While training obedience this spring and summer I skipped over the laying down part(didn't relize how important it was going to be while hunting). My lab is 11 months old and I need to work on this if its not too late? What is the best method of doing this. I didn't use a training guide just help from a buddy that has done some obidence training. All his other obiedence is flawless except this. Need help implying this.
Laying down
jdtoby6409
1 - 10 of 10 Posts
Joined
·
28 Posts
While training obedience this spring and summer I skipped over the laying down part(didn't relize how important it was going to be while hunting). My lab is 11 months old and I need to work on this if its not too late? What is the best method of doing this. I didn't use a training guide just help from a buddy that has done some obidence training. All his other obiedence is flawless except this. Need help implying this.
Joined
·
602 Posts
I find it easy to just have them Sit and then put your thumb and forefinger behind the shoulder and apply a little pressure and push down while commanding down and motion your other hand in a down position. Some folks scoop the front legs out, however I find if you just apply the pressure in a squeeze downward motion and they lay down pretty easy. Eventually you can drop the pressure and just give the command and hand motion. If they sometimes don't comply then apply the pressure. Then it’s just repetition like anything else.
Joined
·
8,593 Posts
I'd suggest for a full grown dog, sitting first. After dog is seated, praise then command calmly "dooown..." while pulling both front paws up off the ground and out in front of dog extending the paws... ease pup's belly onto ground.... praise.
It will come. After a few sessions, you can do your obedience lessons on lead. Stop walking pup, command sit...pull paws out and command down. After some success there, transition to stopping in front of pup, command sit, then slide lead under your foot...pull lead taught and step down on lead while commanding down. apply pressure as needed between shoulder blades.
Take it slowly and in baby steps...it will come. Be consistent. Praise for good effort and for the dog showing success.
I've also seen some pretty awesome work done with ....GULP.... Clicker training to teach a dog down. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ciy7uUtA6S8
I'm not huge on clicker training, but it works...it really does. And if you're wondering how to get a full grown dog to do it, and the dog has brains...what have you got to lose?!
Chris
It will come. After a few sessions, you can do your obedience lessons on lead. Stop walking pup, command sit...pull paws out and command down. After some success there, transition to stopping in front of pup, command sit, then slide lead under your foot...pull lead taught and step down on lead while commanding down. apply pressure as needed between shoulder blades.
Take it slowly and in baby steps...it will come. Be consistent. Praise for good effort and for the dog showing success.
I've also seen some pretty awesome work done with ....GULP.... Clicker training to teach a dog down. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ciy7uUtA6S8
I'm not huge on clicker training, but it works...it really does. And if you're wondering how to get a full grown dog to do it, and the dog has brains...what have you got to lose?!
Chris
Joined
·
25 Posts
here goes... everyone has a different method but you can read them all and use the one you want 
Get your dog into a sit. Using a tiny treat hold it to his nose and then slowly bring it to the floor. Wait until he lays down but say nothing while waiting. Some dogs it will take seconds, some minutes. As soon as his elbows hit the ground in a down praise and give him that treat. Do this over and over until he does right down. Once he has the behavior mastered then you can begin to say "DOWN" when you bring your hand down. You can then begin to transition to not using the treat and only rewarding when he actually lays down. Also this downward motion of your hand will be your hand signal for "down" using this method I find most dogs learn down in 1 or 2 5-10 minute sessions. Let me know if you need more help, I'm happy to offer it.
Chris I love your comments on clicker training I use it on all my dogs (well I use "YES" as a marker and not an actual clicker but it's the same method) My dogs are also trained to fetch, hold, heel, deliver to hand using this method... I have yet to force fetch. I also clicker all my litters from about 5 weeks. Very fun to watch!
Get your dog into a sit. Using a tiny treat hold it to his nose and then slowly bring it to the floor. Wait until he lays down but say nothing while waiting. Some dogs it will take seconds, some minutes. As soon as his elbows hit the ground in a down praise and give him that treat. Do this over and over until he does right down. Once he has the behavior mastered then you can begin to say "DOWN" when you bring your hand down. You can then begin to transition to not using the treat and only rewarding when he actually lays down. Also this downward motion of your hand will be your hand signal for "down" using this method I find most dogs learn down in 1 or 2 5-10 minute sessions. Let me know if you need more help, I'm happy to offer it.
Chris I love your comments on clicker training
I use it on all my dogs (well I use "YES" as a marker and not an actual clicker but it's the same method) My dogs are also trained to fetch, hold, heel, deliver to hand using this method... I have yet to force fetch. I also clicker all my litters from about 5 weeks. Very fun to watch!
Joined
·
25 Posts
I humbly offer a couple of comments. The nature of your question suggests to me that you might be a relatively inexperienced handler / trainer. You might benefit as I have by training with some other people and watching them train. The people don't have to be retriever people - possibly just an obedience club or even a professional if you wish.
I think Shirley Chong's website has fantastic explanations and exercises for clicker training, operant conditioning and how it all works. You can teach a lot of obedience with this and when you have a dog that offers behaviors (and wants to learn) it is a lot easier to teach new behaviors and commands.
This will not replace pressure that you will need eventually (when other drives far outweigh the dog's interest in the click and food) - but it is helpful for teaching new behaviors.
I think Shirley Chong's website has fantastic explanations and exercises for clicker training, operant conditioning and how it all works. You can teach a lot of obedience with this and when you have a dog that offers behaviors (and wants to learn) it is a lot easier to teach new behaviors and commands.
This will not replace pressure that you will need eventually (when other drives far outweigh the dog's interest in the click and food) - but it is helpful for teaching new behaviors.
Joined
·
1,069 Posts
This is how I did it and works pretty quickly too
Joined
·
1,137 Posts
I used treats to teach my dog to down I would make him sit then hold a treat in front of him and slowly move my hand down and back between his front legs when they reach for it they naturally lay down this and teaching sit is the only time I used treats when training
I'm not a big fan of using treats to train but this works. After he started downing that way I held the treat in front of him and lowered it to the floor and tapped the floor then I stopped using a treat and just tapped the floor now I just point to the floor and say down
I'm not a big fan of using treats to train but this works. After he started downing that way I held the treat in front of him and lowered it to the floor and tapped the floor then I stopped using a treat and just tapped the floor now I just point to the floor and say down
Joined
·
1,746 Posts
Chris posted
I do more remediation than initial puppy training and find clicker can open some dogs up when other stuff has failed; and as you say there isn't anything much to lose. Friends who do more puppy work than me find it great for initial teaching of OB; I've seen really impressive heel work for example, taught in a couple of weeks.
If anyone cares to make a study of "clicker" in it's widest sense of being a tool to apply the rules of operant conditioning, and learning how animals learn, they will benefit whether they use the technique or not. A few dollars spent on Karen Pryor's "Don't shoot the dog" will provide interesting reading in the winter evenings.
Eug
That's you consigned to the eternal flames then.;-)
I do more remediation than initial puppy training and find clicker can open some dogs up when other stuff has failed; and as you say there isn't anything much to lose. Friends who do more puppy work than me find it great for initial teaching of OB; I've seen really impressive heel work for example, taught in a couple of weeks.
If anyone cares to make a study of "clicker" in it's widest sense of being a tool to apply the rules of operant conditioning, and learning how animals learn, they will benefit whether they use the technique or not. A few dollars spent on Karen Pryor's "Don't shoot the dog" will provide interesting reading in the winter evenings.
Eug
Joined
·
513 Posts
I had a dog about that age who I was taking through obedience. Everything was going great until we hit the "down" command. I tried all the advice from the OB trainers (food, pulling the paws into position, forcing by stepping on the leash, etc) without success. I finally stumbled on the solution for him ... his tennis ball. I used the tennis ball to coax him to the down position, and once there, I'd toss the ball for him. It didn't take him long to make the connection between hearing "down", and hitting the floor to beg for his tennis ball.
1 - 10 of 10 Posts
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
