# Whistle Sits



## MarieP (Aug 21, 2011)

So Riot and I are working on whistle sits. I am mixing a little bit of obedience techniques in with it, something that I did with drop on recall. I have him sit, then I walk a ways away, then call him. Then I whistle sit him on his way in, and as soon as he sits, I throw a ball behind him. It is working great on getting a very quick response. The problem is, his response is sometimes not exactly a sit. I'm getting more of a crouch, butt somewhat down. He stops on a dime, but doesn't sit. If I give a verbal after that, he sits. I know I need a complete sit, especially right now, because in the field he will be even more driven and less likely to sit. 

Any ideas on how to fix with without taking away from the speed?


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## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

What happens if you don't say anything and you don't throw the ball? I am thinking if he would eventually sit you could throw the ball instantly and he would learn a incomplete sit would not get him a ball, therefore he would start sitting completely...

PS I like your idea!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I am using a ball toss for distance sits as well. They are fun, aren't they  

My dogs do not get the ball if they are not sitting square, rather a oops, so sad, try again.


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## MarieP (Aug 21, 2011)

Such a simple answer! Thanks guys! I should NOT be giving the verbal to get him to sit. I should wait for him to sit, then throw. No complete sit, no ball. And I'm thinking that as he gets better, I shouldn't wait as long for the sit. It should then be an "oops" missed it and start over. Thanks again, I love brainstorming!


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## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

Sounds perfect to me!  I love brainstorming too!


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

mlopez said:


> Such a simple answer! Thanks guys! I should NOT be giving the verbal to get him to sit. I should wait for him to sit, then throw. No complete sit, no ball. And I'm thinking that as he gets better, I shouldn't wait as long for the sit. It should then be an "oops" missed it and start over. Thanks again, I love brainstorming!


Yeah I am not a fan of "wait them out and they learn to get faster to get the reward quicker." Well half the time the dog thinks he's being rewarded for going slow. You see this in obedience ALL THE TIME. Person cheerleads for the slow dog, dog thinks he's getting praised for going slow.
Anyways I would just tell him sit instantly. Make the behavior happen then reward it. Once he starts doing it on his own you can stop saying sit.


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## MarieP (Aug 21, 2011)

K9-Design said:


> Yeah I am not a fan of "wait them out and they learn to get faster to get the reward quicker." Well half the time the dog thinks he's being rewarded for going slow. You see this in obedience ALL THE TIME. Person cheerleads for the slow dog, dog thinks he's getting praised for going slow.
> Anyways I would just tell him sit instantly. Make the behavior happen then reward it. Once he starts doing it on his own you can stop saying sit.


OK, this is the other thing that I was a bit worried about. But then again, I feel like he might think that he is getting the reward for sitting on the verbal, vs sitting on the whistle. My thought is to maybe go back to just walking around and doing random whistle sits without the ball, with just praise (something that doesn't get him as amped up). Reinforce the fact that he needs to SIT. He might just need some more foundation before I add in such a high value reward.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

mlopez said:


> OK, this is the other thing that I was a bit worried about. But then again, I feel like he might think that he is getting the reward for sitting on the verbal, vs sitting on the whistle. My thought is to maybe go back to just walking around and doing random whistle sits without the ball, with just praise (something that doesn't get him as amped up). Reinforce the fact that he needs to SIT. He might just need some more foundation before I add in such a high value reward.


Marie another little thing you need to do is walk him at heel, and suddenly you back up so he turns around in front of you, the second he starts to turn, blow the whistle. You can also "fake" throwing the ball or bumper so he runs out ahead, then blow the whistle. Throw it for him after he sits (this only works a few times before they figure it out).


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## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

Winter learned her whistle sits in a similar manner. We would walk around in a field and I had a bumper. Whistle, followed by verbal sit, when she sat the bumper was thrown for her. I was able to fade the verbal pretty fast.


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