Posts
Although you cannot really see it here, I like to start my greyhounds sitting on a hill. It is not always necessary, but it can speed the process if you place your greyhound's rear end on the high side of a steep hill and point his nose down the hill. It makes it very easy for them to rock back and sit.
I like to use an easy to nibble treat like string cheese or a hot dog. Something the greyhound can take little bites of as I hold the treat over his head forcing him to crane his neck back.
I give the greyhound little bites of the treat I am holding as long as he continues to put forth the effort to target the treat, for rocking back, and for flexing the joints in the hind legs.
And then BAM! He sits! I continue to reward my greyhound for continuing to sit for a few seconds. Gradually I increase the length of time.
We have already talked about greyhounds having trouble with sitting and melting into a down. Be alert for the slightest sign that your greyhound is about to lie down. Step into him to prevent that from happening. I would much prefer my greyhound stand up than to lie down from a sit.
15 Comments:
Goodness you look tiny next to him! Pretty boy, we like those black and whites at my house ;)
LOL... probably so since you only see me with mostly little greyhounds. Admiral is especially big..... although your boys might still be bigger.
Jen
Love it! Thank you again...this is a so much more kind and obvious direction to go. When I get my Willie doing these things, I'll post some photos.
Carmon
I'll have to try this with Tango! Hope you & all your greys are okay x
Jen, Thanks for featuring our British coursing stars in your obedience demos. They are both companionable, biddable guys -- maybe their quick learning abilities also help explain their success on the coursing field !
John
John, it was a pleasure to profile and play with your beautiful boys!
Jen
This is great! I will have to try this with Clifford (11). In the past I've tried to teach him sit by "scooping" his back legs into a sit, and it TOTALLY freaks him out. To this day, he refuses to sit. I will definitely try this method! We'll see if the old boy can learn a new trick. :)
Jen
Let me know if it works with Cliff, Jen!
I have started working with Kassa based on this tutorial. I even have a little hill in my back yard that I am taking advantage of. The problem I am currently having is that he gets almost there and then Jumps up lifting his front legs. Any advice?
You might be raising the treat too high. Might think of craning his head back by shoving the treat up his nose (obviously not literally)... don't lift the treat higher than his nose can point up. Also sometimes a little hopping is fine... they get tired and finally sit. Remember to reward for head crane, leaning back, flexing joints, etc. If you reward all of those little movements towards a sit, he will repeat.... but don't reward the jumping. Something like a hotdog works good cause he can nibble his rewards as he progresses and you don't have to reload your hand.
Jennifer...someone from the Clicker Solutions yahoo list sent me to your blog...specifically because I have "Creel" in his first obedience class and the sit isn't happening. I think part of it is because I am looking for too much movement and he's not getting a reward for anything then. The idea of a whole hotdog, him nibbling away at it as he succeeds, helps me a lot. Tonight we will try..now to find a little hill..hmmmmm.....
Good luck, Sandy!
Hi my greyhound will only sit on his bed. He won't sit on any hard surface. I don't know how I can train him...
Youngsun, you didn't really provide any detail, but you simply need to follow the steps I outlined in the post. If he can sit on a bed, he can sit in other places too. It doesn't matter what he has done up to this point as he can be taught to do more than he has done on his own. Remeber that the steeper the hill, the easier it is for them to sit, so that is a good way to start sit training.
Now if you are trying to tell me that he is stubborn, I would arm myself with a great treat (chicken strip, hot dog, or string cheese). Proceed through the steps I outlined. If he quickly loses interest and gives up, stop training and skip his next meal. If he is hungry, take him outside and start training again. But I simply would not feed him a bowl of food until he gives me a good effort. We aren't trying to starve him, but just get him to do something for something tastey. Remember to make sure you let him nibble off bites of your treat as you try to get him to sit. You want him to feel successful about craning his neck back and rocking back. Hope that helps.
Jen
I know this is an old post, but I have been reading your blog for a few months (ever since I adopted my grey Lancer) and stumbled upon your advice for sits and downs. Lancer had never naturally sat before, and we weren't getting anywhere with other training methods. One day last week we took him out to a hill and within 10 minutes he was sitting on call - and hasn't stopped sitting since! Similarly your advice on downs was extremely useful, whereas we had problems with other methods. Thank you for sharing these techniques - they have been a great help!!!
Post a Comment