Hi Guys

I am after some training tips for how to teach ' stop the dog' and also for 'send away'. My problem is that my young gsd bitch seems to be getting confused with the 'stop the dog' and now she recalls very slowly as she thinks she may be stopped at anytime ! How can i combat this? she had the best recall before we started this exercise. Also, do i have to say stop or could i just ask her to sit when she is coming towards me?

Send Away is just not happening either, she starts to go towards the item (traffic cone) then comes straight back with a 'i found it' look on her face, bless her.

So, an idiots guide to both these exercises would be really good, many thanks in advance

With the Recall, go back to as she was a pup and call her really excitedly. Do this for a couple of weeks then only occasionally stop her. The alternative is that you should only stop her (until a test) in a none formal recall situation, say just let her rome around then stop her that way. 

In regards to saying sit, you can say what you like so long as it works and doesn't defeat the object of you training, i.e so long as she sits its fine! Its not fine if you shout sit and she just stop sand stands there.

Send away should be taught with a treat by the cone at the back of the triangle and getting her to run up to the treat and eat it. This should be done for a couple of weeks. Only when she knows to rush up to the cone and get the treat should you throw a down in there too. Once she is down she should stay in the down while you rush up and praise her. The treat should always be as close to he cone as possible.

Hope that helps. 

Don't use the stop command every time you practice with your dog - as you have discovered they very quickly learn to anticipate the command. Throw a stop in every now and then and at different distances from you so they don't have the chance to anticipate at what point in their return you are going to stop them either. Sometimes stop them a fair distance away and at other times much nearer to you. I taught a sit stop to begin with as sitting was the action he was quickest at when being asked from a distance and now alternate it with down stops and stand stops to help to prevent anticipation and keep his interest.

I was taught to do the send away by using a small square of carpet to pinpoint where I wanted him to go to and by having the carpet very close to me to start with. To begin with he was rewarded for going to a down position on the carpet square (I clicker train and he picked this up really quickly - go to carpet and down =  click = treat) and an "away" command was introduced. Gradually the carpet was moved further and further away  (in small increases don't be tempted to increase distance too far too quickly) until it was in front of the marker cone and the send away was reliable. Then you start to gradually cut the carpet down in size, doing send aways to the reduced size carpet square and keep cutting it down until it is so small  it can then be discarded altogether. I often take a small piece of carpet out with me on a walk, a piece about two inches square that fits in my pocket, and practice send aways in lots of different environments. Not sure if the carpet  method is used by any other people but it was shown to us at training class as an alternative method that had been used successfully with a dog who had become very confused as to what was expected of him - he kept retrieving the cone and bringing it back to his owner. It is also easier to pop a tiny piece of carpet in your pocket than have to carry a cone on your walk.

We play the send away game a few times each day - he can now be sent away from any room in the house and gallops to the carpet square :)

I am not a trainer and only do fun obedience but the above methods worked very well for my GR so may be worth a try :)

With the Recall, go back to as she was a pup and call her really excitedly. Do this for a couple of weeks then only occasionally stop her. The alternative is that you should only stop her (until a test) in a none formal recall situation, say just let her rome around then stop her that way. 

I would echo this, we had a dog come to class that unless he went first would watch the other dogs and when owner left him, and then called, he would recall -stop half way- sit- get up and complete the exercise -even if owner asked for a 'straight' recall. we didn't do a stop every week so he did his when the others did not and went first on the week the rest did a stop.

Daughter taught her Rott send away to a cone - once she got the idea she (Rott not daughter!) would proceed to 'mug' any and every traffic cone she came across when out for a walk, :-O rapidly changed to using a variety of ABC (anything but cone) for sendaway.
Chris

We play the send away game a few times each day - he can now be sent away from any room in the house and gallops to the carpet square

I think Harley must have read my post and decided I was getting too complacent :) At training club tonight he did a great sendaway on the first try and then, on the second one he sauntered casually halfway to the cones, sat down, had a scratch and a yawn and then flopped down on his side as if to say " I have done it once so if you want it done again you do it! " Ho hum :)

Although I know the carpet trick works and I have seen it in action, my trainer and I are concerned as to how each dog will take to the absence of the carpet. I know some will be fine, but will all be fine about it?!- if the carpets cut too small too soon, will it confuse the dog?!

I don't know!

I have found that as to begin with (when you leave your dog with someone else holding it) you walk up to the cone say send away touching the cone a bit and place your treat on it, after a while I have found that i can leave Saf in a stay and walk up to any item whether out on a walk (even a lead will do) or in the house (ornaments are useful) touch it and say send way, then walk back up to her and release her, she goes up to that item, and when i shout down she downs! 

Although that's quite immaterial to the actual exercise in the ring cos' you can't do that then.

I'm sure with extra work, like the Rottie, she will go up to the back cone and lie down without the need for me to touch it.- just need to drill it in there a bit!

Although I know the carpet trick works and I have seen it in action, my trainer and I are concerned as to how each dog will take to the absence of the carpet. I know some will be fine, but will all be fine about it?!- if the carpets cut too small too soon, will it confuse the dog?!

It doesn't seem to but then each step of the learning process has to be tailored to fit the dog as you would with teaching any new exercise. Because at training class you are always sending your dog away to the cone and the carpet is next to the cone it just acts as a reinforcement of the area they are being sent away to. The carpet is cut down gradually - one dog at training class very quickly had his carpet cut down to the size of a postage stamp and then discarded altogether whereas others took longer to reach the point of not using the carpet at all.

When using the carpet at home I found it greatly improved the speed of the sendaway and the exercise was really enjoyed by my dog.

Thats why dogs are so brilliant, there are so many ways to teach one thing and dogs adapt to your way of teaching and just take it in their stride!

:-D

He wants to keep you on your toes. ;-)

(sorry, in response to Harley - it is confusing when you can't work out who is replying to whom any more. )

For the stop on recall, I would try making it clear to the dog that it is not a normal recall. I would speak to the dog when setting it up, telling the dog what the exercise is. For a recall I say "recall", so for this exercise you could say "stop" or something like that. Then when it comes to calling the dog, make it different again - for example say "here" instead of "come" so the dog differentiates between the two exercises.
Just a suggestion, it worked for my dog :)