![]() First, make a bridge with your legs – on the ground for smaller pups and with a stool for larger breeds. Use a lure to encourage your dog to crawl under your legs.Or you might frighten them, making the position less appealing than if they got rewarded for doing it on their own. Your dog will want to stand even more to resist the pressure. As tempting as it might be to “show” your puppy what you want by pushing them into the position, that will likely have the opposite effect. Work on this behavior after a walk or a bout of play. Don’t expect your puppy to willingly lie down when they’re full of energy. Your puppy will learn to associate your word or gesture with their action and soon you will be able to ask for the down at any time.Įven with a choice of training techniques, down can still be a tough position to get your puppy into. Now you can add a hand signal or verbal cue right before you know they are about to lie down. After you capture enough downs, your pup will start to lie down in front of you on purpose, hoping to earn a reward. Then offer them a reward while they are in the down position. Always be prepared with a toy or treats in your pocket and whenever you see your puppy in the act of lying down, click and praise them. Capturing a Downįinally, you can capture a down by rewarding your puppy any time they do it on their own. Don’t worry about fading the lure and adding a verbal cue until you’ve taught the final behavior. Next you might ask for bent elbows, and so on. After your puppy has mastered that, lure their head down to the ground before clicking and rewarding. ![]() Start by using a lure to get your puppy to look at the ground. It’s better to make it too easy than to get both you and your puppy frustrated by asking for too much too soon. Choose a first step your puppy can easily do, then increase each step slowly without jumping too far in difficulty. The trick is to set up your puppy for success. For down that would mean teaching your puppy to look at the ground, lower their elbows to the ground, and finally to lie down, or as many baby steps as your pup requires. Shaping means teaching things a step at a time. However, because your puppy has farther to go to get into the down position, you might find it easier to use the shaping technique. Either lure a sit first or take the treat straight down to the ground between their front paws while they’re still standing. If your puppy doesn’t yet know how to sit on cue, you can lure the down from a standing position. In time, your puppy should respond to the verbal cue alone.
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