Teaching 'down' To A Dog With A Long Neck

[cycas]

I have been trying to teach Duke to lie down on command, but so far have not had a lot of luck.

 

I taught him to sit using the 'lift a treat over his head' approach and he worked that out quite quickly. But trying to get him to lie down, I have the problem that he can quite easily put his nose on the floor while standing or sitting.

 

I tried to get him to go under my knee, but I can't make an arch that he thinks he could get through!

 

I am trying on carpet and he's (surprisingly) unpicky about where he lies down, so I don't think it's the surface.

 

Any tips ?

[purple_mog]

ooooh one of my favourite challenges! I would take a step back and teach him to target to a target stick, or anything thats longish and has an obvious safe end to it (without a treat on it) then mark (click or word) plus reward. You can then use the target stick to teach him to bend his neck down - mark and reward each step (you're shaping the behaviour rather than expecting it to be completely right first time). Once he is reliable bending his neck to the floor following the target I'd hold it there and wait, look for any sign of bending or dipping at the front, mark and reward that and you should be well on your way to getting a down.

 

One of the large labs in our basics class has done much better using a hand target but only when you sit on the floor with him to begin with....

 

Lots of possible variations - I tend not to use treats in the hand just because dog quickly becomes fixated and often then refuses to do anything unless he knows there is a treat on offer

[Mrs Mop]

I didn't teach Merlin to sit, he couldn't, I did teach him to go down on command by waiting until he had gone down on his own, put the command on it when he was nearly down then praise and treat. It didn't take long for him to realise what down meant.

[buddyboy]

a) dig a deep hole in the garden, position the dog so his body is slightly behind the hole, make him sit, hold treat in bottom of the hole and use the down command as he lowers to get it.

 

or

 

b) (the way I used with Jed because of course no use doing vocal commands to him to let him know he is doing what I wanted) make him sit, hold treat level with nose (his not yours, unless they are on the same level), lower the treat to the ground and ahead of him and as he leans towards it move one front foot forward a few inches then the other, then the first so you are lowering his body down but keep his attention on the treat (so basically you are walking his front feet forward bit by bit while your other hand is holding the treat in front of and below him).

[cycas]

I didn't teach Merlin to sit, he couldn't, I did teach him to go down on command by waiting until he had gone down on his own, put the command on it when he was nearly down then praise and treat. It didn't take long for him to realise what down meant.

 

 

I've been trying that one, but unfortunately he is a lurcher rather than a greyhound, and rather than going 'down' in a sensible manner, he tends to fling himself down and sort of flollop on his side then wave his legs in the air. I may try capturing that at some point as it's quite amusing, but it's not quite what I'm aiming for here.

 

 

a) dig a deep hole in the garden, position the dog so his body is slightly behind the hole, make him sit, hold treat in bottom of the hole and use the down command as he lowers to get it.

 

I may be driven to this one yet!

 

b) (the way I used with Jed because of course no use doing vocal commands to him to let him know he is doing what I wanted) make him sit, hold treat level with nose (his not yours, unless they are on the same level), lower the treat to the ground and ahead of him and as he leans towards it move one front foot forward a few inches then the other, then the first so you are lowering his body down but keep his attention on the treat (so basically you are walking his front feet forward bit by bit while your other hand is holding the treat in front of and below him).

 

I tried that, that's what I did with Az and he got it instantly, but Doop stands up if you move his front feet. Or falls over...

 

I shall try the Purplemog targeting thing and see how that goes I think.

[Mrs Mop]

I've been trying that one, but unfortunately he is a lurcher rather than a greyhound, and rather than going 'down' in a sensible manner, he tends to fling himself down and sort of flollop on his side then wave his legs in the air. I may try capturing that at some point as it's quite amusing, but it's not quite what I'm aiming for here.

 

 

I would love to see that

 

Merlin would walk round and round in circles, eventually he would leave his back legs behind while his front was still walking, his bum would then go down followed by his front.

 

For some reason he didn't circle as much when told to go down, strange dog.

Edited October 19, 2010 by Mrs Mop

[blackmagic]

I had a dalmatian who would not lie down when asked to.

 

I used a method from an obedience trainer for the down in distance control.

 

Kneel in front of the dog, with him standing facing you. Place your hands on his front with your thumbs in the hollows on his chest and you hand spread towards his shoulders.

 

You then massage the dog gently. You should feel the dog relax and lean slightly into you. You then gently press him down backwards, so his legs buckle under him.

 

This worked a treat with my stubborn dally who , very soon, would lie down as soon as I positioned my hands.

 

He did learn to do it on cue, without the hands.