Measurement Guide

A FINAL OBEDIENCE COMMAND: DOWN
The next command in your obedience program will be
“Down,” which tells your dog to lie down and remain in
this position until it receives another command. This
command is most often used around the home. For this
reason, the easiest time to work on “Down” is at night
while watching television. Command your dog to “Sit”
and stroke its shoulder when it obeys. Face the dog,
grab its front paws and pull them toward you. When
your dog’s chest hits the floor, command “Down” and
stroke a shoulder again. Most dogs will immediately
rise, assuming a sit position. If this occurs, correct your
dog with “No” and repeat the “Down” process again. It
generally takes around three evenings before your dog
will become comfortable with this routine. But, do not
be worried if it takes your dog three weeks.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Now your dog has quite a vocabulary. You can stop its
actions with the command “No.” It will quickly come to
you with “Here.” Walking is simple because your dog
knows “Heel.” And it will sit and remain seated when
you use “Sit.” Entering a kennel or lying down are no
longer problems either. It is time to combine several of
these commands into a drill that will rapidly speed up
the conditioning process.
The “Here”-“Heel”-“Sit” drill will condition these
commands and communicate to your dog that you or
anyone else who picks up the leash will be alpha. Start
the drill by commanding your dog to “Sit,” and repeat
“Sit” as you walk away. When you reach the end of the
leash, call your dog to you with “Here.” As your dog
nears you, command “Heel” until it assumes the correct
position. While your dog is heeling properly, finish
the routine with the command “Sit.” This simple drill
will set the stage for all of your future training while
establishing you as leader of the pack.
Proper handling of the leash is the key to success with
this drill. When calling your dog with “Here,” your left
hand will slide down the leash until you are a few inches
from the snap that fastens to its collar. Grasp the leash
with a firm grip as your dog nears you and pull your
left arm behind you in a sweeping motion, commanding
“Heel.” As it comes into the correct heel position, pull
straight up on the lead with “Sit.” Be sure to release
the leash pressure when your dog’s butt hits the floor.
If your dog heels on the right, use your right arm. This
drill is awkward at first but will become easy with a little
practice.
After you have commanded “Sit” and walk away
from your dog, you have the option of going forward
or backward. Try to create balance by going in both
directions an equal number of times. This drill should
be performed in every direction until the conditioning
process is well established. How do you know when this
occurs? Your dog is well conditioned on the “Here”-
“Heel”-“Sit” drill when you can command “Here” and
it will “Heel” and “Sit” in the proper position without
another command. This is called “chaining,” where one
command leads to another without any cues.
Chaining can take place because in all of your training,
you are emphasizing conditioned responses that are
the result of repetition. Some people believe once a dog
learns how to perform a skill, it need not be repeated.
Most professional trainers are of the opinion that all
of your drill work becomes well conditioned only with
thousands of repetitions. When you are told to repeat
a drill at least a thousand times, you might envision it
requiring years to finish. If you think about how many
times you repeat a command during a drill, it is easy
to understand that this volume of repetition can be
accomplished quickly. But, it cannot be accomplished in
a reasonable time without working your dog on a daily
basis. After you have done a thousand repetitions, then
it is time to do several thousand more. As Dr. Pavlov
proved to us, there is no substitution for repetition.
TRAINING
YOUR DOG
15-16
Anger will never help you
accomplish a training
goal. Anytime you get
angry, your dog is going
to resist. Where does
anger come from? First
off, we’re impatient. When
we don’t see the results
we want immediately, we
get frustrated. And then,
when we see the dog’s
resistance, the anger
sets in.
There is a way to deal with
this, and that is to keep
our mouths shut. When
we are quiet we have
more patience because
we know we have to show
the dog what we want. I
believe so strongly in the
importance of silence that
we named the training
system we teach in our
seminars the “Silent
Command” system.
I will use one example
to show you how this
concept works. When you
pull on a leash and your
dog responds, you release
the pressure. You do this
again and again. Pull …
release. Pull … release. If
you are quiet the whole
time you are doing this,
your dog makes the
association between the
pressure of the leash and
the proper response. At
that point it is easy to add
a verbal command to the
drill because your dog has
made the association.
So, next time your
commands aren’t creating
the response you
want, and you feel your
frustration increasing,
before you do anything
else, try silence.
A TRAINING TIP FROM RICK SMITH / SILENCE AND PATIENCE GO TOGETHER
400-1131.indd 18-19 9/14/09 11:09:33 AM