Down...Our Second Obedience Command

We are going to teach "down" in a similar fashion to which we taught "sit". First we will start with luring the dog into position, and then we are going to mark the behavior by offering a treat when the dog is in the correct position.

So, what is the correct position. I actually recommend teaching your dog a "lazy down". A "lazy down" is when your dog goes into the "down" position and rolls his hip over to where is is sitting on his side. Why would I ever teach this...well since none of us are preparing for an obedience competition, and although kind of ugly, this "down" is going to help out a ton when we start working on "Down Stay".


So, to start, get your high value treat out and cut them up nice and small. Lure your dog into the sitting position using the sit hand signal and luring technique we used in the previous lesson. Once your dog has held his sit for 3-5 seconds, flip your hand over (palm down) and slowly lure his nose down towards his front paws. Your hand should be positioned down, with the treat between your first finger and thumb. As you lure the dogs nose down towards his front paws he will either slide his back paws back or his front paws forward. As soon as his belly touches the ground reward him with his treat.

This is going to more challenging with some dogs than others, but this has worked with every dog I have trained (there have been thousands at this point). Do not give up. Be patient and move the treat slowly down. As you move the treat, watch your dogs body language and determine what direction you need to move the treat to get him in the down position. It may be slightly forward or slightly backward. The tendency is for people to lure the dog forward into a down. This will cause the dog's butt to pop up and for him to be in a standing position (the opposite of what we want).

Play with this command a little. If your dog gets frustrated go back to something he knows (sit) and reward that behavior a few times. Then try again. If you get frustrated go have a stiff drink and try again. The only time he should get a treat when working on down is when his belly is all the way on the floor.

Good Luck.....

Feel free to comment with questions.

Have a great day...your dog is!

www.petathleticclub.com