Lay down with 3 month old pug

[nermal]

Hello. I have a 3 month old pug who knows sit and shake. I was able to train her 4 month old Shiba "brother" (also with the same trick set) to lay down in under 10 minutes using instructions online (sit, pass treat in front of face down to ground, reward when down and paws are out forward).
I'm having more trouble with her; she will sit, and she will tilt her head very low to follow the treat, but it's more of a bow than a splay out down. She's also a chubby, and her butt kinda slides a bit (no traction) when she's looking down, and I don't know if it's her belly getting in the way of not going all the way down.

If I can get some help, I promise not to use so many parentheses in future posts (thanks).

 

[Jean Cote]

Try training by stairs, so that you can lure a treat lower than her body and she'll have to reach for the treat and lay down.

 

[mouse]

Hi!

I had the same problem with my pup Alice, she has learned ' give paw' , sit, follow, within moments, but ' down' was one of the ' toughest' things to teach her, I think it is just because she is a fatty, haha.

However, I did manage to teach her with a lot of patience and a bit of nudge in the right direction;

I first let my other dog go down in front of her and say the command, in hope that by seeing she will get the idea...

After that I used the more common version of teachin your pup to go down.

-Let the pup sit
-hold treat in front of their nose, then slowly go down so that the nose/head follows down, than move the treat over the ground bit by bit further away till he/she is lying down, and than praise like you are insane haha..

After several attempts and even praising her half going down, she got the idea.

We also tried another trick a friend told us to try, but Alice was not falling for it.

-You sit on the ground with one leg slightly raised, leaving just a small opening big enough for your pup to crawl through.
-hold the treat in front of your pup making him/her want it
-let your pup follow the treat under your leg so he or she has to go down to get it.
A method that needs a lot of acrobatic skills from the owner... >.>

But yeah hope you can use some of the tips XD

good luck!

oh and sometimes, I know with chubby Alice this was the case, even the small attempts of lying down should be praised as well, give them a push in the right direction.
And after a day of practise inside, she can do it outside now as well and even in crowded places.

 

[nermal]

Thanks, I couldn't find stairs small enough to try to train that way, although that's an excellent idea. I didn't want to praise her for going halfway down just in case she never lays down all the way, but I feel safer if that worked for you.

Thanks again.

 

[jackienmutts]

Hi - do you clicker train? If so, this could be easier than you think. Grab your clicker and some treats and relax - and just wait for your Pug to lie down. The second she lies down, click, and toss a treat just a little way from her. She'll get up to get the treat, think about what made that happen, then probably go lie down again. Click - and toss another treat. Do this a number of times, and before long, she'll start offering a "down" cuz she'll figure out that's what's getting a treat tossed to her. When she does, add the "down" cue. Then just practice. :dogsmile:

 

[tigerlily46514]

Jackie, should she "load" the clicker first?

I always *thought* one has to 'load the clicker' for dogs NEW to clickers........... by simply clicking and treating, so dog learns clicker = good thing/treats.

i might have that wrong, though.

 

[legendsmami]

Yes IF Nermal's dog is new to clicker training then loading should be done first.

 

[jackienmutts]

Hi tigerlily - yes, legendsmami answered already - that's why I asked if he/she (the poster) clicker trained? If they did, then they could just begin - if not, then if he/she would be willing to give clicker training a try, that is how one would start. "Load" the clicker - click, treat .. click,treat .. click,treat - over and over and over, to give the dog the idea that the click = good stuff. Once that was done, then just "capture" the 'down'.

 

[Jean Cote]

Thanks Jakie. I should have mentioned that.