# obeying commands faster?



## kennajo

Rocky obeys the commands given to him but in slow motion. How can I get him to drop faster on"sit" and "down?" I see other dogs just drop really quickly but Rocky is like "ok if I have too"


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## Clyde

Motivation is defininately the best way to speed up a dog. Get your dogs favourite treat or toy and practice one exercise (sit or down don't mix them up yet). Say sit and reward for each sit preferably with a marker word or click then reward in the most exciting way possible (don't just hand him a treat). My one dogs loves to chase food so I would give his marker release and then toss the food so he can chase it. Your dog should get more and more excited and into the game and will be eagerly awaiting your next command. This in its self should speed him up. The quicker he sits the quicker he gets the reward.

Once my dogs get good at that I start to only reward for quick sits. So if I say sit and my dog is slow or tries to step back then sit I will say "nope" and he will have to start over. This should make him a bit frustrated and quicker next time you give your command. You just have to make sure you have some way to communicate before he gets into the sit that he did something not right. If you say "nope" and he already had his butt to the floor your timing was bad.

Every dog is different and this will depend on the motivation your dog has for the reward. If the motivation is to low some dogs won't get frustrated and will just give up and stop. 

Let me know if you think this will work with your dog.


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## kiya

You have to increase your level of excitement. If your upbeat full of energy it should transfer to pup. I have the same kind of problem with Lakota. As soon as I start acting like an idiot she gets quicker.


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## Emoore

Engagement, motivation, and energy. It's all about the engagement, motivation, and energy.


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## Castlemaid

How old is your pup? How do you train? How do you reward?


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## kennajo

Castlemaid-I train with positive reward(treat) he is 1 yr old and I start with holding the treat close to his nose and had him follow where I wanted him to go. Up and back for sit,down between front paws for down. He is really ball crazy and does respond faster if I have the ball but this isn't always convenient :smirk:

Kiya & Clyde I will work on increasing the excitment and idiocy


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## Castlemaid

Sounds good! Slow response can be a sign of stress, but doesn't sound like you make the training stressful. As others have said, up you energy, he should follow suit.


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## onyx'girl

Build drive thru the ball. Tug with him out him get him going and give a command. As soon as he does it, reward. You can get really fast motions with drive building/capping, but it won't be necessarily precise positioning.


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## kennajo

it just takes us too long to reset if I use the ball as reward...thats why I haven't so far. Drive building capping? Explain please? As far as tugging he's not really into it.


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## onyx'girl

Leerburg On Demand | Q and A with Michael Ellis on Playing Tug
Leerburg On Demand | Michael Ellis - Engagement Training with His Dog Pi
These two free clips may help explain.
Here is a link to many more, this is page three:

http://leerburg.com/flix/category.php?categoryid=10&page=3
Building drive is where you get the dog excited for something they want...get pup ramped up. Backtying is a way to do it, or just tease up with a tug or ball. 
Capping it is asking for a behavior or give a command. Then you release the pup to the reward after they do it. I prefer to use a reward where I'm a part of it. 
So tug is the best, because once its dead the game is over. Pup can't play tug by himself. Pup will come back to you for more game, because you are the one that controls it. Fetch is another way to team play, but the pup needs to bring it back or their is no game....once again you are the one that controls it.


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## JanaeUlva

This question was asked by another forum member in relation to the Schutzhund in-motion exercises (because the expectation is fast sits and downs upon command). The consensus was as other have said "expectation: the dog understands the command in context", "engagement: the dog is interested and focused on you", "motivation: reward value", "energy: ramped up and excited about the work/game".

There are different opinions in training on if you can actually reward a dog for a fast sit/down meaning do they really understand that concept. The thought is too much is going on in the sequence to say the dog can understand that the trainer is not rewarding a slow sit and rewarding for a fast sit. I'm just saying  So the thought is it really has to do with the dogs state of mind in relation to the variables listed.

Once Minka knew for sure what sit and down meant, then I brought the command into the game of fetch. She was given the command to sit or down and when she responded the ball was thrown. She sits or downs fast because she is engaged, understands expectations, is motivated for the reward and her energy is high. 

If the practice is always done in these circumstances a habit is formed for a fast sit and/or down.

I also like to take advantage of early morning energy levels to train behaviors that require high levels of energy and engagement.


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## kennajo

favorite tug toys??


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## mssandslinger

good topic zero does the same thing. but hes just so interested in the treat that he wont listen to me. lol. he does a super slow moe sit. good luck with your pup!


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## martemchik

It doesn't sound like you're using corrections, and he doesn't seem that motivated by the treat. At 1 year old he shouldn't really need a treat in your hand to do things like sit and down. Get his excitement up, but with just treats it will be hard for you to make him realize that the faster he does it the better. There are dogs at our club that just sit/down slow and there's really nothing to do to motivate them to go faster. With a training collar you can correct him into doing it faster but I don't know if you want to use that route. It will increase his speed if you force him to do it faster. It sounds like he knows what the command is, he just does it at his own pace, you can correct him into doing it on your pace.


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## onyx'girl

kennajo said:


> favorite tug toys??


My dog loves a french linen tug(synthetic) over a jute tug. I use a two handled tug for better grip(my grip!) This one has held up well for me:
Dog bite tag ( dog bite tug ) ( puppy tug ) made of french linen - 12 inch long - TEFL3-2-handles [TEFL3-2-handles- Dog bite tag made of french linen] - $10.40 : Dog harness , Dog collar , Dog leash , Dog muzzle - Dog training equipment from Trusted 

Also ball on string are great reward toys, you can tug with them or toss it.
Hallmark K9 - Premium Dog Training Equipment - BALLS

http://www.fordogtrainers.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=88
I put a different string on this orbee ball and use it often for training. Karlo loves it!


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