How to Train Your Dog to Perform the Down Position
Jump to section
Introduction
Call it 'Down', 'Drop', or 'Lie', this is one of the more advanced basic commands.
Put yourself in the following scenario:
You and your dog are enjoying a walk on a beautiful spring day. He ambles off-lead, sniffing the grass as you stroll along a woodland path. The trees start to thin and you emerge back out onto the sidewalk just as the dog spots a cat on the opposite side of the street. He darts off, racing straight for the road as a car sweeps round the corner. Horrified, you realize he's about to run straight into its path.
What do you do?
Simple! Taking a good lungful of air, you holler "Down". He drops to the sidewalk, giving you time to run over and grab his collar.
Your dog is trained to "Down".
The 'Down' command has two important assets. One, it requires to dog to stop moving, and two, it takes more effort to rise from down than sit, hence putting you in control and buying time.
Top
Defining Tasks
Teaching a dog to lie down gives your great control in a whole variety of situations. It involves the dog transiting from a sit, standing position, or even running, to lying upright on the ground waiting for the next command.
From lying quietly at a cafe to dropping down instead of running into a road, this is a great skill to teach. Indeed an emergency 'Down' could even save his life. And once he's mastered 'Down', you can further improve his obedience by adding distance (stepping away from him) or time (having lie for timed periods)
The 'Down' position is deceptively difficult for some dogs to master, so be patient with your pooch (as with any training exercise.) Remember, if he is struggling, end the session on a positive note and start again later. Training should always be fun, so give him marks for effort and be happy that he gave it a go.
Top
Getting Started
You will need:
- Tasty treats: Dogs learn best when good actions are rewarded. Choosing a tasty treat the dog will work for is half the battle
- Clicker (optional): Some owners prefer to clicker train, as this makes marking the desired behavior super easy.
Start your training in a quiet location away from distractions. It's also helpful if you are familiar with the principles of reward-based training, and the dog already knows how to sit.
Always make training sessions fun, so be extravagant with praise when the dog does as commanded. However, if the dog is struggling to concentrate or seems confused, bring the session to an end.
Daily training is essential, with three, five to ten minutes sessions per day being preferable to one 15 to 30-minute session.
Top
The Treat in Hand Method
Most Recommended
12 Votes
Most Recommended
12 Votes
Sit
Start with the dog in a sitting position.
Introduce treat
Hold a treat in your hand and show it to the dog to gain his attention, while he remains sitting.
Lead with treat
Bring the treat close to his nose, then lower your hand down past his chest to the floor between his paws. The pup should drop to the ground to investigate the treat.
Introduce command
As the dog follows the treat and lies down, say "Down" in a clear voice.
Reward "down"
Once he is in the down position, let him have the treat and praise him.
Encourage staying
Stroke his back and encourage him to stay down.
The Treat on Floor Method
Effective
6 Votes
Effective
6 Votes
Sit
This is for dogs that are slow to catch on. Start with the dog in a sitting position.
Introduce and lead with treat
Make sure he knows you have a treat in your hand and lower it to the ground while saying "Down".
Move treat to floor
If he doesn't follow, but stays sitting, place the treat on the floor but cover it with your hand.
Encourage "down"
The dog will eventually become curious and lie down to investigate, at which point praise him and repeat "Down."
Reward!
Now remove your hand and let him have the treat.
Encourage staying
Stroke his back and encourage him to stay down.
The Down from a Distance Method
Least Recommended
6 Votes
Least Recommended
6 Votes
Solid "down"
Once the dog has mastered a basic 'Down', start working on the giving hand signals and giving the command from a distance.
Introduce hand signal
To do this, while saying 'Down' add in a hand signal, such as turning your palm to face the sky and raising the hand toward your shoulder
Step away
Once the dog is in the down position, take a step away from him while repeating the command 'Down'. Wait a few seconds then return to him and give lots of praise.
Make him wait
Also, try extending the length of time you ask the dog to stay down for. Work on one thing at a time, either the duration of the down or your distance away from him.
Give command while walking
Once he has a good basic 'Down', start giving him the command when he's walking slowly to heel. As he masters this, start giving the command when he is standing a short distance away
Give command at Increased speed and distance
Gradually increase the distance from you and the speed of his movement, at which you give the down command.
By Amy Caldwell
Published: 09/19/2017, edited: 01/08/2021
More articles by Amy Caldwell
Training Questions and Answers
Sheka
german shepherd belgium malinois mix
Four Months
Question
0 found helpful
0 found helpful
She will follow the treat with her nose and stretch her neck but won’t drop her shoulders to lay down. She can touch her nose to the ground in a sitting position. How do I get her to drop her shoulders and lay down without trying to put a little pressure on her shoulders? Which she fights to remain sitting. Is it a submission issue?
May 24, 2023
Sheka's Owner
Caitlin Crittenden - Dog Trainer
1133 Dog owners recommended
Hello, Most dogs don't like performing the down position at first, until they have practiced it for a while. To get her from the point where her nose is at the ground to shoulders down, try one of two things. 1. Slowly drag the treat along the floor away in front of her, making a line from her nose to straight in front of her along the floor, moving the treat slowly enough to keep her sniffing or licking it as you go, so she follows. 2. If moving the treat away from her doesn't work after several tries (it will likely take a few tries even if it does work), then try moving the treat underneath her slowly, from her nose along the floor to under her chest if her chest is raised still. Often dogs will shift backward to reach the treat under them and unintentionally lie down doing so. As soon as her chest touches the ground, praise and give her that treat. Expect to have to repeat this a few times before she does it. Each time she pops up instead of lying down, simply start it over again at the sit position, hiding the treat immediately when she pops into the wrong position, so she understands that getting up makes the treat go away, but lying down gets the treat released. Again, move the treat slowly enough to keep her sniffing or licking it while you move it, so that she is following it closely. If you still can't quite get her to lie down but she is getting close, you can begin giving her the treat and praising for getting closer and closer to the ground. Simply require her getting a slight bit closer to your goal each time before giving the treat, so you are moving her in the correct direction. When she finally does touch that chest all the way to the ground, praise and give five treats that time, really making it rewarding for her, so she sees that she did something really great and wants to repeat it again. This type of training is called shaping - where you gradually ease them into something, opposed to lure reward training, where you lure them with a treat and give the treat only when they get it correct. You can look up videos on both to see how its done. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
June 2, 2023
Guster Cow
Blue nose bull terrier mastiff mix
Three Years
Question
0 found helpful
0 found helpful
How do I get my dog to stop chasing motorcycles, trash trucks the USPS vehicles and delivery vehicles.
March 1, 2023
Guster Cow's Owner
Caitlin Crittenden - Dog Trainer
1133 Dog owners recommended
Hello, I recommend keeping your dog on leash when possible; however I know that that's not always the case in some locations. First, I suggest teaching a solid Leave It command to pup. Teach the Leave It command using the Leave It method from the article linked below. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bite Second, teach pup a structured heel - practice away from cars at first. Check out the article and video linked below Heel article - The turns method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-poodle-to-heel Heel Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTiKVc4ZZWo Third, purchase a high quality remote training collar with stimulation, lean how to fit it properly and find your dog's "Working level" - which is the lowest level that your dog feels and responds to. Only use a high quality collar such as E-collar Technologies, Dogtra, Sportdog, or Garmin. Check out the videos below: Fitting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLxB6gYsliI Working Level finding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cl3V8vYobM Jeff Gellman cat aggressive dog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MLJV5PBh7Y More e-collar work with cats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8lkbX0dhT0 Fourth, teach an e-collar heel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJaZsZdcjwU Fifth, put it all together. Walk pup on a collar or harness that's secure. Practice your e-collar heeling with cars in sight. Whenever pup starts to fixate on the cars or break the heel position, tell pup "Ah Ah Heel" - If breaking heel, or "Ah Ah, Leave It" - for fixating on cars, and correct on pup's working level on the e-collar. Practice around cars a lot until pup will ignore them and focus on you around them. Reward ignoring cars when pup is calm around them also - don't reward while pup is still in an overly-excited or aroused state though - only calm. Any other training you can do to help with impulse control in general is also great, such as a long Place, Down-Stay, waiting at doors, not exiting a crate until told Okay, ect... Place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O75dyWITP1s If your dog lives in a rural area where they are off leash and doing the behavior. Keep pup leashed at all times while outside while doing the initial on-leash training. When pup can handle leaving cars alone while on leash, then check out the videos linked below for how to teach a dog to avoid livestock while off-leash also (which is a similar prey or herding drive behind the behavior, so actually addressed very similarly to car chasing off-leash). Teach pup to avoid cars in general, using such training, even with you not around. Since you will have spent the time doing the on-leash training first, pup should better understand the off-leash (or long leash at first) part of the training as you progress to that part of it. The on leash needs to be done first though. Day 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgNbWCK9lFc Day 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpf5Bn-MNko&t=14s Day 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj3nMvvHhwQ Day 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxrGQ-AZylY Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
March 6, 2023