Can you teach a dog to like something?!

I do obedience work with my dogs. Sika (HWV) is 6 months old (today!) and it good at most things but she hates down stays! She looks really uncomfortable and was actually shaking at class last night when she was in a 'down'! I have taught her by luring her and using a clicker, I have never been forceful nor have I used any 'negative' methods. To encourage her to stay down I feed her treats intermittently and am trying to extend the length of time between treats to get her to stay down for longer. How can I make it more fun for her?! Can you teach a dog to enjoy something they don't really like doing?

Well, I never have - but that`s not to say it`s not possible.
Daisy loathes Obedience work (my last GSD loved it).
Daisy however loves agility, scent-work and Heelwork to Music, so that`s OK.
Have you thought of trying to find a sport that your dog likes?
Maybe she`ll come round to Obedience when she`s more confident?

Thank you Unfortunately, where I live there are very limited options (Orkney, island!) and the only classes are obedience based. We will do some agility in the summer when our classes move outside. I want to take her to classes to get her used to behaving around other dogs and also because I enjoy it! If she's hating it though I might not carry on through all the classes but I at least want beginners! She is very timid and I wonder if she feels quite vulnerable doing a 'down'...

Have you tried laying a towel or blanket on the floor for her to lie on? It might be that she feels cold or uncomfortable on a hard floor.

What treats are you using? Does she play with toys? Have you tried chucking the treats and making a game of the rewards----food circuits etc?

I would be worried if she was shaking, thats not fair on her and she is a baby yet.

Do you do much with her at home?

rune

Have you done any free shaping with the clicker??
I free shaped mine onto a mat and then had them stay there, then it becomes a target exercise and not a 'stay ' exercise
Also I see lots of dogs who are a bit timid and not 100% sure of what is wanted find stay worrying for them
I would go back to the start and teach that lieing down is really really rewarding
I dont teach a stay, just that position means you stay in it till I say otherwise

Tell her to down then treat treat treat in rapid fire then release before she gets the chance to get up - release to something fun like a game of tuggy or some tricks she likes

Then down, treat treat, pause, treat treat release do something vvv fun

do that about 3 times then have a break

make it so easy she really knows what is wanted from her, and if anything changes, dogs bark, the wind blows ANYTHING that might distract her reward her lots and lots before she gets a chance to react to it

I always think a down stay is great fun and easy for the dog 'I get to lie here and I get lots and lots of treats'

I did this ^^ last night and she stayed 'down' for a minute, she gots loads of treats, cuddles and a play with her tuggy toy and she was delighted. I think the play part is making her more willing as the next time I asked for a 'down' she dropped straight away. Think I just need to do short bursts more frequently and remember the tuggy toy! My little boy even walked past her (we were in the hall) and she didn't move. She only shook that once in class but you're right, it's not nice for her. There are two mahoosive dogs (dane x wolfhound) one of whom is quite reactive and I think this affects her in class, poor girl. I also tried this initially last night with my lab (total star at stays) and it seemed to build her confidence a bit before we did it by herself. I think we'll get this sorted before too long Thanks for all your help!

Great advice. And it seems to have helped judging by peedie's reply!

And yes you can change a dog's perception of something from negative to positive starting with operant conditioning ~ associating the negative with something very positive. After a while the association becomes more ingrained & automatic, so that the emotional & physiological responses become positive & the association becomes classically conditioned.

None of my dogs Enjoy doing a Stay! However i do get them nice and relaxed, i havent got time to say how now, but i THINK ...did you have a post before about getting her to go down? i may have said on there?

I think I did! She wasn't keen on it before and now will do it but doesn't like it. We're progressing but not necessarily well! She was much better as I mentioned last night so hopefully we've got a finger on what will motivate her now Thanks for all the help, appreciated as always!