A couple of days ago I shared a video of Delilah with her recall.
True confession, I am a lazy busy dog owner. I don’t work on training my dogs nearly as often as I should. Honestly most days I am overwhelmed with the simple chores I need to complete.
Which is why I take the opportunity to work my dogs in every day moments.
When we eat dinner the dogs are on their ‘places,’ these used to be mats I made specifically for each dog, but in my laziness busy life I have simply replaced the mats with a rug. (Truthfully, this also covers a horribly stained and damaged portion of the rug and looks much nicer than two rumpled mats.)
Delilah isn’t the best at staying on her ‘place.’ When we ‘place’ her and leave the room to get our dinners she will more than likely move off her designated spot.
Noticed how relaxed Sampson is....Delilah will never do that.
She is also not good with staying on her ‘place’ while we eat dinner, although we have found that if she is fed before us (no, I don’t buy into the “I must eat before the dog” deal) she usually does much better at sticking with it.
There are also days where she has moved two or three times during dinner and I end up putting her in her crate, or I will ask, “Do you want to go to your crate?” and she will oblige me.
Then there are other days (like a busy daycare day) where she will get up and go lie down on the couch. Those are the times when we look at each other and laugh.
I know, bad dog parents! We should make her come down off the couch and do what we said.
Whatever, as long as her face isn’t in my plate of food I don’t care if she goes to the couch.
Don’t judge.
There is however one event in our daily routine where I work on her down stay. It is when I get her Kong snack out of the freezer. Before I even open the door she must ‘down.’ Then I take the bowl with both Kongs in it out of the freezer and I walk away, while she must ‘stay.’
Slowly I have been increasing the time that I am away from her. I will walk into the living room and stop in front of the fireplace, look at my watch for ten seconds, then walk back and release her.
Saturday night Hubby said, “Remind me tomorrow I want a video of it, she is so cute.”
So last night I reminded him and he recorded the video. I left her long enough to go into the living room and turn the volume down on “Twister.” (That is one movie I can watch over and over again, and I don’t know why. It just draws me in like a train wreck.)
My best guess is she was ‘down’ and ‘staying’ for close to 35 seconds and I was out of her sight for at least 25 of them.
I think this works because she really wants that Kong, it is something she only gets once a day. But I figure the better she gets at this, the better she will get with all her stays.
One can hope anyway.
Oh and sorry about the Pj’s. I’m almost always in my Pj’s by 9:00 pm. 🙂
Book update: My book has 13,906 words.
jodistone 
Comments on: "Down Stays" (27)
I can totally relate to his entire post! Well not so much having a dog be able to “stay” in one spot of an extended period of time, haha. Before I give Indiana his dinner, he has to do a routine of tricks and I’ve gotten him to be able to wait after I put the dog bowl down for permission to go get it (instead of sticking his face in it before it hits the floor.) Maybe I’ll start practicing your method too! He needs a designated spot other than his crate.
*this entire post. (blurgh)
I like that idea of making them do tricks for their food. Hubby works her by making her wait for her food, but honestly she is so excited for her dinner I don’t hold her off too long. Plus with two dogs it makes it a bit harder to get them both working.
I think working them this way helps keep their minds busy too.
P.S. I knew what you meant. 🙂
I have to agree, I would much rather feed them first so they are not looking at me drooling while I eat…lol I love this post, I think she is very cute in the video, love the tail wagging in anticipation of her beloved kong! 🙂
I have a routine I do with the puppies, they must go in their crates and sit before I put their food down. Maia is very good at this, Titan not so much he wants to keep leaping in as I put the bowl down so we are working on waiting, it’s a slow go but he is making progress. I will have to video him doing this it is hysterical.
It depends on dinner. They eat at 7 and 7. If dinner is ready early we eat first, if it is later they eat first. I do have to say she does better when fed, but if I feed her earlier, she will want to be fed breakfast earlier.
I can’t wait to see the video, Delilah jumps backward all the way to her eating spot, and that girl gets some height!
Oh my gosh I have the most awesome image in my head right now of Delilah 😉
Ah yes with the puppies I have to stick to a schedule or the same thing early dinner means early breakfast but the big dogs don’t care.
Boy HOWDY… my mom would say RIGHT ON!!! to ALL of this post!!!! I guess I (Frankie Furter) wouldn’t disagree with her. BUTT it is really TUFF on me. hehehe
BOL does your mom let you get away with it Frankie? I bet you are a model boy and are teaching Ernie to be the same. 😉
Loved the wagging tail. Good job. I think that working them a little every day as part of your life is all that matters. They look like happy dogs and that to me is the test of a great owner. – DogDaz
Thank you, I do my best to insure they are happy and well taken care of.
I always feed my dogs at the same time I’m eating. They get served first and they’ll eat while I’m eating. They usually finish first, and if they come licking their chops to my feet they get the “Out!” command. (Out just means away from me. Anywhere, as long as its at least 5 feet.)
I make them sit and wait for it. Now that I have Leia, I also make them line up in a neat little row. (Lots of Here, Hold it, Out to get them right. Now they get it and do it automatically.)
I don’t believe I could make either of them down while I leave the room. Rocco can sit out of sight, and I can get a distance down out of him, and also down with distractions. I need to work on down while I leave. I may try down with a treat like a kong. What a great reward!
That’s cool that you can do that, I don’t think it would work for us. Well it would with Sampson but certainly not Delilah. As soon as she finishes she goes looking for more food, she would check Sampson’s bowl and then come back for our plates.
She is very brazen in her quest for food, why just this morning I had their pumpkin container in my hand, she was behind and to the side of me, before I put it in the refrigerator I bent down to grab a container from the cabinet and she stretched her neck in and licked at the pumpkin container. 🙂
I love the point when her tail stops wagging and she is clearly thinking about whether to stay or move! Well done Delilah 🙂
I think she listens too. She can tell when I have stopped and when I am back on the move, that is when she really wags, she knows it’s coming. 🙂
Wonderful. I loved it!
Go Delilah! 🙂 She’s so cute.
I always feed Bella first too – she always wants to eat at exactly 6 o’clock each evening (I have no idea why), so I would feel terrible making her wait until whatever time I finally finished cooking.
They have to eat at 7 and 7. If I fed them earlier for one meal then they would have to eat earlier for the next meal (according to Delilah) so it just depends on when our dinner is ready. It doesn’t matter to me if they eat before me. 🙂
Does Bella eat at 6 in the morning too? That is why I won’t feed them at 6 at night, because then Delilah would want to eat at 6 in the morning! LOL
What a good girl Delilah. You can tell she really wants to move, but she waits like she is told. 🙂
I always say she came to us to teach us both patience. She is slowly learning. 🙂
She is really adorable while waiting for you! It looks like her tail wags during the time she can see you 😛 I do similar things with Gwynn around food-times. I should work on his down-stay’s more though, since it’s usually just sit-stays for food.
I’m not sure why she needs a long down stay, but if I ever compete her in Rally or something else, she will need to learn. Besides I think it helps exercise her brain. 🙂
She usually sits but I have to work on sit stays too!
The only time I’ve really demanded compliance with things like “go to bed” and “stay” is for about a week before Sandy got adopted, when I thought she never would be adopted without better manners! They are certainly worthwhile things to train, I am just not very determined about enforcing them. Looks like Delilah’s got it down though!
Sometimes I just want to say, let them be dogs! But Hubby has a thing about them not being in his face while eating, so this is my compromise. 🙂
What a cute video of Delilah, great job D!
So cute! I love this video and her crazy wagging tail. Delilah is such a fun dog. The exact reason I adore labs so much. She is totally the dog I pictured having when I grew up.
Good on you for this awesome life skill! I agree that training is so much easier when it is blended into your normal routine. Most of our trick training is actually done while on our daily walks.
I always tell my clients “your dog will be as good as you require them to be.” In other words if you don’t work them or set the bar high, then they will only be as good as you require them to be in life. Most dogs have sooo much potential and could be fantastic dogs and it simply comes down to the owners. Heck I do it too, I should work Luna more than i do, but since everyone loves her and I am able to take her places and they still love her I figure I am doing something right. Stays in general seem to be really hard for owners and their dogs. It is weird because this is something Luna has always been really good at, maybe it is because she is an observer and doesn’t feel as big a need to “jump into things and think later.” it was harder to teach wyatt as he worried when we were out of sight more than Luna did.
Maybe the whole idea with the kong is not only because it is such a big reward for her, but it is also something you subconsciously are probably more stict about her following thus she does it better than other stays.
When I prepare their food they must be waiting outside of the kitchen, usually wyatt goes and crates himself before I even finish mixing the food. Luna is required to do a majority of her tricks before she gets to eat, and wyatt will do his as well. They kinda love it and it is kinda hilarious how fast Luna will do them for me. I should video it, as she never offers them that fast in any other situation. She just knows the quicker we get done the quicker she eats lol.
Dogs are silly. Keep working with her, she will get better if you require her to be. Girls sure know how to push buttons and manipulate in cute ways lol. Wyatt doesn’t even know how to do such lol.
Anna
http://www.akginspiration.com
Jodi I think you are doing an ace job with both Delilah and Sampson. Each pooch is an individual and has a different capacity to learn. I have the same dilemma: Punchkin is so obedient and relaxed and always on his matt while Shepo is the complete opposite. He loves to shadow me and takes time to settle. Yes, like you, I always wish I had more time and patience to train both my dogs but sometimes there just isn’t enough time in the day. You should never give up trying though.
Loved the video. Delilah was a very good gal and her tail never stopped wagging!
Keep up the great work.