Teaching "Down" command

[sallen15]

Lucy is entering phase 2 of her puppy headstart class this week and last week (the end of phase 1) we were starting to work on the "down" command, well Lucy wasn't even interested.

Lucy is a hyperactive dog and I told the trainer this. In fact, the only time I have ever seen Lucy lay down is when she is chewing on a bone or if she is sleeping. It's just not something she does on a normal basis. So I guess I'm looking for some advice on how to start training her to do the down command.

I probably should have mentioned that we are "clicker-training," should I just click and give her a treat when she is laying down and chewing her bone?

Any suggestions would be great! Thanks!

[Izzy Princess]

Hi Lucy and Lucy's mom....Izzy is in part 2 of clicker training and down was in part 1 - that was the hardest to learn as per the trainer Yorkies are small dogs to begin with and almost to the ground anyway..lol. So I don't know if I can explain how I trained Izzy in words but I'll try.

I had her first go into her sit mode and click and treat. Then I took a treat in my hand and then had her follow that to where my hand was hitting the floor but the treat was hidden under my fiingers. That way she almost had to hit the floor to get the treat once I clickered - and I used my pointer finger to actually point down and touch the floor while saying the lay down command. It took a while but now all I have to do now is point my finger down to the floor and she goes into her lay down.

I always started my new commands training in our bathroom - less distractions and then we progressed to other rooms in the house.

I'm sure this is hard to understand but I wish I had a video of her doing this to post but I don't.

[sallen15]

oh we tried that as well as leading her under my leg (if i was sitting down) with the treat and she had no interest in it, it was like she didn't care. And the trainer was doing this too and could not get her to cooperate, she didn't care that she was missing out on a piece of hot dog.

Thats what I wasn't sure if I should just start rewarding her for laying down in general and then progress on to teaching her to do it on command.

[zoeybear]

http://www.loveyourdog.com/tricks2.html


This site is great because there is a little video of how to do each trick. Zoey will do it from the sit position. I take a treat and put it in front of her nose, then I lower the treat to the ground and say down. She follows it with her nose and just lays down. I dont know about clicker training tho' Zoey is food motivated.

[Izzy Princess]

www.clickertraining.com also has videos to show how it's done. I'm lucky too in that Izzy is very food motivated - she's sees me with that clicker and treat bag and she's all over it and throwing behaviors at me before I even ask her.

Check out the two websites and see if that helps with the lay down command. Good luck!

[linm]

Originally Posted by Izzy Princess

I had her first go into her sit mode and click and treat. Then I took a treat in my hand and then had her follow that to where my hand was hitting the floor but the treat was hidden under my fiingers. That way she almost had to hit the floor to get the treat once I clickered - and I used my pointer finger to actually point down and touch the floor while saying the lay down command. It took a while but now all I have to do now is point my finger down to the floor and she goes into her lay down.

This is the method I used for Corabel but I had a really hard time with it. I was amazed at how she could bend herself around to get her nose on the floor without actually leaving the 'Sit' position!! Finally, she started doing it but then would only do it if I used the lure and put my hand on the ground -- never if I asked or signed the Down. This went on for over a month! Last Saturday, we had a break-thru. We were in our last class of Beginner's. I asked her to do a Down -- nothing. The Instructor started talking and I stopped to listen and watch her. I glanced back --- and Corabel had gone into the 'Down' position! It's like a light went on! Now, I get the Down about 80% of the time by asking or signing!

So, the biggest thing is just have patience -- she will get it!

[Izzy Princess]

Originally Posted by linm

This is the method I used for Corabel but I had a really hard time with it. I was amazed at how she could bend herself around to get her nose on the floor without actually leaving the 'Sit' position!! Finally, she started doing it but then would only do it if I used the lure and put my hand on the ground -- never if I asked or signed the Down. This went on for over a month! Last Saturday, we had a break-thru. We were in our last class of Beginner's. I asked her to do a Down -- nothing. The Instructor started talking and I stopped to listen and watch her. I glanced back --- and Corabel had gone into the 'Down' position! It's like a light went on! Now, I get the Down about 80% of the time by asking or signing!

So, the biggest thing is just have patience -- she will get it!

Yay for Corabel....it really does take time and patience so don't give up - do it every day even if it's just for 5-10 minutes at a time.

Izzy just had another "light bulb moment" this past weekend. We got her Memorial weekend and I think that week I got her this Poochie Bells that hang from our patio door. I had a friend who had taught her Jack Russell to ring the bell to go potty and I always thought that was so cool and I said if I ever got a dog that I would teach that. Well we got the bells that weekend and everytime Izzy went out we spoke the same line, "Outside potty ring the bell" and would say that for a few weeks, then we would take her paw and touch and say same line - OK - that went on a zillion times a day and this past weekend all of a sudden she started to ring the bells to go outside...but....lol....now the problem I have.....she rings the bell to go outside to goof around too - like chase mice, chase squirrels, but I have to let her out so she knows she did the right thing.

Oh and my husband laughed at me when I got these bells - he said I was dreamin if she would ever do that...boy did she prove him wrong. :-)

I have training with her tonight (Part II of training) and I'm going to ask the instructor how to handle this one...hahaha....be careful what you wish for...now she's a ringin diva!

[sallen15]

aww that's so cute...maybe i should try the bell thing with Lucy, she doesn't really give any potty signals except for sniffing around a lot more than usual.

Yeah we tried the treat from the nose to the floor that was the method he taught in class, its like she just doesn't care, she will sit for me whenever even if I don't have my clicker or treat bag...so I don't know.

Last night in class the teacher suggested that when I see her in the down position when she's chewing her bone for instance to just click and treat and then gradually lure her into it with her bone and click and treat and then phase out the bone, etc. So we are going to try that, it's just discourage when the other dogs in class all get it right away. The little Chi thats in our class only took 3 hours of working with that trick and now she does it with the command being asked and no treat from nose to floor. So jealous.

[Izzy Princess]

Originally Posted by sallen15

aww that's so cute...maybe i should try the bell thing with Lucy, she doesn't really give any potty signals except for sniffing around a lot more than usual.

Yeah we tried the treat from the nose to the floor that was the method he taught in class, its like she just doesn't care, she will sit for me whenever even if I don't have my clicker or treat bag...so I don't know.

Last night in class the teacher suggested that when I see her in the down position when she's chewing her bone for instance to just click and treat and then gradually lure her into it with her bone and click and treat and then phase out the bone, etc. So we are going to try that, it's just discourage when the other dogs in class all get it right away. The little Chi thats in our class only took 3 hours of working with that trick and now she does it with the command being asked and no treat from nose to floor. So jealous.

Don't feel bad - but I know how you feel - Izzy won't roll over but every dog in class is doing it - and giving paw. But she does everything else so I can't complain. That's why I'm taking her to tricks and fun so that we can really work on those two tricks. She hates rolling over and will not give paw but it's a work in progress thing.

[Ivhana]

The only way we've been able to get Brody to do "down" is by sitting on the floor. Then we place one leg into an arch, foot flat on the ground and knee bent. We have to slide our foot out a bit to get it low enough so that Brody can't just walk under it. We place a treat on one side out of his reach, but close enough for him to see. Brody then goes into the "down" position to try and crawl/wiggle under our leg to get to the treat. Once he's down, we praise him for "Down" and give him the treat.

It took about 2-3 days before we could just put the treat in front of him and say down and have him do it.

I have to credit this idea to one of those trainer shows. I think it was It's Me or the Dog. I'm amazed how well it worked for us.

[For My Coby]

Originally Posted by Izzy Princess

.....I had her first go into her sit mode and click and treat. Then I took a treat in my hand and then had her follow that to where my hand was hitting the floor but the treat was hidden under my fiingers. That way she almost had to hit the floor to get the treat once I clickered - and I used my pointer finger to actually point down and touch the floor while saying the lay down command. It took a while but now all I have to do now is point my finger down to the floor and she goes into her lay down...

This is how we trained Coby too. He caught on really quickly luckily. However, what he does that infuriates me..... I have him in a sit, then I point to the ground and say "down". If my hand is anywhere close to the ground when pointing, he throws both front paws in the air to get to the laying position. But by "throwing" his paws, he often hits my hand and knocks the treat loose, nabs it, and looks at me like, "But Mom, I did just what you said!" It's better now, because I don't have to lean down as much to put him in a down position, and he lays nicely. But if he calculates that I'm close enough......