Question regarding increase the challenge for down

[hunterchristian]

In the increase the challenge section for the down command, you list as an example to have hi lye there for a few moments before rewarding him. How does the clicker play into this? On another section you state that you should always click at the precise moment the action has occured, followed by a treat. So when we are moving to more advanced varients of sit and down, where we would like them to stay there for whatever amount of time, do we refrain from clicking and just reward with a treat after however long has passed? Thanks

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Great question! If you are using a clicker, you would delay the click and then click/reward. In this case, you are simply increasing duration and therefore you wait a few seconds and then click and reward.

 

However, if your dog is at the point of doing a down proficiently and on cue (dog knows very well what down means and responds 80 percent of the time), you can progress and proceed in a different manner. You may start no longer using the clicker for this exercise. You can read this on the clicker training section under the increase the challenge section: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/clicker-training/

And this article:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/always-use-clicker/

 

In this case, simply ask your dog to lie down, wait a few seconds, click and treat and then next repeat the exercise, but this time without the clicker. Instead of the clicking noise, you can let your dog know that he has done a good job followed by a treat by using choice of praise ("good boy!") or a verbal marker (yes!) or a release cue such as "done." Every trainer may use something different and it's often a matter of choice versus a standard operation procedure. If the dog is hesitant to get up upon hearing the praise, verbal marker or release cue, owners can prompt the dog to get up by waving the arms or enticing the dog to follow them.

Edited July 23, 2018 by Adrienne Farricelli