I am very pleased with how I have taught the turn and down for Laev’s Schutzhund sendaway. The behavior is strong, capable of overriding a previous cue, and precise. Most importantly, it has low latency. So I get an instant turn and a nice straight down, which just looks pretty.
I’m getting ready for some “normal” indoor ring obedience after our Schutzhund trial and I am thinking, drat, I should have trained that with a sit as well for our send outs. I wonder now if I’ve built in the down too strongly, in that context, so that sit will be harder to learn….
Regardless, I’ll need something to call it. “Down” means for Laev to hit the deck wherever she is, while “platz” means to turn to face me and then lie down. I will need something equally precise for Laev to turn and sit, because “sit” means to plant her rear without moving from that spot. (Yes, I know the dogs can get it in different situations, but why mess with a good thing when I know she can learn precision with specific cues?)
But German and Danish sound too much like the English “sit,” so I don’t want to use them. I could use Czech, I suppose — haven’t tried that yet, and Laev’s sire was a Czech dog. Or I could use Japanese; she has only two Japanese cues so far, both relating to bitework.
Or it could be something really clever, instead of just another word for “sit.” I knew someone who trained her entire AKC Utility routine in Star Trek language; her go out cue was “engage.” There ought to be some clever option I just haven’t thought of yet.
Suggestions are welcome. 🙂
Right, you are such a geek, even just for knowing someone who used Star Trek language.