Dog Health Questions: Dog training help please?

I taught my 7 month old dog to sit, stay and down.
Then just yesterday after a very long training session I taught him to kneel (bow) and now everytime I tell him to sit or down he just ends up kneeling.

I have a feeling I might have messed up or something. I would appreciate it if someone could tell me how to get him to tell the difference

5 Dog Training Tips to Stop Barking

Recommended Answer:
You haven't messed anything up so don't worry. It is because your dog has learnt something new and that is at the front of his mind.

Tomorrow go back to the sit command and he will remember it and then after a break go back to the kneel.

He will soon learn the difference.

Sounds like you're doing a great job with him keep it up.

:-)

Dog Training Tricks - What Is The Best Dog Training Trick?

• He may be kneeling because its a novel way to gain rewards. If you ask for a command and he gives you another simply don't reward him for it. Instead, wait a few seconds for him to correct himself and do the correct behavior. If he doesn't, give a no reward marker, have him sit, and repeat the command for no reward. Then you can ask him to do the reward a third time for a treat.
  
  Continue practicing all the tricks, mixing up the order you do them in, and give clear hand signals as well. Then you'll also make sure they know them well by giving only the signal sometimes, and only giving verbal cues sometimes.


• What I do with my dog is I say the command and also make hand gestures so she knows the difference. You have to make them very different from eachother and make the command clear. For example when I want her to sit I put my hand in a fist and turn it upside down. When I want her to Lay I slowly bring my hand down in a flat position and when I want her to turn I make a twirling motion with my finger.


• If you were particularly excited when he finally picked up on 'BOW', more so than when you were repping the other commands he already knew, the dog may have sensed this. If he feels he got a better reward or a better reaction for bowing he may be going straight to a bow to try to impress you more.
  
  Some suggestions:
  
  Mark correct execution of a command with a positive marker immediately followed by a treat. Mark incorrect execution of a command with a negative marker and no treat. An easy and common method used in verbal marker training is 'YES' + a treat for correct behaviors and 'NO' + no treat for incorrect behaviors. Make sure if you use no to mark incorrect behaviors you say it calmly and evenly. NEVER use this same word in a mad or frustrated tone of voice, or to correct BAD behavior that isn't an honest mistake on the dog's part. The first few times you may have to say "NO", then coax the dog to stand, then give the 'SIT' command again. But when they finally react properly and you mark it with a positive word and a treat, they will start to make the connection. The 'NO' came because they bowed when they were supposed to sit. To fix the situation they should go to a sit. When you do this right the dog becomes a natural problem solver, making a conscious effort to figure out what he's doing wrong on his own and then fix it any time you say the word 'NO' during your training.
  
  Always rep commands in different orders. Avoid cycling through commands in the same sequence. Once the learning phase is over and you're just reinforcing what the dog already understands, you can do it one of two ways. I would suggest minimizing hand gestures or body movements while you give commands so the dog learns to focus on the word and not on your gestures. A dog could learn to key in on a hand gesture you're subconsciously making every time you say 'BOW' without you ever even realizing it. Then if you move your hands in the same way from time to time when you tell him to 'SIT' he may instead 'BOW'. If you want to use hand gestures, that's fine. But you have to be consistent and use the same ones for the same commands, ALWAYS.
  
  Heavy praise is good for some situations, but when repping commands, avoid getting excessive about it in any given situation. It might put a higher value in the dog's mind in some commands as compared to others. Meaning you may say 'SIT' but if he knows you always go crazy with praise when he 'BOWS' he'll go that extra mile for you.
  
  I don't know what you define as a 'long' training session. But realize, a 7 month old pup can only stay focused for so long. It's better to limit sessions to 10 minutes TOPS and focus on teaching one thing at a time. It could be if your dog is getting mentally tired and losing focus towards the end of the training sessions, the best he can do at that point is keep reverting to whatever command he learned most recently that's freshest in his mind. You want your training session to end on a good note, before he gets to that point.