# Train an 'Emergency Stay/Down'



## Shaolin (Jun 16, 2012)

I'm stuck. My boy has a fantastic recall. I have never worried (much) about him running off after something he shouldn't or somewhere he shouldn't because even a simple 'come here' gesture with my hand has him sprinting back to my side and he will sit at my side. He also has a pretty decent stay. I have held him in a stay for a full two minutes and his time keeps getting longer and longer.

I'm not sure how to translate it into him not returning to me from a distance. He does not hesitate when I speak to him from a distance to return to my side. I don't want to start training this for fear of training the wrong thing into him and having to start over.

Bonus question: When I was 16, I brought home the first dog I was old enough to train on my own, a Chow/Husky mix. He was about 4 months old. I was with my mother and we were playing with him. He was playing with my mother and he bit her, hard. My mother grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and bit him on the ear. He never even play nibbled after that; there was the occasional missed the toy and got the hand incident, but no biting after that. Was that just a fluke, or did my mother know something that she has failed to pass on?


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Onyx's breeder did that to her female too(bit her ear). Said it stopped the biting immediately. I find it to be 'old school' method, but it must have worked for her...many other methods of her training were compulsion based. Not something I'd do, personally.
My pups were never mouthy like that but I always had toys/tugs to play with. 
As far as the down from a distance, work on downs on command. When the word is instilled by a good foundation it should be automatic when he hears it. You could add a hand signal in your training as well.

I use the hose(my dog loves to chase the hose spray) or a toy and ask for 'platzes' randomly and reward. Then I do a send out to a toy or the toy is on me(fake him out). Send him out, platz him, reward comes from me or I free him to get the toy. 
Do you use toys or treats in your training?


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## Shaolin (Jun 16, 2012)

He has two types of treats. He gets a liver treat for anything he can do on command without fail normally and a piece of hot dog as his "Jackpot" treat for doing new things. He would do just about anything for a tennis ball or a good tug toy, so we use it after a training session to wind down.

I think since I'm trying to use a different word for the emergency stay, Freeze!, he's getting mixed up. I can get him to stop moving and sit when I am close to him, but put more than 5 feet between us and he's coming right back to me.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Since he has toy drive and will work for a toy it makes the emergency down very easy.

I started with random sits or downs in the house when he was away for me, then when he was outside. I also got him sitting or down while I was walking. A police officer showed me that if I got him to down at a distance I should throw the reward ball past him (not between him and me) and that helps motivate him not breaking the down or trying to get closer to you before they down because the reward is behind them. Don't know if that was proper advice but it sure made it easy for us. 

This officer does detection work (bomb dogs) and says NEVER reward the dog for a sit or down in the space between you and the dog but to always throw the toy to the dog, take it to the dog, or throw it past the dog. With detection stuff you make it come from the odor source, but that was for distance obedience commands.

I use the same command/signal for the emergency down as I do for the down.


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

Shaolin said:


> I'm stuck. My boy has a fantastic recall. I have never worried (much) about him running off after something he shouldn't or somewhere he shouldn't because even a simple 'come here' gesture with my hand has him sprinting back to my side and he will sit at my side. He also has a pretty decent stay. I have held him in a stay for a full two minutes and his time keeps getting longer and longer.
> 
> I'm not sure how to translate it into him not returning to me from a distance. He does not hesitate when I speak to him from a distance to return to my side. I don't want to start training this for fear of training the wrong thing into him and having to start over.
> 
> Bonus question: When I was 16, I brought home the first dog I was old enough to train on my own, a Chow/Husky mix. He was about 4 months old. I was with my mother and we were playing with him. He was playing with my mother and he bit her, hard. My mother grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and bit him on the ear. He never even play nibbled after that; there was the occasional missed the toy and got the hand incident, but no biting after that. Was that just a fluke, or did my mother know something that she has failed to pass on?


I'm sorry I can't answer your first question. But I've heard on my husky forum about biting on ear of a dog. It has worked for several people on that forum. I'm not sure, but maybe it's a breed thing? I don't know how a GSD would react to it. I don't have the b*lls to try something like that (er? I don't think I need to)...


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

onyx'girl said:


> Platz him


What is platz? I think I've heard that term (maybe from you on one of my threads). I thought it was typo but here it is again 
I tried googling it but to no avail...


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

platz=down


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

jocoyn said:


> platz=down


Thanks


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## Shaolin (Jun 16, 2012)

@jocoyn: That is a great answer. That broke it down much better than I've read anywhere. 

I'm just having such an issue with him coming right to my side. I started to try and get him to sit when there is a distance between us; just out of arms' reach, but I can't keep him from coming towards me. I will try the ball past him trick and see how well that works.

@Zeeva: Finn was not much of a mouther as a pup. He got me once about two weeks after we got him, but it was in play and it was a pure accident. I yelled OW! very loudly and he whimpered and started licking my other hand. I've heard people say that they've done it to their dogs, but I was never sure if the trick was an urban legend that was just passed around, or if it had a basis in fact. 

As someone who would like to one day be a professional trainer...or at least have a dog with an obedience title behind his/her name, I want to learn everything I can!


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