Pt his lead on in the house and let him wear it for a few hours, picking it up and putting it down again occasionally. Works a treat with most dogs! Good luck and great that you are training at home. Homework from class so often gets forgotten. Well done !

Get yourself in the mind set first. Try to plan which method you are going to use to teach a single behaviour.
Set him up for success

Personally, I would throw away the idea of relying on physical control to train (the leash and physically manipulating him)

There are times when a leash is necessary but you should not feel like you will always be reliant on it IMHO (for a good few reasons)

I also agree with this.

If he sits in front of you when you have NOT asked him - say "sit goood siit" whilst he is still sitting.

Make training fun. Let him learn through his own actions, for example if you you have taught a basic down but are still guiding him - then when you see him 'down' of his own accord say "good down"

This stops training becoming a boring 'exercise' for him, saves a lot of work on your part and keeps it a bit more fun for all. (IMHO)

Edit - SB and C&D have given great advice on first page too!

Try not to lose heart in this, its not about the mistakes that may have been made, its about what you do from now

I tend to agree with what others have said - that the physical modelling is not a very good way to teach Sit. The dog can get confused, and push against you, and all sorts.

Have you considered going to a more modern class? You may enjoy it more and there may be less pressure, although there will still be homework

Wys
x

First of all i would just like to thank you all for your fantastic advice, i appreciate so much the time you have taken to reply.
Ive been looking at kikopup on you tube and i find her methods most interesting i know some of you have seen her what do you think of her methods?
Manipulating toby into place obviously doesnt work for him, so i wont be doing it again.
I agree with taking advantage of his ball obsession and working with it. Not being so predictable and loads of other stuff that has been mentioned.
I realise the problems i have been having are my fault, weather its been me jumping too far ahead or not understanding the method correctly myself.
Most of all i want training with Toby to be as much fun as possible for him and me, we have a bond and hopefully through positive training it will go from strength to strength.

whenever he 'dosnt get it' go back a few steps to what he CAN do and reward him for that then make the next step smaller, break it all down for him. Baby steps will get you there

Bang up to date and very good. Kikopup's brill

To be fair, if your trainer is using modelling (pushing on bum) and not using either lure and reward (a la Ian Dunbar) or Clicker training (either luring or shaping) then he/she is not really helping you much. Not setting you up for success.

Be easy on yourself, get a few good books and enjoy
Great you have that bond, as it will really help.

Wys
x

The lure was used first, the pushing on bum was because i had asked him and he didnt do it first time and she told me to do that instead of asking him to do it a second time, then she asked me to practice it at home so it wouldnt be a shock for him when i did do it, the other thing she asks us to do is to get him to down with fingers in the collar using slight preasure. for the same reason to put him back if he doesnt stay and put him into possition if he doesnt do it on the first command.
However having looked at kikopup, and how she does stay i think its amazing... you dont actually teach stay at all its just a continuation of the sit or down and they dont get up till you use a release command building up the length of time in small steps

thats the problem though, your asking him to do something that he dosnt fully understand so you will need to push him. That can lead to all sorts of problems IMHO

If you dont say the command until his backside hits the floor then you wont be repeating yourself and you then condition the dog to realise that you say sit once = bum on floor yep small steps is what its all about

I would really advise that you get him in a down through clever luring and reward initially rather than using his collar.

sorry, no offense but the more I have read from the quote, the stronger I feel that you should quit the class and opt for a more modern approach! (behaviour shaping etc)

It might be worth you getting the basic Karen Pryor clicker training (for dogs)book just to help set you off on the right path and perhaps understand where some of us are coming from...perhaps Wys may also have some suggestions.

you dont actually teach stay at all its just a continuation of the sit or down and they dont get up till you use a release command building up the length of time in small steps

Exactomundo


I do not have a problem with a trainer teaching you a particular method per se, BUT, if they are sufficiently experienced they will have a wide variety of tools in their box

So, for example, to get a dog to go down the trainer should have given you some alternatives spelling out the pros and cons for each.

eg

Push down - usually dog uses oppositional reflex
putting your foot on the lead very close to neck - the dog is being pulled down, dog can back out
Luring with food towards chest and down - very good for teaching dogs to go down in their footsteps for obedience etc
lying on the floor with your knees up and luring through with food - again if you can prevent them going round excellent
Using a chair and throwing food under it

I could go on.

The point is that a trainer should explain

What
Why
When
How
Which
where

etc

But a good trainer will have handouts which will explain the varying methods prior to the lesson so that you have a chance to ingest that info before coming to the next one.