[Kristen Cabe]

Ok, so I've been working on Jak's long downs in the house in the hopes that I can try letting the cats upstairs with him in the house again without him scaring them wanting to play. So far he's up to 1 hour+ long downs with me 10 feet or less from him. The goal is to get him to where I can leave the room and he'll stay where he is before I try it with the cats. Lastnight he did very well even when we had two visitors. He whined and cried and wanted to get up (and tried to twice), but he did much better than I expected!

I've been using the remote collar, and correcting him with it at a low level for trying to stand up before I release him, but what am I supposed to do if he tries to crawl?! I don't correct him if he changes which hip he's laying on, since he is having to lay there for a long time; but I was unsure of exactly how to correct the crawling. Do I just correct with the remote collar, or should I tell him phooey first? Then there's putting him back on the pillow he's supposed to be staying on. Do I hold the button down until he's back on the pillow, as I drag him over to it, or is there something else I should do? He's crawling in order to get attention, and he's getting it when I go to put him back where he's supposed to be, even though it's negative attention.

I'm just a little stumped.

 

[Kristen Cabe]

When I put him in a down if he's going to be there for a while, I give him something to keep him occupied, like a chew hoof or filled kong. The reason for doing this is not only because of the cats, but also because he tends to not settle in the house and I want him to understand that when he's in the house it's calm time.


I have always been told to work on time first, and then distance. I figured if he can do an hour long down-stay he should be able to handle the everyday situations where I would need him to be in a down, without him fidgeting or deciding "Ok I've been here long enough," and getting up on his own. Mike R., thanks for your suggestion - I was just afraid to rush the distance thing, but I guess he's probably ready for it now. When he 'loses' something he has on the pillow if it rolls off, he doesn't get up to go get it, but waits for me to give it back to him.


My main question was how to correct when he breaks and moves out of position. Should I be telling him phooey phooey phooey until I drag him back onto the spot and tell him to platz again? Should I be jerking him back towards the spot instead of just pulling him? Should I be saying nothing and just dragging/jerking him back to the spot and giving the command again? And, with any of the above (and I realize not everyone can advise on this), should I be holding the continuous button down until I get him back into position to platz again, or should I just nick him when he breaks and then go to put him back? Should I be reissuing the command once we're back to the spot or just force him back down with his collar?


I don't think we'll have a problem with the long down for competition, because that is a totally different training scenario. Here, all I'm requiring him to do is stay laying down on his pillowbed until he's released. He's free to chew on whatever is on the pillowbed for him to chew on, or readjust if he becomes uncomfortable (as long as he doesn't stand up). The long down for competition will be trained outside the house, most likely with a backtie of some sort, and not with chew toys or his bed.

Thanks again!