So far we're on Week Three of PetSmart training - so far so good. Roscoe has sit down pat (when he wants to, that is) and has responded really well to "Leave it" and "Drop It." We're having serious issues with down, which the trainer said that pups with shorter legs sometimes do. He won't go down, he just raises up his back end or stands up. I've managed to get him under my legs with the Under the Bridge trick, but I'm not sure how far that will go in showing him what down means. Any suggestions in trying to get him to understand down?

Leave it is actually pretty funny - the trainer taught us to do it by having a treat in each hand. Then I show him one hand with a treat in it, and close my palm over it. I tell him to leave it, and then reward him from the other hand once he backs off. He gets it really well, and after about two tries refused to come anywhere near the treat in my hand. Later I tried to do "down" and he started barking at the offered treat as I tried to lead him down. Fun times. Leave it works pretty well so far, although he'll only leave something for a few seconds before going right back to it (the cat is the main thing I'm trying to get him to leave right now).

He's also started marking (4 months old). He's done it for about two days, looked like he was just going to pee several times. He's also gone from being able to hold it all day and all night, to not holding it and needing his pee pads again. I talked to the vet, who said it was marking. He's scheduled to get fixed and chipped on Thursday, which I'm looking forward to having finished. He got his last set of shots yesterday, so once he hits 6 months he should be good for all the doggy daycare and dog parks I can drag him to. I'm really looking forward to that!