I love the below!

It brings to mind my first basenji, Blush, say around 1976, in the lobby of a high rise on 57th, between 7th & 7th Ave, in Manhattan.  All Tame Animals was interviewing her.  The said, "Will she stay down?"

I said, "Blush, down, stay."  And I got into an elevator & left her there with them.  I did not dally much, and came back down.  So, I said, "Did she move?"

"Only her ears," they laughed.
Blush - "Got Milk?"

Susan K-M

Dog Training and The Long Down/Chris O’Rear

Training is a process. In the beginning it was more about me learning to communicate effectively with my dog and to give clear verbal and physical commands. Then I learned how to give positive corrections and stop unintentionally rewarding the dog for things I didn’t want.

Once I understood some of the basics it finally came down to teaching the dog. If you are training your “first” dog, not just manners, but for competition the process becomes more involved. You go to class and do group exercises. Then you have a whole week at home to work on it.

Left to my own devices I would put Kiwi through the paces each day. We would heel, turn, sit and stay with my bad timing and footwork and ill-timed rewards. But amazingly, we progressed each week and continued to move forward until we were ready to participate in fun matches. I was surprised and thrilled.

Once you leave the controlled environment of a class or home there are new challenges to face. How does the dog behave under stress? Can you control your own nerves so you don’t freak the dog out or have them shut down? And then there are also surprises in each different location.

When working inside there may be loud sounds and echoes if the building is large. Then there are those rubber mats with familiar, but different scents that sometimes invite the dogs to roll on them. Add spectators with small children and you may be surprised to see a donut roll past as you try and heel in by!

Then try it again outside! There are swing sets and birds and insects that stop to flutter in front of your dog, or even sting them! The ground may be wet, or the sun way too hot. Through it all you have to step into the ring and work through the exercises.

The long down was an area that caused trouble for me. Not the “stand across the ring facing your dog” down. The long “out of sight” down.

Kiwi was patient and she tried very hard to please me but we seemed to have a rough start. First came the butterflies, then the bees. Then it was a squirrel racing across the ring, and yes, every dog left that day. 

Then it was, quite literally, a waterfall! The canopy over the ring had collected water over night and half way through the down the wind came up and dumped water on the dogs. Kiwi ran out of the ring and jumped into the first lap that came along. We spent the next several matches trying to break that behavior. But when your dog is cute and jumps into a lap snuggling seems to follow. I ended up having to talk to everyone ringside. A lap and a snuggle, talk about positive reinforcement!

We finally got through it and Kiwi had a rock solid out of sight stay. Besides the reward of earning our legs and titles I now had a dog I could place in a chair on a stay and relax knowing she would stay put. It was so solid that it amazed me. One morning I pulled into the parking lot at work and got out to walk Kiwi. A client came rushing by needing help carrying a seizing dog into the hospital so I told Kiwi to “hup” into her seat and stay before closing the door….or at least I thought I did. An hour later I went out to get my dog and was freaking out as I approached the car. The door was standing open. Oh my God! What have I done?

I ran across the lot screeching Kiwi’s name in a blind panic. But I guess we really did have the long down because my girl was sitting in her co-pilot seat patiently awaiting my return. I am so lucky! A careless moment could have cost Kiwi her life in a busy drive through lot. My other dogs would have been either running the neighborhood or hit by a car. 

I am still thankful for our good fortune that day, and grateful that we had spent all that time together training each other. Because, in my opinion, Kiwi had taught me as much about dog training as I had taught her about obedience and the process had built a beautiful relationship.

**I wanted to end this by saying that I would never expect a dog to stay anywhere when they are not supervised, and that I am not an exceptional dog trainer. I was just blessed to have an exceptional dog.**

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