Canine Connection

Teaching your dog to lie down on command is fairly simple, and is usually accomplished in a fairly short period of time. There are two ways you can teach your dog “down”. The first is something you can do if you’ve already introduced your dog to clicker training. If so, you can capture the behavior you’re trying to teach by following a few simple steps:

• Wait until you see your dog lie down on his own. Click the clicker immediately, and give a treat.

• After you’ve done this a few times, start giving your dog the command “down”. Wait until your dog lies down, and then click the clicker and treat. You’ll be amazed watching as your dog catches on, and the time between giving the command and having the dog perform the behavior decreases.

If you don’t use a clicker or would rather use a different method, you can lure your dog into a down. This is also done with just a few simple steps:

• Start with your dog in a sitting position, and hold a treat over his nose just out of reach.

• Give the command “down”.

• Slowly move the treat from the tip of your dog’s nose down toward his feet, holding the treat close to your dog’s body. As you move the treat down, your dog will follow it with his nose, sinking into a down position as he attempts to reach it.

• As soon as he is completely down, let him have the treat.

• If you’re dog is having trouble with settling into the down right away, start smaller. Let him follow a treat to chest level before giving it to him. Slowly increase how far down he is following the treat until he is lying down completely.

• Practice, practice, practice. Just because your dog lies down a time or two doesn’t mean he completely gets it. Be sure to practice for a few minutes each day to make sure your dog has the “down” down pat.