Dog Food Reviews

Nenah,

Your girl sounds a a lot like my boy, Streak. He is a very submissive
greyhound that rolls over to show you his belly all the time. He
isn’t shy at all though and is very outgoing, just extremely
submissive. He has been the BEST dog!! He is so concerned about
always doing the right thing that he rarely has to be corrected for
something twice. He is the PERFECT dog and just never does anything
wrong. I do rally obedience with him and actually have to be careful
with my corrections and keep them very mild. I have to be careful to
make sure he understands exactly what I want otherwise he could stop
a behavior I wanted permanently because of a poorly timed Shht or ACK.

We had the same problem with the down. He wanted to roll over. I got
him to lay down by having him crawl under my leg to get to a piece of
food on the other side. Got him right into the correct position after
the 3rd try or so. He is a big guy and the first couple of time he
lifted my leg up and slid in so fast it knocked me backwards. LOL. I
wasn’t towering over him or even really facing him so he was much
more comfortable with that. Sometimes when you force a dog into a
position and say "down" at the same time they can associate
resisting with the word rather than the actual position you are
trying to get them in. I would be quiet until you get her in position
then tell her "Good Down!" and be sure to reward her only when she is
in position. If you reward a second too soon you are rewarding her
resisting and a second too late you are rewarding her as she is
getting back up.

Streak also had problems with the stay because he believed he should
follow his pack leader – me – if I moved. So I didn’t move at first.
I gave him a treat for the down. Stayed right there and gave him
another treat for holding the down a second later. I only rewarded on
the floor, never in the air or over his head (that encourages them to
get up). I told him "good stay". I stayed right with him and just
increased the time gradually without moving until he could hold the
position like that for 30 seconds or so easily. Once he understood
that I would take one tiny step toward his rear – not away from him.
Then I would come back to my original position and reward on the
floor again. Gradually I would take more tiny steps but would make a
circle around him instead of away from him. If he started getting up
I went back to what he was successful at and practiced that more
before trying to go on. After I could make a full circle around him
in a stay I started taking a half a baby step backing away from him
then I would go right back and reward him on the floor in the down. I
always walked back to him to reward him and never called him to me
from the stay. I faced him and backed away rather than turning my
back.The release word was OK and he quickly learned to wait for the
OK before getting up. He also learned that I would walk back to him
before I gave the release word. I wouldn’t release as soon as I got
back to keep him from anticipating it and jumping up as soon as I got
back to him. It worked! He was able to do a VERY long down stay in
Rally Excellent while another dog played around on the course and got
his title.

Another thing I had to be careful with early on was eye contact –
that could make him flip on his back and wiggle like a fish. I taught
him to "Look" at me by holding a treat in both closed fists out to my
side. I just stood quietly. He would sniff and try to get each treat
finally he gave up and glanced at me to see what was going on and
then he got the treat. During the first session he figured out the
key was to look at me and made eye contact with me after that without
showing me his belly. I was careful to keep my face neutral to happy
when I was doing it at first. If he even thinks I am mad or upset –
even if I am not – he is more likely to roll over. It is easy to get
stressed in the obedience ring and sensitive dogs like mine and yours
sure pick up on any change of expression.

Streak has been the easiest dog! I am sure you will really enjoy your
girl the way I have enjoyed him. I have had him for 5 years and he is
much more confident than he was but still wiggles around
submissively on his back when he cuddles with us. He knows the
command "Easy" which means to relax and hold still. He is a Therapy
Dog and is a dog I can really trust. He just is not going to snap at
someone, he would roll over and show them his belly if they
accidentally hurt him. When he rolls on his back and waves his feet
at people to get them to pet him everyone falls in love with him.

Joanne Johnson
Cesar Millan Ambassador

__._,_.___

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