It's true what they say...

kirstyhen

kirstyhen

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In limbo...
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That if your dog isn't doing what you want, you're not asking it correctly!
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Inspired by Lucy's post earlier I decided to teach Otto to roll over.
When you ask for down he lies in the 'sphinx' position, so I thought I would make things easier for him by breaking it down and getting him to lie flat out on his side first.
So armed with treats I got him to lie on his side, told him dead and gave him a treat... poor dog wasn't getting it at all.... until I realised 'dead' is his release command
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Changed words to 'flat' and a few minutes later he is lying flat on his side with only a tiny prompt
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Poor dog, having such a stupid owner
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He thinks training in the house is a great game
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No doubt 'flat' will now be added to his 2 second routine of 'if I perform all the commands I know, one of them is bound to be right'
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Otto is such a smart cookie. He seems to pick new things up so easily.
Mine will all sit, lie down, stay (sort of if you watch them like a hawk), recall is (usually) excellent. Matty gives you both paws and Sage and Dexter do high fives but that is it. Mainly because I can't be bothered to teach them anything else.

Way to go Otto!!
 
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No doubt 'flat' will now be added to his 2 second routine of 'if I perform all the commands I know, one of them is bound to be right'
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This is why I decided not to teach it!

I spent so long trying to get them to lie down square (instead of flopping over onto their sides, that will drop us points) and also as it would be so similar to the down, if I was worried they would just go automatically into it during a test after a down, which would be a tad embarrassing
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.

When I was teaching the long down (10-15 minutes) after five minutes B would get really bored and frustrated and would actually roll onto his back with all four legs in the air with a "Muuuuuum, I'm borrrred!' expression on his face
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Everybody watching thought it was hilarious. He was still doing it up until two weeks before the BH test so I am DELIGHTED he stayed put and didn't move a muscle on the day.
 
I don't have the energy to teach Henry lots of tricks, but he does a mean 'paw' and 'other paw'
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Clever Otto! Silly Hen...
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[ QUOTE ]


This is why I decided not to teach it!

I spent so long trying to get them to lie down square (instead of flopping over onto their sides, that will drop us points) and also as it would be so similar to the down, if I was worried they would just go automatically into it during a test after a down, which would be a tad embarrassing
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.

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But to chose to flop over would mean relaxing, and relaxing means you might miss out on something, so it's not something I'll ever have to worry about Otto ever choosing to do
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Down isn't such a vital thing for Gundogs, my Parents dogs don't know it
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You see to me, a dog that flops over is relaxed and less likely to break a down, a dog that is crouched like a tiger, tensed up and all ready to go is more likely to break a down through anticipation...but you get more points for a fast recall and a fast drop, and a dog that is ready to spring up and go will obviously recall faster than a dog that is chilled.
But hey, I don't make the rules!!!

It's a bloody minefield...sorry for going OT!! (Overly teutonic
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I tried to teach Leah to roll over, but we never got past the "flat" stage.
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Now if I ask her to roll over she just floomps onto her side and looks at me like "there, I did it!".
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I suppose halfway there is better than nothing....

She is very good at giving paw though, in fact sometimes she gets a little too enthusiastic and I end up with her claw marks all up my arm.
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She will also crawl along on her belly if I ask her to, and I used to be able to make her run between people's legs but then she started doing it to strangers and once she'd nearly knocked a few people over I decided it might be best to stop encouraging it...
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