Teaching a Down on Cue

By Sally Bradbury

Teaching a Down

Take your dog to the ‘smallest room’ in the house (bathroom). Make sure you have a pot of small and tasty treats, a good book, and a coffee or whatever you drink.

Close the door and sit on the seat that is conveniently provided in there.

Have a treat concealed in your hand.

Read your book but keep one eye on puppy. When she lays down, toss her the treat so she has to get up to get it. Go back to your book, wait for her to lie down again, and repeat. You say nothing except for a quiet ‘good’ as she lies down.

Continue in this way over several sessions. When she knows that lying down gets her a treat, and you’ll know when she knows, then you add the word that you are going to use. You say ‘flat’, ‘down’, ‘lie down’, whatever works for you. She lies down and gets a treat. Now try it in other places, but start back at the beginning again with no cue yet. She’ll get it really quickly the next time.

Next, give the reward to the dog while she is still lying down, so she doesn’t need to get up. This ensures she is being reinforced while she is performing the behaviour and will enable you to build duration. Then add in a release cue, such as ‘break’, and reward the dog for responding to the release. Down = reward in place. Break = reward for moving. This ensures that the dog remains in the down until being released.


Teaching a Down at a Distance

Once your dog is reliably responding to the cues, move to an outdoor environment with plenty of space. Use either food or a toy that you can throw as a reward. Cue the down when your dog is a short distance from you. Reward success while your dog is lying down. Release and toss the reward away from your dog. If you have a dog that loves to chase a toy and anticipates that you’ll throw it, this is by far the easiest way to get a down at a distance. Start to throw, cue the down as the dog moves away from you, cue the release and throw the toy.

A West Highland White Terrier