# 'Down' and pulling when there's another dog



## Coraliine (Jan 7, 2014)

Juice is growing up so fast! He's nearly 5 months now and is as insane as ever.

We've been doing clicker training for a little while now and he has mastered 'sit' and is decent at 'stay'. He's even a pro at loose leash walking already! However, the main issues we have are 'down' and pulling/barking when there's another dog nearby.

When we try to do some training exercises I ease him in with the things he knows better, and we've been trying to work on 'down'. I have watched video after video, and called up a few of my training pals for some advice. Whenever I move the treat down from his face to the floor he picks his butt up from sitting. Does anyone know any ways to combat this?

And the worst part: Whenever we're on a walk if there's another dog, or an outside cat, he loses his mind. Lately he has been a little under-socialized because he's been battling Giardia for nearly a month and we didn't want to risk getting other dogs infected. Does anyone have any tips to not pull when there's another dog in the area? Nothing I do seems to work. He completely ignores me, food, and everything else around. He can go from sitting and completely focused on me, to lunging, pulling, barking, and trying to get to the dog/cat in a split second.


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

Couple links: Post # 8 
http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/general-behavior/431289-new-dog-very-challenging.html
and here:
http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...7-struggling-keep-together-3.html#post5312217


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Coraliine said:


> When we try to do some training exercises I ease him in with the things he knows better, and we've been trying to work on 'down'. I have watched video after video, and called up a few of my training pals for some advice. Whenever I move the treat down from his face to the floor he picks his butt up from sitting. Does anyone know any ways to combat this?


Yes. Mark and reward every time you see him lay down on his own. This is called "capturing" behavior, because you're not giving any command, you're just rewarding the dog for things he does on his own. You can use a clicker or a verbal marker, and the second he lays down say "yes!" or use the clicker, and toss a treat just far enough away from him that he has to get up to get it. Wait.  He'll probably lay down again very soon - mark and reward again. 

The more you do this, the more he's going to start offering up the behavior, and at that point you can put it on cue by naming it - saying the cue right before you see he's about to lay down. When he does, mark and reward.


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## Coraliine (Jan 7, 2014)

Thanks for the videos and advice. Sorry for the late response, I've been incredibly sick with bronchitis. Terrible spring for allergies here. =[

Unfortunately Juice doesn't respond to anything when he sees another dog, which is very common. He is very food driven, but will entirely ignore it when there's another dog in the area. It's also completely impossible for us to walk anywhere without seeing dogs (there are tons in my neighborhood).

I'm just worried because he's getting much bigger and pulls so hard he has a hard time breathing.


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