Teaching "down"

[boba]

Hi Jean
I've tried to follow your steps on the training session for "down". Unfortunatley, Boba just does not want to lay down. He is still a small pup (only 13 weeks) and can reach the treat from his standing position.
I have even tried your suggestion of placing him on a higher platform, such as our dining table - but he still won't lay on his belly!
What else is there to do? Or do I have to wait until he's a bit bigger?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jean Cote]

Hi Jean
I've tried to follow your steps on the training session for "down". Unfortunatley, Boba just does not want to lay down. He is still a small pup (only 13 weeks) and can reach the treat from his standing position.
I have even tried your suggestion of placing him on a higher platform, such as our dining table - but he still won't lay on his belly!
What else is there to do? Or do I have to wait until he's a bit bigger?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Boba!

What breed and size is your dog?

The purpose of putting your dog on a higher platform is so you can place the treat on the edge and bring it lower than your dog, so that he has to lie down to get it.

Another option is to find something your dog can crawl under, so he will have to duck down to get the treat. I'm not sure how tall your dog is, you could use a chair, a drawer or a carton box.

- Just place the treat by his nose and lure him under the object. If he is scared you can give him a few treats when he takes a step towards the object, and then gradually make it more challenging, like taking two steps, head under the object, etc.

I hope this helps, let me know how it works or if you need additional help!

 

[harry]

I have hired a instructor to train my pair of bull dogs for the purpose of security. The training started a week ago and unto now they have responded negatively

 

[Cavalier]

With Tucker I had the same problem. putting him or a chair just made him nervous. So I put him on the couch on a pillow (the pillow made it unsteady to stand) so he layed down for safty. Cheap trick but it worked.
good luck

 

[Jean Cote]

Hey that's a good trick stonley, I never thought of that! Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[storm22]

the way i got storm to lay down was to sit on the ground legs out strected and lift one slightly so he could crawl under following a treat and as he lay down under my leg i gave him the treat then he would back out and i would do it again, as he followed it more happier i would say down and reward.

with luka we had another idea told to us, get him to sit then put the treat right back between his legs just bellow his chest and will lie down for it but he ended up flopping around trying to get the treat and not lying down straight and also he had to sit before he would go down so we went back to the way i trained storm and now were getting a down nicely

 

[judylh]

I found a great way to get them to lie down. On the floor, hold a treat under your knee so that he (she) will have to lie down to get to it. It's the only thing that worked for me.

 

[luna may]

Kesem just won't lay down. Oh well. I hope you'r ideas will work- it looks like it!

 

[hockey390]

When I taught lay down I started from the sit position.. Guided the treat straight down along her front to the floor, and then pulled the treat away on the floor.

I think the sit into the lay down worked a little easier for me, but now sometimes when I am training and I have her sit, she will then lay down in hopes of it being what I want her to do. So maybe not the best idea, but it did get her closer to the lay down position.

 

[amanda85]

Kesem just won't lay down. Oh well. I hope you'r ideas will work- it looks like it!

if the luring method won't work for u, u might conside this..

get your dog to sit infront of u, with her back facing u... moving from behind, use your hands to stretch her paw forward and at the same time, use your body to push her back down...

this was the method i used for my old dog, who is not interested in treats..

 

[yoyopoodle]

Especially for puppies, tire the dog out before working on this trick (if you've been having trouble). A tired puppy is much more likely to lie down. The above techniques are all great ideas! Once they are down, calmly pet them... using a treat often makes a dog too excited to remain down, and you might as well start teaching a short stay - why ask the puppy to get up when they finally lay down?

When you notice the dog lying down through-out the day, quietly tell them how good they are and reward them while they are still in position (belly rubs are great). Make sure they think of the position itself as being nice, before putting a ton of effort into teaching the movement to a dog that doesn't like it.

Also try using the power of synchronization. Sit on the floor quietly, even read a book... don't get wound-up. If the puppy wants to explore put them on a leash so they can't get too far.
I've been in rooms with 10-15 dogs (ages 8 weeks to 6 months) that all sleep under the desks while their handlers have class for 3 hours.

 

[brihanna]

boba,

Like mentioned above, all that have been mentioned absolutely makes alot of sense, but if you find your pup isn't cooperating, he's so young. For now, cue when he's tired and volutarely lays down. "down" good boy. And the joyous rub down.

I'm far from a trainer, my experience derived from one, worked very well. Let pup be pup. Keep 'em safe. Cue everything, from bark, to sit, to run, everything they do naturaly. Once my dog reached 10mths old, seemed like a light went on, and suddenly everything I had "cued" in the past, she allready knew what I meant.

Hope this makes sense.

(Hope you're taking lots of pics of pup! I didn't take enough . )

 

[leema]

I held a treat in my fist and Clover eventually laid down. She didn't have access to it until her elbows hit the ground. I had to endure biting and clawing and wussing, but once she got it, she got it!

 

[dexter_doodles]

Keep going and he will eventually work it out