Caspar is now 12 weeks and reasonably good at sitting on command. I am having real trouble capturing him in the act of lying down so am finding this hard to cue/teach. He most reliably lies on the sofa, which I am hoping to wean him off). I have tried luring him down from sit with a treat, but his bottom pops up. I have gently pushed it down and treated him, saying the word, but this is not really the idea, is it? Any helpful suggestions? He is a very busy soul and seems to do most things from a standing position - especially climbing and jumping, as I have posted elsewhere (currently on 'time out' for climbing onto the windowsill and attacking the plants - again!)
Try to use one word ‘lie’ or ‘down’. But don’t use the word at all at first. Start to use the word when he reliably knows what you are asking him to do. Then only when he’s down already, for a week or two. Then you can start to ask for the ‘down’ along with the hand signal, and eventually before it. When you lure do it close to his paws and feed when he’s in the right position, keep feeding if he stays there. Don’t touch him as that sends mixed signals ‘is she patting me?’ and he’ll lose focus.
You can start marking and rewarding approximations, so starting with his bum in the air is fine. Once he's "got" this, you can put it on cue (such as "bow", it's a nice trick to teach in its own right). From there, there are options. Just waiting will often see the dog settling their rear end down, which you can then mark and treat, and add the cue - I use "floor" because it's less used in other contexts ("get down" off the sofa, off the worktops etc). Or, some people train it by luring the dog under their leg (sat on the floor, so the knee makes an inverted V) or under a chair, so the dog has no option but to put their bum down. I agree with @Boogie, you shouldn't be touching him during training any behaviour; this could distract him, confuse him, make him anxious or even make him believe it's the cue, so he only performs when you touch him. This position took quite a while to train with Willow and Shadow because they just didn't ever lie in the straight down position naturally. I wouldn't worry too much, it's not the most useful of behaviours anyway, unless you're competing in obedience
If luring from a sit position I have the treat under pups nose and then bring the treat down to the floor so your hand will be between pups paws and wait. If there is no movement bring the treat back up to the nose so he can smell it and then lower again. Reward for any downward movement to the treat. It's not unusual to get a 'bow' with the bum in the air. From there just wait for an approximation of the bottom going down - your might find drawing the treat a little further away to encourage a small forward movement which hopefully will bring the bottom down.
Thanks all. I have tried the traditional lure but it does not seem to work. He will go to the treat but only from fully standing and if not released will lose interest. I only tried the shaping today, but I know that is not ideal. I will persevere. We found it a useful cue for the 'dog under pub table' scenario, so it does have an application in the real world, as far as I am concerned. I'm glad to hear that other people's dogs don't do it naturally either.
Our puppy took ages to learn this too.... His bum kept coming up or he would just look at me like 'what?'. In frustration I googled 'How to teach a stupid dog to lie down' (I take that back, he's not actually stupid but it worked). It suggested having him sit infront of your leg which you angle in a V, then lure him under your leg with a treat so he has to keep his bum down to get under. It worked! Good luck!
This is subtly different - you're after a settled dog there, which might be a dog on his hip. Using a cue for a "down" isn't really appropriate, unless you really expect your dog not to move position in all the time they're under the table. Training a "settle on (or off) mat" is a hugely useful thing but not the same as training a down.
To teach a settle, by the way, I start on walks by stopping and putting my foot on the lead. This is the cue for "nothing interesting is going to happen for a while". I say "settle down" when I stop. At first, this is just for a few seconds, but we build it up. Eventually, I make moving on dependent on the dog actually settling - not being on alert with the environment. This is in any position they prefer, but normally ends up in laying in a relaxed down, over on the hip. In time, when you say "settle down", the dog will start settling immediately because they know that they're going to have no interaction for the next while.
Yup, another good tactic. I'm lucky that my lot have all been pretty chilled in the house anyway for the most part - probably because I work from home so they get used to me being pretty boring all the time I'm on my computer, so that's their cue to settle. A cup of tea and a book sounds far more pleasant than working, though
I never had to train a settle either with Jen, just a chilled, relaxed pup when mum became 'boring'. Favourite spot was on my feet or under my kitchen stool if feet weren't on the ground Happy Days . The settle is often one of the first behaviours I start training with clients so not always with the cup of tea and definitely no book, but essential so I discuss puppy/dog and training/feeding/biting etc without the dog being a hooligan
I'd settle for a "settle", perhaps that is what I am really after. He does do this, but at home almost always on a sofa, preferably on a cushion like a cat. My husband's fault. Our last Lab was about 6 before he ever went on the sofa.
Hehe, I had a strict "no dogs on the sofa" rule when Willow first came home. It lasted a fair time, to be fair, but she looked so sad when she was spayed that I relented. Meanwhile, Shadow was staying with a friend where he was allowed on the sofa, so when he came home he just hopped right on up. Sofas are definitely not dog-free anymore
I did succeed in getting him to lie down for a treat under my leg, but then he got up the next time to go and get it from the other side! Not stupid.
I had to get me sofas cleaned this week as Basil pee'd on one of them last time he was here I've bought some throws today because I didn't realise how dirty they were until they were clean. And it's definitely the dogs not me and OH.. yup definitely
Simone, what kind of floors do you have? Our pup wouldn't lie down for a while as well and I think it was because the floors felt cold to him! What worked for us was to teach him first on his bed, then on the rug and eventually straight on the floor. Worked in one day! It may feel more natural for him to lie down on his bed (or couch) and easier to learn the behavior there and then translate to other places.
We have rugs and hard floors. He sleeps in a crate and doesn't have another bed. We did put out a memory foam one owned by previous dog (clean washable covers) but he didn't lie on it so we have put it away. I don't think it is the floors. He just doesn't lie down much unless he is going to sleep and then often on a sofa. As I said previously I don't want to reinforce him lying there so wanted to train on the floor. I just don't seem able to capture the behaviour so need to provoke it somehow.
