Sitting/down at distance

[kaznalf]

Part of Alfies lessons involve going down or sitting at a distance but he always comes to front of me and sits. Any suggestions?

[kaytris]

Find some way from preventing him from coming to you - a baby gate, or someone holding the leash... start just one stride away, adding distance one step at a time

[rottnlabs]

How long have you been taking lessons with Alfie? I read on another post you're still having issues with loose leash walking so I'm thinking you maybe haven't been training very long.

Sitting/downing from a distance takes a ton of confidence on the dog's part and is a pretty advanced exercise. There are lots of things that need to happen in between teaching a dog to sit/down in heel position and teaching them to do it at a distance. To the dog, this is a totally different exercise.

Like kaytris said, you start up close and gradually add distance. You also work on doing downs in motion (while heeling). When you start to add distance, just pivot in front. Next take an extra step before pivoting. Each time gradually adding distance. If the dog comes in to you, back up a couple of steps so he can be successful again. If you can back tie the dog to a fence or a door, you can get more distance without worrying about him coming in to you even if you are working alone.

[sarah]

we're teaching Milly down from a distance ..... she is doing great and I can be about 20 feet away and she'll do down for me. We do a sit/stay and then i walk away from her, turn around and tell her drop/stay..... i walk away a bit more and then tell her "come"

we started from very close and gradually i took more and more steps back to get us to where we are now, it definitely takes time and we're still working on it every day.

[kaznalf]

Find some way from preventing him from coming to you - a baby gate, or someone holding the leash... start just one stride away, adding distance one step at a time

Excellent idea i will definately try the leash!

[kaznalf]

How long have you been taking lessons with Alfie? I read on another post you're still having issues with loose leash walking so I'm thinking you maybe haven't been training very long.

Sitting/downing from a distance takes a ton of confidence on the dog's part and is a pretty advanced exercise. There are lots of things that need to happen in between teaching a dog to sit/down in heel position and teaching them to do it at a distance. To the dog, this is a totally different exercise.

Like kaytris said, you start up close and gradually add distance. You also work on doing downs in motion (while heeling). When you start to add distance, just pivot in front. Next take an extra step before pivoting. Each time gradually adding distance. If the dog comes in to you, back up a couple of steps so he can be successful again. If you can back tie the dog to a fence or a door, you can get more distance without worrying about him coming in to you even if you are working alone.

Since november so a long time lol lead walking is his nemesis but this down/sit at a distance has been a new task for past couple of weeks he knows everything else (here, down, sit, wait, fetch, etc)