He continues following the treat until he is laying down! My other hand does the "click" and he gets his reward. This was an easy concept for Moe, but if your dog doesn't immediately follow your hand all the way down, please feel free to click and reward all of his tries. If he starts to "fold", then click & reward. This will give him confidence he will need to go all the way down. I will repeat this many times, just like the "sit" until he fully understands & I don't have to lower my hand all the way to the floor, or hold a treat. Then, just like with the sit, I will wait a few seconds after he is down to click, thus encouraging him to hold the "drop" position for longer & longer lengths of time.
Stay will be an easy concept . . . it is just a matter of extending the time between the dog sitting (or laying down) & your click/treat. Again, eventually you will not need to treat. The behaviour will be learned & praise will be sufficient reward.
When teaching a small dog (Moe only weighs 5 pounds) it is nice to teach on a table or bed so you don't have to do alot of bending...although that would be good exercise! |
