How do I teach my dog to lay down on command?

Question

I have taught my Jack Russell Terrier to lay down on command but he will only do it on a carpet or something soft. How do I get him to lay down on a hard surface? Please help!

My dog already knows how to lay down but he wont do it on a hard surface. How can I make him lay down on a hard surface?

Answer 1

Treats and praise. If he knows the command already you are half way there. :)

Take the treat and put it in the palm of your hand, show it to the dog. Then bring your hand down to the floor (palm down) with the treat held in the palm with your thumb, say "Down" at the same time. The dog will go after the food, as soon as it's belly hits the floor take your hand off the treat and let the dog have it. Do this a few hundred times and the dog will associate the hand moving down and the command for "down" and it will hit the ground to get the treat before your hand hits the floor. Then you can put the treat in the other hand, do the same motion as before but don't bring your hand all the way to the floor. Once the dog lays down, give him the treat from the other hand.

They only have short attention spans and you can only work on stuff for about 10-15 minutes before they need a break. So do a little here and there through out the day. It takes time.... but the more you teach them the faster they learn. ;)

PS. You practice this on the hard surface, carpet, grass outside and don't give them the treat till they down. They may not like the hard floor, but once they are trained to drop on command it won't matter where you tell them to lay down at, they will (including a bathtub full of water where my dog didn't like it either). If your dog won't it's because you haven't worked on the command enough.

Answer 2

A dog should be trained on how to eat, walk with you, not to bark, potty training and sleep on its place etc. You can teach anything to your puppy, dogs get trained easily with some good instructions. If you want some good training tips visit https://tr.im/ChLPh

If properly trained, they should also understand whistle and gesture equivalents for all the relevant commands, e.g. short whistle or finger raised sit, long whistle or flat hand lay down, and so on.

It's important that they also get gestures and whistles as voice may not be sufficient over long distances and under certain circumstances.

Answer 3

first get him to sit, then (with a treat) place your hand on the ground whilst telling him/her to lay down, (with the treat visible to the dog) he/she will probably try to stand up n get to the treat, but would be easy to manouvre the dog into lay down position, and ONLY give the dog the treat when it is in the desired position. even if you have to help the dog into the position you want, give it a treat ONLY when it is in that position. He/she will quickly learn when that it will get the treat when in that position. Before long you will find the dog will take up the position even though you havnt instructed it to do so, just for the treat. Be sure to give your dog plenty of praise with the treat when he/she does what you ask of it. Good luck with this, although im sure this will work. I taught my 6 yo pit bull cross to beg by telling him to sit (beside me) n holding a piece of Schmakkos strip (broken up into 4) just above his head n slowly raised it so he rose with it. He tried to stand up on his back legs to get it but i kept telling him to stay sitting, and kept persevering with it. I started this around xmas time, it took only 3 to 4 weeks for him to pick this up (and i never did this everyday with him either, i was pretty slack about it, but he is a clever dog n knew what i wanted from him) by ONLY giving him the treat when he did what was expected from him.

Answer 4

A JRT is a nice size to manover into a down position. first place him in a sit on the hard surface, as you tell him to lay down you can pick him up and place him down on his side, as long as he is lying down rub his belly if he stands up stop the praise continue until he's got it . Good Luck

Answer 5

My chihuahua is the same way, and I let it go. Mainly because I think the tile is cold on his tummy. Also my boyfriend said that his dog doesnt even like to sit on tile because his claws slide and he cant hold himself up well because there is no traction. Basically, I dont know how to help you.

Answer 6

u should get it used to laying on the ground then try teaching it and kindof bribe it with treats maybe it will work