There are so many different ways to teach your dog the down command. The most common method that you’ll see is using a treat to lure your dog’s body into the position you want to see. And it’s the most common because it works really well… for most dogs. But what if your dog just doesn’t understand, or doesn’t care, or doesn’t want to?
Teaching the Down Command in a Way That Makes Sense for Your Dog
We have been working with Fenris, a Greater Mountain Swiss, who was really struggling to understand our “typical” methods for teaching the down command. That doesn’t mean we give up. It means we pivot and try something new that makes sense for this specific dog.
What you’ll see in this video is one of our trainers, Chloe, using a couple different methods to help Fenris understand how we want his body to be positioned. For the “down” command, we want elbows, belly, and butt on the floor. As soon as he gets all three on the floor, we immediately give him a reward (treat) to let him know he did the right thing.
Now with Fenris, we’re working on a lot of confidence building and building up his attention around distractions. Asking his body to slow down and hold any position is tough for him. So our trainer is taking it very slow and giving him time to process and make some choices. You’ll see him try different behaviors like walking away, pawing at her, trying to eat the treat out of her hand. And in all of these attempts, she is calm and patient, showing him that those behaviors aren’t going to get him the treat he really wants.
When he finally tries to lie down, he is immediately rewarded. This clicks for him, as he begins to understand that his behavior (his very specific behavior of lying down on the ground) is getting him the reward he wants. And once that clicks, he’ll start offering that down faster and more willingly.
Let’s see it in action:
Will This Work for My Dog?
Now this method won’t work for every dog. Many dogs don’t need this much time and space to process through a new behavior like the down command. But if you’re trying other things and they just don’t seem to be working for you or your dog, there’s no harm in trying this method. Perhaps it’s exactly what your dog needs to process and make some different connections between what you’re asking, what she needs to do, and how she can get that reward.