[Dailydrool] Kahuna's big "down"

[dpmcquade at juno.com]

<<Then we moved to down. The other dogs did a 
nice "down", settling in place. There were a couple of new adoptions learning 
from scratch, but they, too, quickly seemed to get the idea. Then, there was Kahuna, who 
laid his head down sideways, almost on the treat in my hand, and rolled over (doing a 
full somersault) ending up on his back in perfect belly rub position after slurping up 
the treat mid roll. This maneuver was repeated over and over, much to the amusement of 
the class. I never once got him to do a classic "down" with belly on the 
ground, head and back up on top.>>

My hounds have never learned "down." They think it's something having to do with a pillow, I guess. 

Yeah, I tried taking a treat and moving it in an outward arc from the nose. It didn't work on my hounds. My theory (having had a large dog when I was a child) is that bassets are too low to the ground. The treat is too close to them for them to bother lying down. You need distance to make this training technique effective.

My hounds do a really nice "sit"--well, most days (as long as it isn't Abner, who really does a half sit--his bottom usually never quite hits the floor). "Sit" is fine with me. Who needs "down" when "sit" works?
Pam, the exceptionally well-trained food slave to the Dashing Bassets




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