teaching my dog to lay down?

Question

we've already taught her sit and paw. I searched for other questions about this but none of those suggestions worked: I had her sit, then put the treat by her nose, lowring it to the ground and away from her a little bit, saying down and she was too excited, thinking she was getting a treat, that she either stood up to get closer to the treat or gave me "paw" when i said lay down. I tried kind of moving her front paws out frontwards and saying sit but then she just stands up as well lol. She's a stubborn 6 yr old beagle that we got fro mthe shelter about a month ago and was never taught anything until we got her. So yes, she IS capable of learning trick dispite her age, we just need a different method at learning to "Lay down" any suggestions would be great! thanks!

sorry i mistyped: i moved her pront paws frontwards and said "Laydown," not sit.

Answer 1

Well, you could try using one of her toys in the same manner as you did with a treat. I suppose another option would be to "capture" her behavior. When she does lay down, use a clicker (very inexpensive) or use a verbal cue such as "Yes!", tell her good down (I wouldn't use lay down...it's too long), and give her a treat. You can lay your hand on her back to help keep her down while receiving her treat. That's rewarding her for her behavior when she does it on her own and eventually she'll learn that she can be rewarded for doing it on cue.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Down is not a trick, it is a command. Treats should never be used for teaching commands, they are a crutch that sooner or later you have to get rid of, so put the biscuit box away.
Now, -put your dog on her leash and stand in the heel position, (that's dog at your left, both of you looking straight ahead. Don't turn even slightly toward your dog nor away from her)
-Take a short grip on the leash with your right hand (about 18") and place your left hand over the clasp, close to the dog's collar. Don't close your fist, keep your hand flat or you'll rap your knuckles on the floor.
-The next steps must be performed rapidly. Read them over until you don't have to think about them and then
-command 'DOWN'
- stomp forward (loudly) with your right foot
- push the collar and leash to the floor
- letting the leash slacken, you stand quickly, don't
wait to see if the dog stays. You can see that once
you are back in the standing position.
Once she is holding the DOWN willingly (give yourself a count of 10) then begin calling her back the SIT and repeat.
Do the above repeatedly. Once you feel that she is going down without the push, stop pushing. Then eliminate the stomp (it's only an attention getter). You are aiming for only having to say the word DOWN.
Don't practice for any longer than 15 minutes a session but you can do as many sessions in a day as you have patience for. She should take three to five days to perform it for you perfectly. Remember, DOWN is a submissive position and you are commanding your dog to give up status. Older dogs may resist a bit, but keep at it, eventually they all comply.
Good Luck.

Answer 4

Picture this:

your dog is sitting next to you - on your left hand side, facing the same direction you are. Say the dog's name, then 'down', and at that time, put your left arm over the dog's shoulder until you can grasp your dog's left front leg, and your right arm/hand is holding the dog's right leg. Gently but firmly lower the dog into position. It doesn't take many times before they catch on & are happy to do it for treats! In the beginning though you may need to get your whole body involved - if the dog tries to stand, you will be conveniently laying over the dog's back which will stop that - depending on the size of the dog, you can improvise with a smaller breed. Good luck~

Answer 5

As you have already taught sit this should be really easy and as I read in your question you are using treats to teach I can assume (I hope I don't make an A*& of myself L) that you would like to use positive methods.

Step 1 ask your dog to sit treat the dog.

Step 2 with a second treat put it infront of her nose and lower the treat. if she offers paw just ignore it and keep lowering the treat pulling it slowly away from her body.

Step 3 When she is in a down position treat the dog....

you were doing this exactly right you just gave up to soon. ignore the paw as that is not what you are asking for....

the last step takes place when you can get the dog to lay down without offering the paw..... when she is going down following the treat ask her to lay down (this is when she is already on the way down) Treat the dog... then when you know that she gets what you are ask when you say "down" ask for it.... if she lays down then you've to it and so dose she.

you can eventualy you can ask for a down and not have to treat your dog with food everytime.... this means that you can use a game of tug, or some fetch or even a pet as a reward.... for my food motivated Doberman.... I just make happy noises and give a good ear scratching.... works like a dream.

Answer 6

When we taught my dog we would keep the treat out of sight and have the dog sit and then we would say down and pull his feet forward untill he was laying down then you keep the dog there and rite after the dogs down give her a treat, but make sure you use down because it's easier for the dog to remember rather than lay down.

Answer 7

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/eh4rl

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 8

Use a leash.

Point down and say down. Then gently pull the leash towards the ground until she lays down. Reward with a treat!

Some dogs... especially older ones might be uncomfortable laying down and not like it...

Answer 9

Sometimes it helps to squeeze them behind their front legs (like between their shoulder blades) as they sit and with other hand lower treat to floor, as you say "down" short words work best.
Other way, put pinch color and leash on and pull leash to floor and hold with foot.
It is very submissive for dogs to lay down, esp males or dominant females so it is important to teach and in force down. I have a two year old Choc lab that is un-neutered so he sometimes just looks at me when I say "down" but he goes know even though he doesn't like to .

Answer 10

Try using just the one word command "Down" and moving her front paws forward, complimenting her and giving her a treat a few times. Then tell her down and if she doesn't do it withhold the treat tell her no and repeat the command a time or two. The move her paws forward and complimenting her but withholding the treat. Wait for another session and start the process again.