Okay, this is going to sound really dumb...

[ciaBrysh]

I have been working with Willow one on one for awhile now, together we have mastered sit, heel (on leash only) paw, stand,off and kennel time. I am really trying to get her to learn stay because to me it is most important (her recall is slightly shotty) for her safety. She has gotten it down to she will "stay" and wait at the door if I open it.

That's not even my point lol. (The purpose of that was to show that she has learned all of these commands but cannot get the SIMPLEST one down lol)
Ready....its the only base one missing...

Willow just doesn't get "lay"
Yup...its the truth lol
My dog, who picked up on the basics on all other training in a matter of days (maybe weeks ) just will not lay down!!!

I have tried the only way I really know how to teach it lol, by taking the treat, putting her in a sit and then lowering it down slowly, but where most dogs will slowly...you know...lay...MY DOG will get up and pounce!!
So I start over.
Then she loses focus.
So we stop.
Then start again an hour or so later.
Clearly I have a lot of time on my hands lol

Any advice?

[IslandPaws4Raw]

O.K no shame in that....LOL she's sure you want her to pounce!

I liked teaching Kai puppy push ups. It eliminates the cumbersome obedience sit-then down. Try with her just standing then hold the treat in front of her nose and draw it down between her front legs and let her follow your hand with her nose until she's in a Bow position, hold the treat in a closed hand on the ground until her back end hits the floor, then let her have the treat. Hopefully that will distract her from trying to pounce on it...LOL

The push up part is just down from stand, then sit,stand again and repeat. Once you are past the point where she has to follow your hand, they can do this rapid fire fast and it makes "down" fun rather than a downer! LOL

[MollyWoppy]

I don't know a thing about training, but how about sitting on the floor with your knee raised and your foot on the floor. Have the pup sit in front of you and then lure him to go under your leg so he has no choice but to lie down and click or tell him lie down at the same time? Just a thought, far more experienced people will give you a lot better tips I'm sure.

[IslandPaws4Raw]

I don't know a thing about training, but how about sitting on the floor with your knee raised and your foot on the floor. Have the pup sit in front of you and then lure him to go under your leg so he has no choice but to lie down and click or tell him lie down at the same time? Just a thought, far more experienced people will give you a lot better tips I'm sure.

Are you kidding? You've taught Molly so many neat things.....and there's more than one way to skin a cat---whoops, sorry Windy!

[ciaBrysh]

I don't know a thing about training, but how about sitting on the floor with your knee raised and your foot on the floor. Have the pup sit in front of you and then lure him to go under your leg so he has no choice but to lie down and click or tell him lie down at the same time? Just a thought, far more experienced people will give you a lot better tips I'm sure.

This is a good way to approach it, pretty different than what I've been trying!
The only problem is I've had a lot of issues loading a clicker with either of my dogs >.< I know it's all me though lol I don't think I have the attention span for clicker training!

[KittyKat]

I don't clicker train, but i did the same thing you did with my dog. The trick was to go very slowly, while pulling away from the nose... and yes, luring them down by your legs works too.

[xchairity_casex]

my one pup Guinnes had a very very hard time with down too he just couldnt figure it out! i would lower the treat close to his chest and he would jsut back up and paw at my hand.
what i did was to put him into a sit and kind of mash the treat in my hand a bit and let him be able to lick at the treat in my half closed fist while he was licking and i was lowering my hand i would use my other hand to gently push on his shoulders all the while im lowering my hand hes busy licking the treat from my hand so his head follows and my pushing on his shoulders he went with it untill his elbows touch the floor.

just dont push hard if you find shes not following you and "going with it" and your having to push down real hard then this appraoch wont work for her you deff dont want ot be pushing hard on the shoulders or spine to cause pain or damage.

[bridget246]

Down was the hardest for me too. Talk about dominance issues. Even after learning it she didn't want to do it. But here is how I taught it.

I took a treat and place the treat on the ground with my hand over it. She would pounce on my hand... claw my hand.. I'm sure there are better ways to do this lol. Finally she'd actually lay down and then the treat would come. After learning it she still hated for awhile.

Funny story. After Bridget I thought all dogs hated down. Not true. I went to the shelter and had a little time to work on tricks with them. This dog had shown he knew down, and sit and fetch. So I threw the ball, the dog grabs it and turns to run back. I said, down, he went right into a down so fast he slid a little. I wanted to take him home so bad after that.

[Maxy24]

I don't know if you've already been doing this, but I know when I first started teaching down I'd bring the treat down on the floor while the dog was sitting and pull away from the dog. This often made the dog get up. If you bring it to the floor and slowly move towards the dog, between it's legs, they are more likely to down. Immediately pull your hand away if she pops up, then try again. And then sometimes you just have to put your hand with the treat on the floor and wait the dog out.

[StdPooDad]

Teaghan, one of my Standard Poodles, doesn't like to lie down. I decided this morning to try clicker training. Within 3 minutes!! she was laying down.

-I got a clicker, treats and Teaghan.
-I could c/t her for *any* movement down.
-if she sniffed the ground, c/t, if she bent a leg slightly, c/t
Took no time at all, and since it's her idea, it's much more long term learning than the traditional luring them down with a treat.