Tipsy
Grey Puppy
Posts: 91
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Post by Tipsy on Jan 5, 2014 10:12:17 GMT -5
Hey all! I was hoping for advice on how to train a sphinx down - Booker's sits and downs are in the relaxed pose. The relaxed is fine for at home, where he can find somewhere for traction, but he's often reluctant on tile where it's slippery, and I think a sphinx might be easier for him to manage. But I'm at a loss for how, now that I've got him trained for a relaxed pose. Any suggestions would be great!
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sandysfarm
Grey Lover
positive reinforcement is theElegantSolution
Posts: 676
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Post by sandysfarm on Jan 5, 2014 13:36:40 GMT -5
So you can lure it: 1. Tuck a hefty piece of something extremely nice into your right hand. Without saying a word, let your dog sniff your hand. Stand by his shoulder, put your hand, palm up, under his nose to fully engage his sniffer and slowly lower your hand down to the ground in a slight curve so that the back of your hand finishes between his legs, close to the spot where his breastbone will make contact with the floor. You want your hand to be guiding his body weight down. When your hand is on the ground, keep it still and wait for him to lower his back end before you open your hand to reward him. That large soft downward motion with your hand soon becomes understood as the cue for 'down' . Do it two times and stop -once is better - or you'll make him dislike the effort. But you can do it a couple of times in the day. It's a very intuitive motion if you lure it in the beginning. Remember to tell him how smart he is each time but don't overwhelm him with too much voice.
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Tipsy
Grey Puppy
Posts: 91
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Post by Tipsy on Jan 16, 2014 11:26:18 GMT -5
After many attempts over the past week or so, it doesn't look like that solution is going to work. I can lure his head down, but as soon as he'd have to shift his weight(instead of just craning his neck down), he breaks away from the lure. Sometimes he just raises his head and gives me a pitiful look. Sometimes he backs up. Sometimes he lays down, but not in the sphinx pose.
I've also tried backing him into a corner and luring above his head in an attempt for him to lower his back end, but he either balks and walks around me, or does his floppy sit.
Any other suggestions or corrections to what I'm doing?
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sandysfarm
Grey Lover
positive reinforcement is theElegantSolution
Posts: 676
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Post by sandysfarm on Jan 18, 2014 12:54:42 GMT -5
Hook him up, Take 2 serious cubes of raw stewing meat, 1 in each hand - have someone hold his leash from a 4 ft distance so he cant walk away. Now introduce the first cube of meat the way you usually do and have him lower his head - Im assuming that's your left hand. As soon as he's looking at the floor, switch hands - put your right hand under his elbow and touch his nose to the meat - draw his head back to the floor under his elbow. Finish with your hand palm up on the ground - wait him out - if he doesn't lie down he's not getting anything - at all - it's not likely he doesn't understand you... If that doesn't work I'll teach you to capture it with a clicker. But, has he EVER lain down upright? If he prefers one side flipped over, is it always the same side? He might be a sore dog or have had an injury. Sphinx is pretty easy for a grey's body type so it makes me wonder.
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Post by rubylottie14 on Jan 18, 2014 20:22:20 GMT -5
I've reread your initial post and I think you are saying that you're trying to make it easier for him to stand up if he's on tile rather than carpet and you're thinking is that it would be easier from a sphinx position rather than a relaxed lying on his side?
However since you've said he's not really interested in getting into the sphinx position after several tries with treats I'd just leave things as they are and let him decide what's best for him. I think we can mean well and be trying to help but sometimes it's better to let your dog choose what works for them. As sandysfarm queried it might be that he is sore or has an old injury that makes it uncomfortable for him to lie in the sphinx position and I'm sure you'd rather he did his own thing than struggle to do what you want him to do even though you have what you believe to be his best interests at heart.
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Tipsy
Grey Puppy
Posts: 91
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Post by Tipsy on Feb 19, 2014 11:54:06 GMT -5
An update on this!
I watched Booker pretty carefully for any signs of past injury - I didn't suspect anything, since he's still quite young and hadn't done much racing before they gave up on him. He lays just as well on one side or the other, depending on where his people are in relation to his bed. I put sphinxing on the backburner for a while, thinking about other possible methods, or what his hangups could be.
And then, with no warning, he did it! We were outside walking, and I had him stop and sit at a crosswalk, and he didn't flop over! I was so excited that I went nuts on the clicker that I carry with me and fed him a good batch of treats. I think he went into it to avoid putting his hip down on the cold pavement. I kept up the walk, occasionally stopping to get him to sit, and giving him much more praise for the sphinx than the regular sit(although the regular did get a treat, because after all, he did sit).
So now I know he can do it, and I'm slowly selecting for it by showing that sphinxing makes me much happier than floppy sitting. My next question is, how can I distinguish between the two of them? If anyone else's greys do both, do you use a different hand signal or command?
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