Teaching your dog to lay down on cue is a great life skill for many situations. There are 10 different ways to train your dog to drop. Having a dog who downs immediately when you ask will happen if your dog is engaged and having fun. Your dog obeying you does not need to involve submitting, and we’re looking at how you can create a joyful instant drop on cue for your dog.
In the episode you'll hear:
- That being told to train a dog to down using physical force is a red flag.
- About the most common way of teaching a down with luring.
- How you could capture a down in daily life, use free shaping, or a target stick.
- How I train dogs to down using paw or body targets to get a fast, reliable drop.
- The pre-requisites you will need before training your dog to down.
- Why you will need a release word to tell your dog when the down is over.
- That I use "search", "break", or "get it" as release words and what each means.
- The reason to think very carefully about the cue you will use for your dog to down.
- How I train down in three different positions and why I start with the sphinx position.
- How I train my dogs to down on cue with DASH and fun shaping games.
- That we can teach our dogs to LOVE the game of giving us fast, reliable downs on cue.
ItsYerChoice Game:
Learn how to play ItsYerChoice as a foundation for your down training:
https://recallers.com/iycsummit-join/
Resources:
- YouTube Video: Target Stick Training Part One
- YouTube Video: Target Stick Training Part Two
- Podcast Episode 134: How To Teach A Dog Stay WITHOUT Luring, Collar Pops Or Using The Word “Stay”
- Get Crate Games Online
- Podcast Episode 33: How Do I Stop My Dog Counter Surfing?!
- Podcast Episode 107: Pedicure Please: 3 Steps To Dog Nail Trimming Or Grooming Success At Home!
- Blog Post: Got D.A.S.H. (Desire, Accuracy, Speed and Habitat)?
- YouTube Video: Perch Work Dog (Pivots and Spins)
- Blog Post: Dog Training Question ~ When Do I Add a Cue?
- YouTube Playlist: Sit, Down, Stand, Stay! Dog training duration behaviors with Susan Garrett
- *Cato Board: Receive 10% off with the use of this link. Coupon Code: DOGSTHAT10
- Watch this Episode of Shaped by Dog on YouTube
*Amazon Links Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
When teaching a puppy down with a bed with sides, how do you get them to offer a down? I understand alternating the cookies from behind between offering cookies in the bed. Didn’t understand what to do different for a down. Would love a more specific video if possible. Thanks in advance!
I have not been able to find a podcast beyond this one from March. Are there new ones or is it on my end? I hope they will continue.
Hi Marilyn, Susan has taken a short break but we should be back VERY, very soon!
I have feelings – Why does obeying have to involve submitting?
Episode 145: 10 Ways To Teach A Dog To Lay Down And How To Shape It Without Luring
I was listening to Susan’s latest podcast Episode 145: 10 Ways To Teach A Dog To Lay Down And How To Shape It Without Luring, and it gave me feelings.
I have a question about this more so in this sentence “Why does obeying have to involve submitting?” Please tell me more. In my mind, a dog obeying has to have some submission. If I look up the meaning of obeying – to act according to what you have been asked or ordered to do by someone in authority or to behave according to a rule, law, or instruction: The soldiers refused to obey (orders). – definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary. I interpret that as you need to give something up (submit) so you can do that command, sit, lay down, stay, and so on. It could just be I don’t understand what is the meaning of the words, Cue, Marker, Command(leads to obedient) in terms of Susan’s methodology.
My understanding of the words,
Cue
a cue “is the ‘green light’ that tells the dog it’s time to do a behavior.” If our animal responds, they get access to a reinforcer
(something they love). With repeated usage, a cue quickly gets associated with that behavior.
Marker
a slice in time that pinpoints the exact behavior or action we wanted our dog to do.
Command
Is an action that is asked of your dog, sit, down, stay, and so on.
There is some consequence for not doing that command
A verbal, oh well guess you did not hear me
They do not get paid
Something is withheld
As I read and try to understand this, I see a number of people use Cue/Command interchangeably, I do think they are two totally different commands.
Reference Material
https://dogsthat.com/podcast/145/
Quote from the podcast – (https://dogsthat.com/transcript/episode-145/) personally think having a dog that drops reliably every time you ask is more likely because the dog’s engaged. They get buy-in, they want to do it. They’re fast. They’re immediate, they’re engaged. They’re joyful. Why does obeying have to involve submitting? It doesn’t. That’s what training the way that I’m suggesting is, it’s engaging to the dog so therefore it’s reliable long-term. Because it’s their choice. But guess what, you do it right the dog’s always going to want to do it. So, the first four ways of teaching a down, I would advise you don’t even think about. The number five on my list is probably the most common way most people teach a down.
https://tinyurl.com/nhdnuhyz
Karen Pryor referencing what a Que is for her
Love this. Thank you
thankyou, Susan, well explained , dogs will be grateful!