2. Down
Down! This is probably the second and another great trick to know aside from your puppies’ sit. As great as the sit is, sometimes you can use a down to help your puppy settle even more than when they’re in a sit. Down can be extremely helpful in an environment that has a lot of distractions for your puppy. This builds upon your puppies’ knowledge of sit, so start this trick after you’re confident your puppy can do a sit without any treats/luring.
If your dog hasn’t learned how to sit yet, this might be a bit harder to learn and I’d highly recommend practicing sit first. Otherwise, get ready for the down this one should be easy to build off their sit.
The Training
- Get a treat. (You’ll always need one of these)
- Without giving away the treat, hold it to their nose and allow them to smell it. (This will help get their attention)
- Lift the treat up and over their head, moving away from you and towards their rear. Your dog should slowly move into a sit position. (Be patient if they don’t get it right away)
- Lower your hand to the ground in front of them and guide their nose to the ground to get them on all four paws. (Your puppy might try to eat your hand the first couple times, be patient and try again)
- The moment you lure your dog into the down position, say “Yes!”, praise them and give them the treat as the reward.
- Get your dog on their feet again. Either by walking a few steps away, throwing a toy or moving around and playing with them.
- Get your dogs attention again with another treat and repeat the steps to go into a down.
- When your dog starts to get familiar with the trick you can start to include the command “down”.
The Tips
- Never touch your dog or push them into a down position during the training, this will make it more confusing for your puppy and they won’t learn how on their own. I would typically practice this inside my living room on a carpet while I’m on my knees, free from distractions & smells that a grass field might have and away from any noises.
- If your puppy is trying to play with or jump on you, try getting onto your knees and standing taller or fully standing up while training. This will create some distance between you and your puppy, allowing them to understand it’s not an uncontrolled play time.
- Try to keep training short and specific (i.e. less than 15 minutes and only focusing on one trick at a time) this will help your puppy have fun and stay engaged. This way it’s more enjoyable for everyone.
After some time, you could try to add in your own hand signals with your down command, it can be great when you’re in public and don’t want everyone looking your way when you’re with your dog. You could try pointing down or finding your own signals that work for you. When your puppy starts to learn down, you can probably start to learn how to stay!
