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TessaGA

Georgia

MH
Posts:2378

12/04/2008 1:17 PM
Well, I fondly remember that my first American Bulldog was 3 months old when we practiced the down-stay from a distance with a perfect recall - in the woods at that. It was quite impressive. My second American Bulldog was rock solid on the down at about 6 months old. I would put her in a down on campus and disappear behind a wooden fence that allowed me to peek through and observe her, but to her I was gone. She just lied there, bikes, people going by (they looked confused as there was this dog lieing around with no owner). We started with seconds and worked up to about 10 minutes. I also taught her to drop down whenever I dropped the leash...we'd be walking or running, and as soon as I dropped the leash (and kept going) she would go down. As well as drop on recall. All fairly easy to teach. So that's what I am used to...now THIS! Tessa is 5 going on 6 months. She drops on command, at home, by now, but 10 seconds is all I get from her. As I said...one second at a time.

To live without dogs would mean accepting a form of blindness. [Thomas McGuane]

pixie bee

MH
Posts:3916

12/04/2008 1:48 PM
I may be mean but I will keep Haiko in a down for a 1/2 hour. He would stay for longer it just isn't needed. What I do is I down Haiko, I leave him in the woods and I walk about 30 yards away out of sight. I fire several shots. When I come back he is still in down. I down Haiko facing the water ,go to the truck get a duck, toss it in the water, wait for it to go away, fire several shots then I release Haiko.I also do this with w/o him seeing a duck and I do it w/o gunfire or w/o seeing a duck. I do not release him unless I go back to him. At our NAVHDA UT tests Haiko is in the down,facing the water for the water portions. I am baffled at why he can be so obedient with the down and retain it but not retain steadiness in the field. There must be a flaw in my training that I cannot figure out.

"Time with my dogs clears my mind, renews my faith, and lets me see the world as it is. My only regret loving dogs as I do, is the misery of their early departure." Robert G. Wehle

Texas Belle User is Offline

Austin, TX

MH
Posts:6748

12/04/2008 1:56 PM
Belle has the most solid down I have ever seen. She will hold it forever and in any circumstance (at least that we have tried or encountered). She has been like that since about 6 months. She even had a Newfie break a down next to her in the ring, go over to her and try to get her to play and she held. The Newfie even tried to climb on her. I was very proud of her. She was looking at me like do something mom. Halo is almost their, but it took allot longer with her. And we had a major setback about a year ago when someone threw a clipboard and it landed right by her. It took me about 3 months to recover from that as she kept expecting a clipboard to fly out of no where at her and any sound would make her break. I went all the way back to ground zero and built the down back up with her. If actually was a blessing in many ways as she is not much more solid than before. Ringo has been really good and early would hold a down longer than he will now. But still very good for a pup. His biggest challenge right now is that everything is so darn interesting. He will hold the down,but his attention is everywhere.

Bev Quarles, the Pointer Sisters (Belle and Halo), the Outlaw GSP (Johnny Ringo) and the little Princess (Fauna) Yellow Rose GSPs "A dog has the soul of a philosopher." - Plato

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