tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738086884148295840.post8465701440361672118..comments2023-11-12T01:10:50.768-08:00Comments on Life With Big Dogs!: Sit or Stand?Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563249254172457715noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738086884148295840.post-829227383587201442009-06-03T15:51:51.797-07:002009-06-03T15:51:51.797-07:00I'm still torn on this one. Vegas has an amazi...I'm still torn on this one. Vegas has an amazing situational stay. :) When she wants to, she will. Mostly her stay is incredible at home. She can do it in class in various situations but she gets antsy. I usually try to sit her now because a down will be impossible and I'm mentally trying to get her to associate the sit with staying put. We'll see how it goes...still a work in progress. We start our competition level classes in a couple weeks with another instructor. Hopefully she'll have some tidbits of wisdom.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18248454048632958268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738086884148295840.post-36139224007878744292009-06-03T12:33:14.102-07:002009-06-03T12:33:14.102-07:00Both dogs are kind of inbetween on their speed of ...Both dogs are kind of inbetween on their speed of dropping. I always try to orient them diagonally, but do practice downing them at different positions on the table. Bess is more particular about how she's positioned on the table than Heffner. He's had his butt almost falling off before, but held the stay. I can't remember what venue it is, but there are some trials where the judge can ask for a stand stay on the table. So it's not totally out there!:O)Lindsayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13563249254172457715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738086884148295840.post-9007080104200760342009-06-03T10:58:08.606-07:002009-06-03T10:58:08.606-07:00Oh, I should add, from a down, the dog can almost ...Oh, I should add, from a down, the dog can almost launch themselves forward in a leap using their rear legs, which isn't exactly possible from a sit. I think, if I remember correctly, that was my instructors other point.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09818849653621767754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738086884148295840.post-20617758546175572112009-06-03T10:56:36.256-07:002009-06-03T10:56:36.256-07:00Interesting topic! My trainer actually recommended...Interesting topic! My trainer actually recommended we do a down stay, saying it was quicker for the dog to come up from a down than a sit. Of course, this assumes you have a dog that can go from a stand to a full drop to the ground down, and then back to a stand. Pixie can and will do this on her own. She does the perfect flat down and she's fast about it. She pops right up like a Jack in the Box and can burst into a full on run in a nanosecond. <br /><br />Mars on the other hand is very slow to down and back up. He's also twice as big. I'm curious to get your thoughts Lindsay, because I know you've worked on downs and stays with your guys more than I have with Mars (which could be why he's slow, he's just not terribly motivated to do it). Do yours drop to a down from a stand quickly or are they slowed down by their size? Pixie isn't exactly the best Dane to compare other Danes to, given her sighthound build.<br /><br />Back to what my trainer was saying, but she basically said a down can go straight up to a stand and moving forward in a flawless motion, where going from a sit requires the butt to come up before the front legs can go forward. When Pixie, for example, is in a down (the straight folded down into a Sphinx position) she can stand and move a front paw forward into a step in almost one motion. When she's about halfway up she can start going forward, whereas she'd have to wait until mostly up from a sit before going forward. Does that even make sense?<br /><br />Sounds like something worth timing - dog from sit to first obstacle, and down to first obstacle. The stand stay would probably be the fastest though. <br /><br />On a side note, wouldn't it be nice if the giant dogs could do a stand stay on the pause table? I'm sure most of our giant dog pause table issues come from the table being too dang small, even for Pixie! Her little butt hangs off the end if we don't down diagonally!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09818849653621767754noreply@blogger.com