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Lying down on cue is one of the most common basic dog training skills — and for good reason! “Down” is a simple, versatile behavior that can make it easier to live with your dog.
Just because it’s a common position doesn’t mean teaching this trick is always a cake walk, though. We’ve put together a guide outlining how to train your dog to lie down and troubleshoot common issues along the way.
Let’s dive in!
Down is a great position for your dog to be in when you:
What’s more — a solid knowledge of how to lie down when asked sets your dog up to learn more advanced skills! These include tricks like roll over, go to bed, play dead, and more.
Down is also a naturally more relaxed position than a sit or stand, which means it’s ideal for duration or distance stays (whether you compete in dog sports or just need your dog to stay put while you get the mail).
When we ask our dogs to work for us, it’s only fair we pay them. Reinforcers (often called rewards in everyday conversation) are things 1) our dogs love that 2) are easy for us to give them during a training session.
Common reinforcers include:
If possible, let your dog decide what they like best. Consider setting out multiple rewards, seeing which one they go to first, and choosing that to teach new behaviors! (You can also vary between a few favorites to keep them interested.)
The more excited your dog is for their reinforcer, the more motivated they’ll be during your training session.
If you’ve heard of “clicker training” (first popularized by marine mammal trainers) then you’ve been exposed to the idea of a reward marker.
In technical terms, a marker is a conditioned stimulus that predicts a primary reinforcer. Put more simply? A reward marker is a sound or signal that “marks” exactly what your dog did to earn their reinforcement. This makes it possible for us to communicate clearly during training sessions — even if we’re unable to deliver a treat precisely when our dogs offer the right behavior.
Common reward markers include:
No marker is inherently better than the others. What matters is that you pick one that works for you and stick to it! Consistency is key.
To make sure your dog understands that your marker sound or signal predicts a reward, spend a few sessions conditioning them to the stimulus. (If you already use reward markers in your training, skip on to the next section.)
You can charge your dog’s reward marker by:
Eventually your dog will start to respond to the noise itself — they might run towards you before you even reach for their treat or toy. This indicates that they’re forming the right association.
Once your dog is conditioned to your chosen reward marker, you can start using it in training sessions to teach new skills.
It’s important to mark the right behavior the instant your dog performs it. Accurate timing makes for more effective teaching! And remember to always follow your marker with a reward — you have about 1.5 to three seconds to deliver reinforcement, give or take, to keep up your dog’s conditioned association.
Before working with your dog, make sure you’re in a good headspace. It’s not always easy to communicate with another species. Even simple behaviors like lying down on cue can confuse our pets at first!
Be prepared to take things slowly and keep your training sessions upbeat. Offer lots of praise and affection when your dog makes an effort — and keep things simple to get more buy-in from your dog, especially if they are an adolescent.
Now that we have all the necessary supplies, it’s time for the nitty gritty. Here are step-by-step instructions to teach your dog their new down cue! You can make your own choice of training techniques.
Luring is the most common method to teach our dogs new skills — it’s especially great for pets who are easily distracted or crave constant feedback from their owners.
Here’s how to teach your dog to lie down using luring:
Capturing your dog’s offered behaviors, and then shaping them into the final picture you want, is another way you can teach your dog to lie down. These sessions tend to be more mentally draining than luring, making them a great option for dogs with excess energy!
Capturing can be frustrating for pets who are anxious or insecure, though, so remember to pay attention to your dog’s body language and change things up if they seem stressed.
Here’s how to shape your dog’s down position:
If your dog doesn’t offer you a down position, you can do a few things:
Once your dog seems to be getting it — either reliably following your lure or offering downs on their own in a capturing session — it’s time to add a visual cue.
If you’ve been luring your dog into position, your hand signal will likely end up as a natural shortening, or smaller version, of that lure. If you’ve been capturing your dog’s behavior, you’ll need to be present to add the cue — this is difficult but can be the only way with some reluctant-to-follow dogs. In this case, you can pick any visual cue you want.
Common hand signals for down are:
To start fading your lure in favor of a visual cue:
(Most dogs find it easier to pay attention to our body movements than our words, but that isn’t a hard-and-fast rule. If you know your dog is particularly verbal and want to skip the hand signal to go right to a verbal cue, feel free! Just remember to change things up if your pup is struggling, as some dogs will get so frustrated they check out completely.)
To add a verbal cue, pair your new learned behavior stimulus — the word “down” or “lie” or whatever you choose — with your dog’s already-known hand signal:
Some dogs have a difficult time separating the pieces of a training picture from each other. If your dog is struggling to learn a verbal cue, make sure:
Are you having a hard time teaching your dog to lie down on cue? Feeling frustrated with training difficulties? Here are some common issues.
Some dogs hesitate to lie down on cue because it’s uncomfortable for them due to arthritis, obesity, an acute injury (like a pulled muscle), or chronic health conditions like hip dysplasia.
If you notice that your dog is stiff or seems stressed in your sessions — especially if they used to lie down willingly and now seem reluctant — consider visiting your veterinarian for a pain assessment. They’ll help you come up with a treatment plan to get back in the training groove!
Our dogs experience the world differently than we do. Sometimes we think we’re communicating one thing when they’re actually perceiving another.
If your dog seems confused about lying down on cue even after multiple training sessions, try to:
It’s what trainers are here for! If you and your dog are struggling to polish up their “down” cue, reach out to a force-free professional trainer who can work with you one on one.
You’ve followed these steps, and after several training sessions your dog can reliably lie down on cue inside your home. Yay — your work is over, right?
Well, not quite.
Dogs often struggle to generalize behaviors. This means they might be able to follow basic cues in a familiar environment but still struggle to perform out and about. Don’t worry: This is completely normal, and it doesn’t mean anything is wrong with your training! It just means your dog needs more practice to understand that “down” always means to lie down, regardless of where they are.
Here are some helpful tips for generalizing, or proofing, your dog’s new cue:
Phew — you did it! Now that your best friend is able to lie down on cue, you can enjoy even more of the world together. Give yourself (and your pup) a pat on the back, and keep practicing to maintain the skill.
There is so much misinformation out there, we want to make sure we only provide the highest quality information to our community. We have all of our articles reviewed by qualified, positive-only trainers. The trainers that review our content are reviewed by other trainers to ensure that we have the best quality filters on our content.
This is the trainer that reviewed this article:
Penny Locke
Proudly offering Positive Reinforcement & Force-free Dog Training
www.allabout-canines.com
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All Sniffspot articles are reviewed by certified trainers for quality, please see bottom of article for details *
* All Sniffspot articles are reviewed by certified trainers for quality, please see bottom of article for details *
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* All Sniffspot articles are reviewed by certified trainers for quality, please see bottom of article for details *
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