# Fixing Down signal at trial, deer in headlight syndrome



## BayBeams (Jan 3, 2010)

I need some suggestions as to how to help Baylee complete her down signal at a trial. Baylee is a low confidence dog. That being said she has come a long way and I am proud of her accomplishments. We started showing in utility A and for the most part she has been doing well except for the down on signals. Baylee will do the down in training, outside the ring and with other people standing nearby, except in the ring at a real trial. I know my nerves play a role and that has much improved the more we show but for whatever reason Baylee does not want to lie down in the ring at a trial. We don't have a lot of matches but we do set up a ring at least twice a week with various people acting as judge and being "obnoxious". Baylee will go down without a problem 99% of the time if we are not at a trial. Once Baylee did go down at a trial and I am not sure what the difference was at that show but otherwise our NQ has been primarily due to the signal exercise. Basically she stands there staring at me like a deer in the headlights. 
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We are so close to qualifying...


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Conner had a similar problem when and this is what I did to work through it:

When working signals I would put him on a long line and let the person playing judge hold the line while standing behind the dog. When I gave the drop signal, the person holding the line would pop down and back. Just a little pop to signify to the dog that "yes, you must do this." At first it totally freaked Conner out but we repeated it enough until he became comfortable with it and learned to be quick enough to beat the pop.

Once he was reliable on a long line, I switched to just having a leash on him. As I gave the signal the "judge" would reach to grab the leash and give a pop. Dog learned to drop before leash could be grabbed. 

Final step was just putting a short tab on him and repeating the above steps. Having the person lean into him to grab the tab added a little stress for him, so he had to learn to drop despite that scary/annoying person standing behind him, and do it quickly enough to beat that person.

The part that provided the ring carryover is that there will be a person (judge) standing behind the dog in a trial, so he knew he had to do the drop.


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## Rastadog (Oct 24, 2006)

*I would play drop games at home*

and try and condition Baylee to respond in the ring the way she would in training. When I was showing in obedience I used a variation of Terri Arnold's 5 piece food game. The game is used to train a quick response and a tight turn, will help with go outs, to the recall command. You will need string cheese and a space 20-30 feet to toss cheese along the ground. Show Baylee the cheese toss it out in front of you and tell her to get it. As soon as she gets to the cheese call her back to you while showing her the second piece of cheese. As she turns back to you use happy voice and put fun positive energy to calling her again while showing her the food. Use pieces she can see to train game. When she is on the way back to you toss the next piece of cheese out in front of you and repeat. Do this with 4 pieces. The last piece have her come to you to get the cheese. After my dog learned this game I would have her leap up and take the last piece from my mouth. This does require some trust and may not be the best thing with a high drive dog. Don't pull your head back either. Once Baylee knows the game instead of having her recall to you or toss another piece of food give her the drop command. Praise like crazy and walk over to her and give her the food. This is the basic idea. I hope someone else chimes in with a better game to train speed and confidence for drops. Good Luck Alex PM me with specific questions


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

I play the "Get it game" similar to what Rastadog described except I will give a down signal after every food chase, and instead of walking in to the dog to give the food after the dog drops I will throw the food behind the dog and say GET IT! So with each toss he gets farther away from you until you are full ring-length getting that fast drop. The dogs love this game, it's great for loosening up a dog who gets sticky on drop signal.
Frankly I do not like having the judge or your training partner do ANYTHING but stand there while the dog does signals. Why POINT OUT to the dog that the judge is somewhat concerning or worrisome???
Fisher went through a little spell of not downing in Utility. He normally drops very quick so in the ring if he wasn't already down by the time my arm was all the way up I knew he wasn't going to drop (and I wasn't about to hold my arm up in the air and "TEACH" him to drop slowly in the ring). So I blew a few entries and if he wasn't down by the time my arm was all the way up I said "DOWN" which made him drop. I think this happened three shows in a row and by then the dog figured out that I wasn't going to stand by idly in the ring.
Another thought is, a lot of handlers get in a DEER IN THE HEADLIGHTS state themselves during signals. They are nervous and don't want to freak the dog out so instead of looking in the dog's eyes they stare blankly at the dog's feet, or over their head, or the floor, or whatever. This is different than training so the dog doesn't connect, and you get missed signals. Instead, TRAIN by looking the dog in the eye OR looking at their feet, make a conscious effort to always look in the same spot while giving signals so you don't improvise in the ring. Personally I work a fair bit on "anticipation staring" which I know sounds dumb but basically I look at the dog in the eye before calling them in (either from a recall, signals, moving stand, etc) with that "YA READY, YA READDDDDDYYYYYY......GO!!!!!!" look that they learn to anticipate and have fun with. It has specifically improved Fisher's quick return on moving stand. Act like it is your secret unspoken game with your dog. Trust me the judge is watching your dog, not your face during signals  Best of luck.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

The first thought that came to my mind is can Baylee see your signal? If you hold your arm close to your body, nerves may make you hold it even closer. Are you wearing sleeves that can nbe seen against the back ground?

Also, I switch my focus from the judge to my dog before giving my signals - kind of a pre-cue, and have to remember to do the same thing in the ring or my dog(s) won't go down. I look directly at my dog and then give a signal - same for directed jumping etc. 

Just a few thoughts 

PS: I also use variations of the game above; I call it Get-It Get-It Get-it come/down/sit etc. I vary how many tosses and sprints the dogs makes before cuing/signaling the drop or the front or whatever. I also run backward while tossing at times, or when giving the cue and also sometimes end the game with a game of tug. The dogs love it.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Another thought on eyes - I always look where I want my dogs to go. So as I give the down signal, my eyes move to the floor. As I give the sit signal, my eyes pop up.


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## BayBeams (Jan 3, 2010)

Thanks for all your thoughts and suggestions. I used to play the "get it" game a lot with Baylee but had to cut back because of her back issues. I am thinking that I may need to go back to that game with her in a modified form.
Great thoughts about the eyes. I am very conscious of my eye positioning with directed jumping but not as much with signals. I'll pay more attention to the eye positioning.
Baylee is very insecure and a worrier so I have tried to get her used to having a "judge" behind her that may be moving or shuffling papers. Frankly I don't think the fact that the judge is behind her is the problem. I think she feels "exposed" in the middle of the ring and is afraid to lie down where she might be vulnerable. That might explain why it isn't a problem on familiar, and safe, training locations as opposed to the ring at a trial. 
Thanks to everyone for your thoughts. I am going to give some of your suggestions a try to see what we can accomplish. I have a few shows coming up next month so I need to sort out this signal issue before we go into the ring again.


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