My 7 month old akita won't stay on down?

Question

my akita puppy, Kobe, can go down but now he wont stay down. Before he was easily staying down and stayin; he actually stayed down. but now He goes down and now he doesn't stay. should i try a different treat?

Answer 1

go to obedience school where you will learn to train your dog in a variety of situations............. he could be anticipating the treats,, make sure you do not reward a down stay by feeding the treat when he gets released,,,,,, always treat when he is in the down position.... go back to doing it on leash , with you facing him about 5 feet away,, if he breaks the down stay,, simply walk in,, put him back exactly where he was ( saying nothing while you do this) when he is back to where he started his down stay.. say good down stay and back away again..

Answer 2

Stop using treats, they have ceased to be an incentive. Command down and then stand beside him in the heel position for several seconds. If he moves during this time immediately put him back in the down position with a gruff vocalization (do not repeat the command, growl or grunt or just say no) and a downward tug on his collar or leash, then wait the same amount of time to make sure that he will hold it. Now command stay and place your right foot in front of him and pivot so that you are now standing in front of him, blocking his path. Now pivot back into the heel position. Repeat these steps a number of times until you are certain that he does not try to get up. After each, gently tell him what a good boy he is.
Now take a rest for an hour. (seriously)
When you return to the exercise, repeat what you have already practiced but begin taking one then two steps until you are able to take several steps. Don't leave his sight and if he breaks command, first vocalize your displeasure if that doesn't work then walk directly at him and give him a tug on his collar or leash back into the command postion and return quickly to the place that you held before he broke command.
Each day that you practice get yourself further away, you can even set a chair at predetermined distance for you to sit on but that will allow you to return quickly for correction, if needed. Once you feel that he is holding the command properly for up to 10 minutes you can start leaving the room. At first for only a few seconds but slowly increasing the time until you have the desired result. Remember to stay in a position that allows you to see the dog even though the dog can't see you.
Never yell, never get angry. Neither of these things help. If your feeling frustrated with the exercise return him and command something that you know he will do easily and then give him lots of praise and patting for it. Never practice the initial part of the exercise for longer than fifteen minutes.
Akita's are very stubborn but do learn the obedience commands efficiently. You might want to try a local obedience school. Don't treat for commands, they do become a crutch that sooner or later you have to get rid of. Remember, Treats are for Tricks.
Good luck.

Answer 3

You're Akita is still a puppy, at this age you should not expect him / her to stay down more than 15 seconds, and then give the dog your release word to tell them it is OK to get up . After the dog is a year old you can increase the amount of time you expect the dog to hold a down gradually, first go up to 30 seconds then 45 etc.

Answer 4

You could try a different treat but I don't think it will help. Akita's are hard headed and stubborn. I have an 8 month old Akita who sometimes has "selective hearing". The best advice I can give is to just keep going over the commands. Praise him alot when he does it correctly.

Answer 5

Practice, Practice, Practice and Patience. Try extreme praise instead of treats, I've always had more luck training dogs with praise. Too many treats will just make the dog "Food Motivated" and you'll eventually find that the dog won't perform a command unless there is food involved.