How to teach "down"

[Gempress]

This is a frighteningly intelligent little dog.

I taught Voodoo "stay" and "leave it" this morning. It took me all of 10 minutes, if that. No exaggeration. He needs some fine-tuning on stay (want to increase the time and the distraction level), but heck, I'm not complaining.

I am having some issues on "down". Voodoo doesn't follow the treat into the right position. He'll prance, sniff, etc., but won't lay down. I tried what worked with Zeus, which is pick up his front legs and gently lay him down. But Voodoo just flops over onto his back for a tummy rub.

Any ideas?

 

[Simon P]

I gently push on my dobe shoulders and when she's lying on the floor she get the treat. Give it a try she will get it pretty fast.

 

[GSDlover_4ever]

Simon, putting pressure on a dogs shoulders or back is a good way to teach a dog to stand. They will naturally resist going down therefore making them stand.

 

[DanL]

I'd slap a prong on him and start cranking away! If that doesn't work in a few minutes, get an E collar and zap him till he does it right.



(just kidding!)

 

[SummerRiot]

Riot is learning to "drop" quickly right now, he knows the command but sits first and THEN drops which isn't good with a shep breed.. lol they tend to keep their elbows off the ground for a good illusion lmao hes soo smart hes thuoght up ways to be lazier lmao

Anywyas, what we have been doing is having him stand first and in a "C" pattern(with a tastey tastey treat) say "DROP"(thats his command b/c down means to get off of me and off means to not touch something or look at something lol)
Start with it under their chin and then make a swooping "C" pattern down his neck and through the middle of his chest to the ground.

B/c hes a smart boy he should pick this up right away.

You should never push down between their shoulder blades b/c that creates a negative feeling for them and they wont learn as quickly.

As soon as his elbows hit the floor and butts down drop the treat and say "GOOD DOWN!!" and dance around happy lol

 

[Roxy's CD]

Ok, I know some people aren't going to like this answer but my dogs have all responded to it quite quickly.

Put the leash on your pup on his normal collar, (if you have a training collar DON'T USE IT FOR THIS!). Tell him to sit, and give the command for "down". If he doesn't drop, step on the leash and pull. As soon as he's down BIG PRAISE, treats, whatever he really likes. Do it with the leash a couple of times and than try it without. He sounds intelligetn so I'm sure he'll figure it out quickly. I know it sounds rough but it will teach him to drop quickly, so if your ever doing the recall and down, he already knows that when you give the signal he should drop right away.

 

[tessa_s212]

Use your leg as a tool.

Voodoo isn't a tiny dog, so this may work.

Lure the treat underneath your leg when you are kneeling on one knee, with one leg propped up as a little tunnel for your dog to go through(hope that makes sense). Voodoo will have to lower his front to go after the treat, and eventually she should plop himself down. If not, try putting just a bit of pressure on his shoulders. Don't PUSH him, but just apply just a very tiny bit of pressure. If he goes down, TONS of praise and that yummy treat. Continue to treat him for as long as he stays in that down. He needs to learn that down is a GOOD position to be in!

*If he doesn't go down with the small pressure, don't press him any further. You don't want to be forcing your dog into an uncomfortable position that your dog will learn to hate.

 

[jess2416]

I dont know if this will help...but I will try....
The way I got Chloe to learn down was to put her in sit and then take the treat and make sure she seen it and slowly edged it to the ground and she would follow the treat until she was laying down and thats how I taught her...and thats also how she knows that when I point to the ground that also means "down"

 

[Zoom]

Aubrey is doing the same thing--flopping over onto her side when I say down. I don't know of any finessing ways to correct this, because I just moved her into the position I wanted and kept my hand on her shoulder blades to stablize her and fed her treat after treat while telling her "good down". The belly rub roll has now become "onyerback" to help differentiate between the two.

She also has to do a proper down/stay before she can get her dinner anymore, and this has helped tremendously. We're up to almost 2 minutes with a plate of food sitting in front of her and she won't budge...this is an incredibly food driven dog too!

 

[micro202]

I dont know if this will help...but I will try....
The way I got Chloe to learn down was to put her in sit and then take the treat and make sure she seen it and slowly edged it to the ground and she would follow the treat until she was laying down and thats how I taught her...and thats also how she knows that when I point to the ground that also means "down"

Yeah, that's pretty much how I got my "down" and it was pretty easy. The only problem I had is that she started to think that sit was going to always lead to a down so she would give me a down the moment I said sit.

Once we started doing the puppy pushups or whatever they are called (sit, down, sit, down, etc.), that helped her figure out the two.

 

[GSDlover_4ever]

Use your leg as a tool.

Voodoo isn't a tiny dog, so this may work.

Lure the treat underneath your leg when you are kneeling on one knee, with one leg propped up as a little tunnel for your dog to go through(hope that makes sense). Voodoo will have to lower his front to go after the treat, and eventually she should plop himself down. If not, try putting just a bit of pressure on his shoulders. Don't PUSH him, but just apply just a very tiny bit of pressure. If he goes down, TONS of praise and that yummy treat. Continue to treat him for as long as he stays in that down. He needs to learn that down is a GOOD position to be in!

*If he doesn't go down with the small pressure, don't press him any further. You don't want to be forcing your dog into an uncomfortable position that your dog will learn to hate.

Very interesting, never thought of that.

 

[Gempress]

I've tried the suggestions without success. I'm really at a loss right now. Each time he starts to lay down, he'll just flop onto his back for a tummy rub and start wiggling. *sigh*

I think I may put off teaching "down" for a while. Maybe once he matures and steadies a little bit, I'll be able to get some success. I'll just work on his other commands in the meantime.

But if anyone has any other ideas, I'm open to anything at this point.

 

[tessa_s212]

Maybing taking a break would be a good idea. Teach other behaviors, get them "in tune", and then try to go back. Perhaps Voodoo needs to learn to ..well, learn! Lol

Perhaps you could use something to prevent him from rolling on his side. Use a wall. Or hallway. Something to make it hard for him to roll over on his side.

And a clicker might actulaly help you, if you don't already clicker train. If you don't want to clicker train, a "YES!" just as he is in the down, but not yet rolling over may help. You will have to make sure you are not saying "YEs!" as he is rolling over, but just as he is going down, and not yet rolling over.

 

[Saje]

Nanook was like that. (they should never meet!) I used the treat as a lure but kept it hidden in my hand. So she couldn't get at it. We started at a sit and she would get a treat just for going lower and lower or even just dropping her head, until she was down. It also might work to keep the treat hidden in your hand and hold it there for him until he gives up and lays down lol. But it sounds like he's not a quitter.