill said:
> 
> 
> > Nina can catch anything I throw at her.. Wouldn't miss a treat.. Wonder if she could do it off get nose??
> ...


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

fairlie said:


> Wow, just wow.  We use voice to direct him but sound like idiots as we yell yes, yes, yes as he gets closer and no, no, no as he gets farther. I love the idea of doing it by hand signal.


All of Lola's commands are accompanied with a hand signal.. We learned this at puppy class. It really works well, she can do most things just on a hand signal.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Off the nose is what I am talking about. First balance it, then the flip, then the catch. It's not cruel, it's cute.  It makes a really fun party trick and dogs love party tricks.


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

Nellies mum said:


> I have started to teach Nellie different coloured balls taking into account the colour blindness thing. She knows the different names of toys but her best thing is being able to direct her through hand signals when we are in a field without speaking to find her ball etc. I want to further this by using the whistle to direct her


Let us know how you get on with the whistle


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

fairlie said:


> Off the nose is what I am talking about. First balance it, then the flip, then the catch. It's not cruel, it's cute.  It makes a really fun party trick and dogs love party tricks.


I'm going to try it now


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

We just taught Rufus the commando crawl. He is so cute sneaking along on his tummy. He is so smart he'll master it in a few days! I love dog training and so does he. 

We also did the nose trick, just the balance and leave it was enough for his first try, with a lot of hand on muzzle help.


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

Just taught Lola the touch command.. Was quite easy and without a treat too.. Not really sure why we chose this one, as we don't do agility but might be good to focus her attention if I need to. She is very please with herself!

Great thread Lottie 

Touch...
The touch cue involves asking your dog to touch his nose to your hand or an object. Like so many other commands, this one has multiple applications, starting with being able to direct your dog wherever you want him to go without having to apply any force to do so. For example, if you want to move your dog to one side of your body or the other and he knows the touch cue, all you need to do is hold out your hand or object at the place where you want your dog to be, say the command, and bingo! He’s there.

This command is particularly useful if you and your dog plan to compete in dog sports, especially agility. The reason is that often a dog must touch a precise spot on a course or piece of equipment to earn the maximum number of points or even qualify. For example, a dog who’s venturing down a teeter-totter in an agility trial must go all the way down to the end; jumping off the downward ramp to the ground is not permitted. By using the touch command, you can teach your dog to walk or run all the way to the end of the downward ramp. 

How to Teach Touch

No matter what reason you might have for wanting to apply this cue, here’s how to teach it:
Take a treat and rub it on your palm so that your hand carries its scent.
Hold your palm out no more than 1 foot from your dog’s nose and say “Touch.”
When he leans in and touches his nose to your hand to sniff the scent of the treat, mark with “yes!” and give him a real treat.

Some dogs are hesitant to touch their noses to an open hand. If your dog is one, try teaching him to touch the top of your closed fist.
- See more at: http://www.nylabone.com/dog-101/training-behaviors/advanced-training/#sthash.8odc63HR.dpuf


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Holly88 said:


> Gosh I am so in awe!! I wish I could teach Huxley: stop biting and stay in your bed- just those 2 tricks would make it all brilliant. He can do sit and down (though his down is quite daft and more like "throw yourself on the floor head first") and occasionally roll over. How do I get him to be as brainy as your babies?


Huxley is a baby still. It will come. Watch videos of trainers. As soon as you get a good "mark" you can use successive approximation to teach them anything. The key is teensy steps many times a day until you reach the goal.


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## Lottierachel (Mar 3, 2013)

Holly88 said:


> Gosh I am so in awe!! I wish I could teach Huxley: stop biting and stay in your bed- just those 2 tricks would make it all brilliant. He can do sit and down (though his down is quite daft and more like "throw yourself on the floor head first") and occasionally roll over. How do I get him to be as brainy as your babies?


'Paw' Was one of the first things i taught Tilly when she was only a few weeks old. I picked up her paw and held it while saying 'paw', then treated her. probably took about 10 times before she got it - give Huxley a go with that!

It will all come - I also found using a clicker helped Tilly pick things up quicker.

Our targets are going to be:
Close the door
Distance stay
Emergency stop


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

Looking forward to hearing how everyone gets on!


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

Dawn, found this video... Pretty cool! I think I need trained on how to train this though!! That GSD is amazing!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4lL3Js-E1Bc&desktop_uri=/watch?v=4lL3Js-E1Bc


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## dio.ren (Jan 18, 2013)

Ruth I am going to try the touch command with Molly tonight All I have to do is rub a bit of that canned food she is on now and I'm sure she will do it she loves that stuff

The hardest for her to learn was the "go to bed command" and stay there but she learned it very fast I was surprised it's so handy when you are eating and don't want her in your feet


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

Touch was the first command we learned at puppy classes. But we had sit and down before that. I wanted to be able to make them stationary as needed and figured sit and down were important. I also tried to get then to heel. Lexi got that one. Beemer states and wonders why I keep walking off with the treat. Now stay, Beemer gets and Lexi - well she follows if there's a treat no matter what. 

Now when I go to get their treats, they automatically sit down. A lot of my pictures are of them sitting because there are treats in my hand. 

Let's see they also know kisses (use that whenever they seem to think they can gnaw on me). Lexi can do up. Beemer can't balance as well as she can. Again looks at me funny. 

This is a great list as I've been trying to think of what else to teach. 


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## susanb (Jan 19, 2012)

Just to add a couple:

"spin" is a clockwise rotation and we also have "turn" which is anticlockwise

also have taught "beg" which some people call "sit pretty" where they sit on their bottom and lift up both front paws (hard to describe).....this is very cute indeed and a big winner with visitors.


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## RangerC (Jan 23, 2013)

I use "wait" a lot because barney walks off lead so it's a safety thing to wait by the side of the road. 

I'm also keen to teach him to trust me when I walk near him as he jumps up because I think that he thinks I will tred on him.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

How is everyone doing with their trick training? 

Rufus can do about a 30" commando crawl and some of his tricks from about ten feet. 

I am at a bit of a loss for teaching him directions. Should I place a ball and point to it and say left? Or hide a treat, or just treat him if he starts to move left when I say left?


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

Decided to try turn. Not sure it is the right way. Lexi still follows the treat around but will spin all the way around. Beemer still only twists his body. But I think they enjoyed learning something new. They sit for their food I think it's an odd position for them to not be sitting or laying down when they get rewarded with food so this is different. 


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Rufus is doing well with learning directions, I point and he'll go, but I am at a loss as to how to teach stop. Does anyone have any ideas for teaching stop?


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## SamRinde (Jun 10, 2013)

I have taught Frank some pretty basic things. He is much better when focused (aka, knows he will get a treat after he does the things) but can do them without a treat if I get his attention.

He knows:
Touch
Sit
Lay Down
"play dead" (he lays on his side and we call it "siesta" instead of play dead)
roll over
wait
stay
Here (basically the come command, this is not reliable with distractions yet)
sit pretty
paw (the handshake)
go to bed (goes to his crate when we leave for work)
spin (clockwise turn)
kisses

I want to teach him the "stand" command (his default is sitting, or whatever trick we've taught him most recently if I don't do anything for long enough). I want frankie to be able to catch treats, but he seems like he can't even see the things! Crawl would be a good next trick, same with walk backwards.


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## SamRinde (Jun 10, 2013)

fairlie said:


> Rufus is doing well with learning directions, I point and he'll go, but I am at a loss as to how to teach stop. Does anyone have any ideas for teaching stop?


Yea, I am having trouble thinking of how to teach "stand" when sit is so ingrained in his mind to be the default. I also am having trouble trying to teach him "grab it" to get a toy. He is so focused on the treat he won't put anything else in his mouth. hahaha


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

SamRinde said:


> Yea, I am having trouble thinking of how to teach "stand" when sit is so ingrained in his mind to be the default. I also am having trouble trying to teach him "grab it" to get a toy. He is so focused on the treat he won't put anything else in his mouth. hahaha


I have no idea if this is right but for stand I motion a come forward then a stay. I would not be able to do it with voice only. 

For catching the treat we had to start big and slow, like a big soft toy, then after he had the idea of catch we brought down the scale. 

If you use a valued item for "grab" you won't need a treat. We said "get your ball" and have now moved on to "get the _____" However I'd say 50% of the time he looks at us blankly.


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## SamRinde (Jun 10, 2013)

fairlie said:


> I have no idea if this is right but for stand I motion a come forward then a stay. I would not be able to do it with voice only.
> 
> For catching the treat we had to start big and slow, like a big soft toy, then after he had the idea of catch we brought down the scale.
> 
> If you use a valued item for "grab" you won't need a treat. We said "get your ball" and have now moved on to "get the _____" However I'd say 50% of the time he looks at us blankly.


I hit Frankie square in the nose with cheerios this morning. I'll have to start bigger. Lol


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## dio.ren (Jan 18, 2013)

To teach stand I would get Molly to sit and then take a treat and put it to her nose and slowly pull it back and it would make her stand. Did this a few times and then introduced the word stand. It worked great but don't hold the treat up too high keep it at nose level cause if it's too high it will make him jump. Molly got it on the first try we learned it in puppy class


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## Lottierachel (Mar 3, 2013)

dio.ren said:


> To teach stand I would get Molly to sit and then take a treat and put it to her nose and slowly pull it back and it would make her stand. Did this a few times and then introduced the word stand. It worked great but don't hold the treat up too high keep it at nose level cause if it's too high it will make him jump. Molly got it on the first try we learned it in puppy class


We learnt the same way at puppy class. Good explanation Renee  x


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

fairlie said:


> Rufus is doing well with learning directions, I point and he'll go, but I am at a loss as to how to teach stop. Does anyone have any ideas for teaching stop?


Stop as an emergency stop:

First decide what word you are going to use. A friend trained her dogs with Stop! When she was in the woods there were some hooligan mountain bikers travelling at speed. She was worried that if she rcalled her dogs they might converge and crash. So she bellowed Stop! The dogs stopped and so did the bikers 

I use a different word. Gundog people use a single blast of their whistle.

You can start training inside. Wander around, your dog will probably wander with you. Keep a subtle eye on him. When he is momentarily distracted and not watching you, throw an arm up in the air and say loudly your one word command Stop!
He will hopefully look at you as if you are bonkers. Immediately give a position command - For Inzi it was easy to train her to down, it is a collie's default position. Dot sits, kiki will do either.
Do not use your dog's name - you don't want him to come to you, you want him to stop where he is. If he one stops and two goes down, immedately go to him and lavish praise on him while he is still in position. Then have a release command - word finish combined with a double pat on his back.
Stop! Means stop until I come and release you.
If your dog moves to you when you shout Stop! when you are training, give the command when he is close and step toward him with raised hand.
Only introduce distance once he reliably stops on command. Dogs quickly associate stop with the position command so in the end that stop with raised hand means to them stop and sit, or down. Stopping in stand is high level stuff, only try it if your dog is brillant at Stand stays.
Emergency stops are only effective if the dog will stay in position until released.
Train it when out with your dog ad he is a little ahead of you. Best not to try when he is mid squirrel chase when learning  

For those in the UK if you do the gold level KGC test you have to do an emergency stop. This is often taught as a stop recall. I don't like this, as if you call your dog it should just mean come. If you want you could set your dog up for a recall, then without using their name throw your arms out wide and say OK. Dog will probably get up and come towards you. Then give your Stop! Command and move towards him to encourage him to stop. Keep your arm up.

Clear as mud?


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Marzi thank you so much for this. It is clearer than mud, a little clearer at least. What is clear is that you totally "get" how to train dogs and I am very grateful you offer this free advice to us. 

I screwed Rufus up I think by having his emergency stop signal be me pointing to the ground. He can do it from a distance now quite reliably (with no distractions). I'll try to rehabilitate it to a point up.

When I say stay, Rufus automatically sits to wait until released, not sure how I could break him out of the sit to a stand? In any case is there a need for a stay stand in real life? I am trying to visualize a scenario where he is walking through deep tar and I need him to not sit. But if that ever happens I could always use "back" to make him back out? 

Thank you!


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

- Which would explain why Dot is such a free spirit 

I think the theory is that the high hand is a clear signal from a distance. Gun dog people use a whistle rather than vocal command because it carries further.

Some people say that when they give the Stop! command their dog just stands, but stays - my feeling is that a dog in a down or sit is in a much steadier position and less likely to move.

Distance stand command is only useful if you are doing distance control like they do in advanced obedience tests where from a distance you have to put your dog into a stated number of positions in a particular order eg: down, stand, down, sit, stand, sit. The dog is not allowed to move from the starting point more than one body length forward or backward so in theory when training you should aim at having your dog change position without moving his front paws so in sit bottom moves forwards, from sit to stand again back legs move back, rather than stepping forwards into stand, down there may well be a minimal forward movement so some people train stand with a slight back jump. In my experience you don't want this really as dogs can move back along way doing it this way!


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

All very logical. Now I am wondering if it was advisable to teach him to crawl? In his emergency down he might crawl along hoping I won't see him advancing like children playing red light, green light. 

We will never do high level obedience. It isn't in him and it isn't in me. Way too much opportunity to be embarrassed, like when my daughter used to leave the goal keeper net in soccer to pick flowers. Having said that I do like to know I can count on him in any situation. I need to up the level a bit and start to train with some distractions. Who knows, we might get to the point of being squirrel proof at some point?

Do you trust Inzi in all situations now? For us the ultimate would be to throw his ball and have him wait for a release to go for it.


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