The Dreaded DOR

DOR = drop on recall

I think that 70% - 80% of all dogs will do the drop-on-recall correctly if you just DO IT without teaching the dog anything. However in this case it is impossible to understand exactly HOW the dog understands the exercise since you didn't teach it. (Let me give you an example of this concept. Say your dog is on the other side of the yard and you say "Fido Sit". Your dog runs all the way up to you and sits at your feet. If Fido understood SIT the same way you do, he would have sat in place on the other side of the yard, but obviously Fido thinks SIT has something to do with his proximity to you, perhaps something to do with looking into your face, perhaps something to do with his tail for all you know. All of this is a consequence of how you taught Fido to sit, which may have been while he was next to you, perhaps looking in your face, etc ...) So back to the DOR, say you decided NOT to teach the DOR and just to DO-IT, and say that after some time your dog starts messing up something about the drop (the DOR is the MOST failed open exercise). What do you do? Do you correct the dog for things you never taught --- assuming he should understand them the same way you do (which remember from the Fido example above is likely NOT true), even though you never explained them to him --- and for all you know the mistakes he is making are still correct based on how he first "understood" the exercise (remember you never taught him different). That isn't fair. Perhaps you simplify the exercise --- back up one step --- that makes sense, make it simpler for the dog --- but wait. If you never Taught the dog how to do the DOR what is the last step? Your first step was the last step so you are forced, in this situation to actually START again from scratch. Perhaps you change your drop word and /or hand signal and start again --- poor dog.

So lets instead TEACH the DOR. By teaching this exercise we will ensure that our dog understands this exercise in the same way we do and if we ever run into a problem we will be able to simplify the exercise by going back to the last step of the teaching process.

TEACHING THE DOR:

There are Many ways to teach the Drop-on-recall. My favorite is to use a bar as a marker for a spot where the dog should drop. You will need a square bar (not round since they roll away), a bar jump bar works well, or any other "thing" that will not roll and that your dog won't ignore. I like this method because I find you get the least amount of hesitation and anticipation with it.

(1) First you must teach the Drop action. Dogs can Down in at least 2 ways. (A) Sitting first and that bringing their elbows to the floor (this is likely how you taught your dog to down if you lured them into a down with a treat). (B) With front feet NOT moving, folding their body backwards or placing their elbows down before their rear comes down. This is sometimes called a Fold-Back Down. If your dog is doing the sit-first-than-walk-forward-with-front-legs-to-down type of down, type (A) above there is no need to worry. But for the DOR you will want to teach the Fold-Back Down type (B) above.
There are two reasons why you want this type of down. Reason1: It stops forward motion. You signal or say drop and your dog locks his front legs and folds back --- all his motion is backwards. Reason2: It is faster and doesn't involve the sit intermediate where many dogs get stuck.
If your dog is doing down type (A) when you say "down" you will have to use another word "drop", "splat", "crash", "lay-down", etc... for the other type of drop, type (B).
Teaching Drop type (B), the Fold-Back Drop:
* If you are going to lure to teach the Fold-Back Drop; leave your dog is in a standing position move the treat from in front of their nose to between their legs, if you dog follows the treat with their eyes they should fold into the down position.
* If you are going to free-shape the Fold-Back Drop; than you will need to kneel on the ground holding a treat down between your knees, let you dog work to get the treat, when to dog lays down in front of you in an effort to get the treat, mark and reward this moment.
* Alternatively any method of down-ing your dog that is taking place "in front of you" such that the dog can not move his front legs forward (if you are in front of the dog you are blocking this option) and such that your dog transitions from a stand to a down without sitting first, will likely result in the correct behavior (Fold-Back down type (B)).

(2) Introducing the dog to the bar. Your dog should not be scared of the bar, should not be scared of his feet touching the bar, should be comfortable running over the bar.

(3) Starting the drop-at-bar game. Step 1 of this game is to stand in front of the bar, such that the bar is touching your toes, your dog should be standing on the other side of the bar. Ask the dog to drop. Look for your dog to drop in a fast consistent way that meets your criteria on the other side of the bar.

(4) Once your dog is comfortable with step one. Start moving back from the bar (You move back). One step at a time. At each stage down your dog (who is transition from a stand to a drop on his side of the bar).

(5) Once your dog understands that he is to drop at the bar no matter how far you are away from the bar. It is time to move your dog back and yourself forward up to the bar. I do this dramatically which means I move my dog back a lot (a good distance) at one time. This is to ensure that my dog can pick up some speed before reaching the bar. If you move your dog back step by step he will learn to walk or step toward the bar and you do not want to put it in his mind that it is okay to walk on the DOR. At this stage I also move myself forward, up to the bar, such that the bar is once again touching my toes. I call my dog and down him at the bar which is at my feet. Don't stay at this stage too long.

(6) Than start moving yourself back again, step by step as before, only now you are calling your dog to come, before dropping him at the bar (asking him to down at bar). Go slow, make sure your dog is doing the drop well before taking another step away from the bar. Make sure to maintain your criteria.

(7) Once you are a good distance from the bar (as is your dog, on the other side). Start adding straight recalls over the bar. Sometimes call your dog over, sometimes drop him at the bar. This is where you will start getting mistakes --- your dog might drop without you telling him to or he might start coming slowly, or he might stop dropping at the bar. This gives you an opportunity to clarify what it is you want to your dog. You can simplify the exercise by backing up a step or two if you think your dog really might not understand what you want from him. I find the most useful thing to do at this stage is to SHOW my dog what to do. I stand next to my dog on the same side of the bar and I say "come" (I know strange since I am next to them) and I RUN with them over the bar to the other side and celebrate. Than I do the same thing but with a drop in the middle, where I will pause at the bar, say drop, and make sure they drop. I find that SHOWING your dog in this way that you want a run and drop and a run or just a run over the bar works the best to clarify this situation in their mind and to make it all a fun game.

(8) Once your dog is comfortable recalling over or dropping at the bar. It is time to fade the bar. I fade the bar by transitioning from the bar jump bar to a piece of wood (optional) to a leash to a string (optional) to nothing at all. I find that the first transition is the hardest and requires backing up a step or two in your training to make sure the dog understands that this new object functions the same as the bar did. I find every transition after that easy and dogs understand the transition to nothing easily as well.

(9) I often go back to the bar in my training if I need to or if I am working on another part of the DOR and don't want to put pressure on the drop part of it. I also will add a second bar such that each bar is 1/3 of the way between me and my dog, to test a more experienced dogs understand of the drop and the drop signal. I will call them over the first bar and drop them at the second or vice versa. Also if a dog is NOT ABLE to make it past step (7), somehow they just can't understand that sometimes they pass over the bar and sometimes they drop at it, adding a second bar and dropping them at one or the other will sometimes clarify this confusion for them.

(10) The only thing left is to proof the DOR and get it ready for the ring. Remember to sometimes bring back the bar and remind your dog that this is great fun game.

I will add pictures and videos to this post to make it more clear when I have the chance.