Tips for teaching down.

[BlackJack]

I have never had this kind of trouble teaching down. Immo refuses to be lured into a down position to mark it. Butt springs up from a sit every time I try to manipulate him. I am at loss here to teach him the down position. Right now I am thinking about just waiting till he is older.

His sit/recall/leave it is better than 3 year olds right now.

[Emoore]

The exact same thing happened with Kopper. When his nose went down, his butt came up!

My training teacher overcame this by having him by a wall, kind of next to a corner, putting him in a sit, and then putting my arm in front of him, hand on the wall, right about chest level, luring his nose down and then pulling the treat forward so he has to kind of army crawl under my arm to get the treat. Once his chest and butt were on the ground, I'd mark the behavior and give the treat. It took him a few tries to figure out the army crawl maneuver, then I attached the command to it. Within a single session it was like a lightbulb went off in his head and I never had to do the army crawl thing again. Hope that helps!

[PaddyD]

From a sit, use a real tasty treat and move it from in front of his nose slowly to the floor where his paws would land. Move it straight down from the nose to the floor then out to where his paws end up. That worked for me. If he starts to move his butt go back up to the nose and have him sit and start over.
I am sure you will receive more and better techniques.

[BlackJack]

Thanks, that sounds like it will work. It will be the first thing I try on my training session tomorrow.

[Cassidy's Mom]

Another way is to "capture" it, marking and rewarding whenever he lays down on his own. I do that with puppies and it works very well. You can toss the treat so he has to get up to get it then simply wait until he lays down again - mark and treat. Rinse, repeat. The more you reward him for it, the more he's going to offer it up. At that point, it's easy to assign a command to it by saying "down" right before you see he's going to do it anyway.

[chelle]

Originally Posted by PaddyD

From a sit, use a real tasty treat and move it from in front of his nose slowly to the floor where his paws would land. Move it straight down from the nose to the floor then out to where his paws end up. That worked for me. If he starts to move his butt go back up to the nose and have him sit and start over.
I am sure you will receive more and better techniques.

This worked for us. I couldn't get a down to save my soul. I watched a youtube on it and realized I hadn't been working the treat correctly. (Wish I could refer you to that vid). But once I did it that way, boom, drop, down! Literally within a couple attempts. I couldn't move it quite "straight" down as the above poster said, I kinda had to bring it out... hard to explain... I'd suggest searching youtube and watching a few vids.

[Emoore]

Originally Posted by chelle

This worked for us. I couldn't get a down to save my soul. I watched a youtube on it and realized I hadn't been working the treat correctly. (Wish I could refer you to that vid). But once I did it that way, boom, drop, down! Literally within a couple attempts. I couldn't move it quite "straight" down as the above poster said, I kinda had to bring it out... hard to explain... I'd suggest searching youtube and watching a few vids.

Yeah, that's the way we were supposed to do it in class, too. Every other dog in the class went down. Kopper's chest went down and his butt came up. Even when the instructor did it. That's when we used the "army crawl" method. She said it's rare they have to use that method, most dogs lay down using the method you described.

[chelle]

Originally Posted by Emoore

Yeah, that's the way we were supposed to do it in class, too. Every other dog in the class went down. Kopper's chest went down and his butt came up. Even when the instructor did it. That's when we used the "army crawl" method. She said it's rare they have to use that method, most dogs lay down using the method you described.

Yes, yes, exactly, that was more like the vid I found and used (army crawl). Treat to nose, forward slightly, down somewhat slow, pull treat ahead. I had to do that too. His butt didn't pop up, though, he just wouldn't go down at all. Just stared at me like, yeah, I'm so not doin that.

[Emoore]

Originally Posted by chelle

Yes, yes, exactly, that was more like the vid I found and used (army crawl). Treat to nose, forward slightly, down somewhat slow, pull treat ahead. I had to do that too. His butt didn't pop up, though, he just wouldn't go down at all. Just stared at me like, yeah, I'm so not doin that.

I had to do the arm bar maneuver too. He tried to army crawl with his butt in the air. Little buggers can be persistent!

[chelle]

Originally Posted by Emoore

............ He tried to army crawl with his butt in the air. Little buggers can be persistent!..........

Haha, that's funny!!! I'd love to see a vid of THAT.!!!! I'm trying to picture that in my mind, how cute... and frustrating I'm sure, hehe. I would've had a hard time getting thru, I'd probably be cracking up too much.