Teaching Missy the "Down" commend. - Page 2 - YorkieTalk.com Forums

QuickSilver · 01-31-2010, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by debelm2

I know that my hand coming down from behind her does make her jump up. She has always been a little "hand shy" when they are coming at her, like when we would go to pick her up she backs up. But I read on here that is a common reaction. And now she is better at that. When I go to use my other hand at all, she turns to that hand looking for the treat in that hand also. She has to check it out. I hope my body language is OK. I never work with her for more then 3 or 4 minutes, 5 at the most when she is doing good. I don't want her to get bored or frustrated. She is still so young.

Why is your hand behind her? You should have both hands in front of her while teaching Down. If you haven't tried this already:

* Tell her to Sit, treat.

* Put another treat on the ground in front of her and cover it lightly with a few fingers. She should naturally bend down to get the treat, and if she kind of has to work it from your fingers, she should naturally crouch down. When she's fully down, say "Good Down!" and let her have the treat - or even give her another one as a reward.

debelm2 · 02-02-2010, 04:16 AM

Thanks everyone for all the idea's. I guess Missy is not one of the ones that does this command easily. We are still working on it though. Anyway we will keep trying. The reason my hand was in the back was to just encourage her to lower her backend. The only thing she does "naturally" is that she raises her butt everytime her front half goes down

Maybe it's a genetic thing.

MI Yorkielover · 02-02-2010, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by debelm2

Thanks everyone for all the idea's. I guess Missy is not one of the ones that does this command easily. We are still working on it though. Anyway we will keep trying. The reason my hand was in the back was to just encourage her to lower her backend. The only thing she does "naturally" is that she raises her butt everytime her front half goes down Maybe it's a genetic thing.

YAY! You taught her to bow..!!

debelm2 · 02-02-2010, 05:09 PM

Missy went DOWN!!!!!! Finally! We kind of combined a few different ideas. Putting her in a chair helped by limiting her from backing up as much when she did get up from a sit. I realized if I kept my hand lightly on her back after I made her sit, she wasn't trying to follow my hand to look for a treat. Then I'd tell her down and hold the treat on the seat of the chair and then gently pushed down & back on her butt. It helped that the chair was wooden and she "slid" down easily. Once we did it a few times and she finally realized what I wanted her to do she did it on her on with just a slight amount of preasure on her back!!!! I think with just a little more practice she will do it without my hand at all. Thanks again for all the ideas and help! It is truely amazing how smart these dogs are.

MI Yorkielover · 02-02-2010, 05:36 PM

Congratulations! Your persistence and patience won the day!

QuickSilver · 02-02-2010, 08:30 PM

Sounds like you make a good team!

debelm2 · 02-03-2010, 02:48 AM

It help's when you have a good partner. Thanks again for all the help. You guys are great!!!

toke · 02-03-2010, 04:02 AM

Great!

Zoey learned on a wooden floor, rather than a chair. That slippery business really makes a difference (along with that little push)...

noisinka · 02-03-2010, 04:51 AM

Yay for Missy!

It took us a while to teach Sandy how to 'down'. It helped a lot putting one hand on his butt to let him know he should stay down. It worked.

You guys are going to have so much fun training!

goofypup · 02-03-2010, 03:40 PM

I have found the clicker method works great! Just start by noticing him in the down position, then click, and give a treat. Do this a number of times. Then when you click, treat, then say down.... He will eventually understand what it is you want him to do.... It sounds kind of confusing, but it really works well... I have taught mine to sit, down, and roll over, all within about a week... Just google it to try and find clicker training... good luck

Lienkie · 02-04-2010, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by debelm2

Can anyone help me? I am trying to find out how to teach Missy "down". I've done several searches but I quess I'm not using the right words or something because I am not having much luck. She has quickly learned sit, and spin and stand pretty but every time I try to get her to lay down she jumps up from her sit and backs off. What should I be doing. I would appreciate any help. Debbie

What i did with Lienkie is i used to sit on the carpet legs crossed and with my left leg i'll make a tunnel for her to go through, ensure just enough space for her to crawl under. I'd take a snack in my left hand (she is sitting at my right) and put my arm through my leg encouraging her to take the snack. As she comes closer i'd move my arm a bit further away each time. When she's final under my leg she will lay down automatically as my leg pushes her to the ground basically and i will say "down" and give her the snack. I would normally let her come through out the other side and praise her and give her another snack. Try this may work for you. The other thing i used to do is get her to sit. I'd take a snack and hold it to her nose to smell and gradually go down with my hand forcing her to lay down. Keeping my hand very close to her body and she would lay down. The main thing is to not give up and have a lot and i mean a lot of patience with your yorkie. They are small dags with very big hearts and they want to be the boss and not you. I'm glad to say we have no problem in that area anymore. It's just the potty training that the biggest problem at this stage.
Good luck hope it works.

debelm2 · 02-04-2010, 02:47 PM

OK, Missy has the "down" part but now how do I go about getting her to roll. Tried moving the treat around to the side of her head but she just jumps up to go for it. I have tried watching some of the video's but they keep stopping and going and it is so annoying. I am not sure what to do about that so does anyone have any helpful hints for the rolling over and/or any ideas for some other tricks to teach her. She now does sit, stand pretty, down, spin. shake, and kiss. I have not done any leash work with her yet. Thanks again for all the help.

capt_noonie · 02-04-2010, 04:12 PM

Have you checked out this thread yet? http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/tra...-progress.html There's lots of different tricks and tips on how to do them.

QuickSilver · 02-04-2010, 04:19 PM

FYI, Roll is an "intermediate" command.

It might take her a while to get it. It took forever with Thor. One thing I did was whenever he rolled on his back while he was playing, I'd praise him and give him a treat.

debelm2 · 02-05-2010, 06:27 AM

Thanks again for all the help. Have been keeping up with the "tricks in progress" but was hoping there were some other "tricks" to the roll command. But we won't give up. We'll just take it slow and easy. Still working on the crawl too. I have to find something more interesting to crawl for though. Cherrios just aren't it!!

02-02-2010, 05:36 PM	#20
MI Yorkielover Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Michigan USA Posts: 3,317	Congratulations! Your persistence and patience won the day! __________________ Jackie Loves Sophie R.I.P ."Baby"* our little girl 1993-2009*

02-03-2010, 04:02 AM	#23
toke YT Addict Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 258	Great! Zoey learned on a wooden floor, rather than a chair. That slippery business really makes a difference (along with that little push)... __________________ Debby...owned by Zoey, the no longer Porky Chorkie (or maybe Morkie!)

02-03-2010, 03:40 PM	#25
goofypup Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 128	I have found the clicker method works great! Just start by noticing him in the down position, then click, and give a treat. Do this a number of times. Then when you click, treat, then say down.... He will eventually understand what it is you want him to do.... It sounds kind of confusing, but it really works well... I have taught mine to sit, down, and roll over, all within about a week... Just google it to try and find clicker training... good luck __________________ Goofypup mom to Casey &Riley

02-04-2010, 04:12 PM	#28
capt_noonie www.yorkierescue.com Donating Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Las Vegas & Orange County Posts: 17,408	Have you checked out this thread yet? http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/tra...-progress.html There's lots of different tricks and tips on how to do them. __________________ The T.U.B. Pack! Toto, Uni, & Bindi RIP Lord Scrappington Montgomery McLimpybottom aka El Lenguo the Handicapped Ninja 10-12-12

02-05-2010, 06:27 AM	#30
debelm2 Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Webster, NH Posts: 142	Thanks again for all the help. Have been keeping up with the "tricks in progress" but was hoping there were some other "tricks" to the roll command. But we won't give up. We'll just take it slow and easy. Still working on the crawl too. I have to find something more interesting to crawl for though. Cherrios just aren't it!! Last edited by debelm2; 02-05-2010 at 06:29 AM.

02-02-2010, 04:16 AM	#17
debelm2 Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Webster, NH Posts: 142	Thanks everyone for all the idea's. I guess Missy is not one of the ones that does this command easily. We are still working on it though. Anyway we will keep trying. The reason my hand was in the back was to just encourage her to lower her backend. The only thing she does "naturally" is that she raises her butt everytime her front half goes down Maybe it's a genetic thing.

02-02-2010, 05:09 PM	#19
debelm2 Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Webster, NH Posts: 142	Missy went DOWN!!!!!! Finally! We kind of combined a few different ideas. Putting her in a chair helped by limiting her from backing up as much when she did get up from a sit. I realized if I kept my hand lightly on her back after I made her sit, she wasn't trying to follow my hand to look for a treat. Then I'd tell her down and hold the treat on the seat of the chair and then gently pushed down & back on her butt. It helped that the chair was wooden and she "slid" down easily. Once we did it a few times and she finally realized what I wanted her to do she did it on her on with just a slight amount of preasure on her back!!!! I think with just a little more practice she will do it without my hand at all. Thanks again for all the ideas and help! It is truely amazing how smart these dogs are.

02-02-2010, 08:30 PM	#21
QuickSilver Thor's Human Donating Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 5,929 Blog Entries: 31	Sounds like you make a good team!

02-03-2010, 02:48 AM	#22
debelm2 Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Webster, NH Posts: 142	It help's when you have a good partner. Thanks again for all the help. You guys are great!!!

02-03-2010, 04:51 AM	#24
noisinka YT Addict Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Europe Posts: 259	Yay for Missy! It took us a while to teach Sandy how to 'down'. It helped a lot putting one hand on his butt to let him know he should stay down. It worked. You guys are going to have so much fun training!

02-04-2010, 02:47 PM	#27
debelm2 Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Webster, NH Posts: 142	OK, Missy has the "down" part but now how do I go about getting her to roll. Tried moving the treat around to the side of her head but she just jumps up to go for it. I have tried watching some of the video's but they keep stopping and going and it is so annoying. I am not sure what to do about that so does anyone have any helpful hints for the rolling over and/or any ideas for some other tricks to teach her. She now does sit, stand pretty, down, spin. shake, and kiss. I have not done any leash work with her yet. Thanks again for all the help.

02-04-2010, 04:19 PM	#29
QuickSilver Thor's Human Donating Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 5,929 Blog Entries: 31	FYI, Roll is an "intermediate" command. It might take her a while to get it. It took forever with Thor. One thing I did was whenever he rolled on his back while he was playing, I'd praise him and give him a treat.