Let sleeping dogs lie

Or "Sit" or "Bow".

Training sessions have started for Bonney. She fairly food-motivated, which is really helpful when teaching a dog. I clicker train and the sound was a new experience for her, but now she lives to hear the clicker and get the treat.

The first thing I teach new dogs is "sit". Bonney just would not put her bottom down. One time when she was getting tired of not being able to get the treat that was in my hand, she backed up and did a semi-bow. CLICK! & treat. I wanted to give her a treat for a sit, but figured any desirable behavior warranted a reward.

After being rewarded for her bow, I could see the wheels in her brain turning as she figured out what was going on. In a minute or two, she again bowed as she looked towards the treat in my hand. Click&treat! Now she understood and turned into a "bow machine", doing better and better bows, until she had a perfect bow with elbows on the floor and butt in the air.

A few days of passed with her only offering up a bow. But my default required behavior is a sit. Every dog must sit before treats, meals, and other things they want. So a sit was my goal for her. I tried many different things to coax her to lower her bottom. Nothing worked. Someone suggested that I watch for her to sit at other times during the day and C&T when she does sit. So I watched and finally was able to catch the moment and treat. I think she knew immediately what she had done to earn the treat. Now, she will either sit or bow when she sees me with treats.

Today after a little thought she laid down to see if that would earn a treat. Smart gal!! I love it when a dog thinks on their own and offers up behaviors on their own.