Dog Community

Sit vs. Down

Posted : 5/24/2006 7:53:26 AM

Hi all,

I've got a relatively minor problem, but I am having difficulties correcting it..
Maddi either has a hard time distinguishing sit from down, or she is fishing to see if she'll get a treat for downing when I cue a sit anyway(because I think she'd rather down). I've tried giving her a NRM, giving a NRM and turing my back to her/walking away, and just re-cueing after I let her think about it for 10 seconds. Nothing seems to get through to her that when I say sit, I mean sit. Recueing is something I'd like to avoid, because I have a different cue for sitting from a down ("up";). So, when I do que sit, she sits, at best, 40-50% of the time... about 80% on the recue.

For downs, she down a down on que about 95% of the time (the other 5%, she does the typical malamute "woo, woo" at me [

]), so I know she knows what that one means.

Any incite on how I might correct this problem is greatly appreciated [

].

TIA,
Becky

ud2be

Posted : 5/24/2006 12:57:47 PM

Maybe you need to go back to the lure until you are sure that your dog understands the sit signal.

griffinej5

Posted : 5/24/2006 1:26:56 PM

Did you originally teach her to down from a sitting position? Maybe that's where your problem is. I really don't know what to do about it though, it's just a thought.

zsrg;lb ksr'pfjsoprej dfsg;va bjpskopa]

Posted : 5/24/2006 1:30:21 PM

When you say the commands do you use "sit down" and "lay down"?
If so it might be confusing because both of the commands have "down" in them. My girl got confused in the begining and the trainer said to try to keep commands to one word only. So for Rory it is plain ole "sit" and "down" for lay down. Also if you are using hand signals you might want to pay attention to those too!

cakana

Posted : 5/24/2006 2:13:24 PM

I have the exact same problem with my one lab. I think that the problem (in my case) is that when I was teaching her, I very frequently put her in a sit, and then into a down. She just seems to assume that I want her to go into a down position all the time. She'll even go into her down position if I tell my other dog "sit" [

].

pumaward

Posted : 5/24/2006 4:44:55 PM

ud2be, thanks, I never ever even thought of that it... you know, starting from scratch. I think it might work.

Griffin, I did teach her to down from a sit. I forgot to mention that she use to differentiate between the two quite well... which leads me into what Sheprano said... she used to until my dad used to say "sit down" when he wanted to give her a treat. He's since pretty much stopped since I told him that he was giving her two commands at once (and confusing the heck outta her!), since I use a clear "sit" and "down." So, the problems may have started then, though I can't be sure. Cakana, you also have a very good point [

]. I did often use a string of commands that had down following sit.

Thanks guys so much. They are all simple ideas; it's so great to have an outsider's perspective.

zsrg;lb ksr'pfjsoprej dfsg;va bjpskopa]

Posted : 5/24/2006 6:56:07 PM

Ha, I know. I was just talking to my neighbor the other day and she said " I wish I could just talk in dog language for two minutes to clear up a lot of miscommunication between my dog and I", ha ha " I would tell him dont ever run too far from me, come when you are called, promise not to bite anyone and our lives would be so much easier" yeah wouldnt that be ideal?
I hate it when you can tell that your just not conveying the message correctly and if they knew what you wanted from them they would do it cause they wanna make us happy!
Good luck with your fur baby!

Firestorm

Posted : 5/25/2006 8:47:05 AM

I would keep practicing one until she got it then I would teach the next one till she had them solid then ask for either one.

Minty_Pups

Posted : 5/28/2006 12:43:55 AM

Our dog had the same problem. I was so eager to teach him down that I would make him Sit then Down almost every time, to the point where he would automatically slide into a down when I tell him to sit.

Our puppy class trainer told me to just hold him on a leash when he sits and reward him when he stays sitting. I also taught him "Stand". So now we do a series of sit, down, sit, stand, down, sit, stand, sit,... etc like a dozen or so commands before I give him a treat.

Another problem is when he does a sit stay on the hardwood floor. It's so slippery that his bum slides out until he's in a down stay. I just ignore these 'cause it's the floors fault. [

]

matt pitchford

Posted : 6/14/2006 12:23:07 AM

hahahahhahahaha ,,,, as a trainer i teach this .. dogs will assume the treat so as a command as sit they will go down,,, dont treat thats wrong for puppys hehehe i just think its funny. they all do this!!
In class everyday i get this hehe. dont reward . make em sit and then down. eve you teach the down from a stand! fun fun fun..

pumaward

Posted : 6/14/2006 6:32:19 AM

Dog_Whisper, quit trolling around.

Julitza

Posted : 6/14/2006 12:49:25 PM

I had a similar problem when training the Golden. It was with the 'down' and 'paw' command. When I told her down I would swoop my hand to the floor and when asking for her paw I would swoop my hand towards her. confused the heck out of her since she would try to give me her paw and go down at the same time.

Now what I do is when I ask for the paw my hand will be higher up a waist level and when asking for a down I step far enough away so she cant give me the paw and put my hand on the floor

jones

Posted : 6/14/2006 12:54:53 PM

When we took a beginner obedience class, the trainer told us this is a very common problem, and she taught sit from a down position as a separate command. She said that until you get to that point, a lot of people think they have trained a "sit" when they've actually trained a "get lower." So to separate them we had the dog down, then we lured up into a sit - helps if you make a quick upward hand motion to spur them upwards. Then reinforce by asking for sit from a standing position again, and only rewarding the correct response. In this way the dog learns what "sit" really refers to.

pumaward

Posted : 6/14/2006 1:15:41 PM

See, that's the problem [

]. I have a separate command for going from a down to a sitting position ("up"). She never used to do this.

I've continued to work on sits. It's gotten better, but she still does it.

matt pitchford

Posted : 6/16/2006 1:27:08 AM

the sit, and the down, and the off are 3 different commands. sit means sit till you give the ok command wich is whatever you use. down is the same till you give the command. ''off '' is off!!!!! if your dog is on something you dont want them to be on never say down! use off !!!! down is a different command!!!!

i have ''never'' trained dogs before like the rest of em say.