# My dog refuses to "down"



## jmagnet (Aug 27, 2013)

Hey I recently (almost 3 weeks ago) acquired a owner surrender from my friend. She's a fairly well mannered 4yo GSD and knows some basic commands and can even do a long "sit and stay". But she refuses to "down". Since she is an older dog I was wondering if anyone had any advise on how to get her to... I've used treats, toys, you name it. She'll lay down to relax, or for a belly rub, but that's it. Any help would be appreciated!


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Did your friend ever teach her to down on cue? If not, then she's not "refusing", she just hasn't been trained yet. Have you tried luring her into a down with a treat? 

One really easy way to train a down, which I do every time I bring home a new puppy, is to mark ("yes!"), and give a treat whenever the dog lays down on his/her own. Even if a dog doesn't know how to down on cue, they DO know how to lay down! If you toss the treat a few feet away she'll have to get up to get it. You can wait for her to lay down again, and then mark it and toss another treat. Do this for a few minutes several times a day. She will likely start offering downs in order to get the reward, and at that point you can use your verbal command right before her elbows and butt hit the floor. She will start to associate the cue with the act of laying down, and then you can start to use the cue before she's starting to lay down, and simply wait for her to do it. Mark and reward when she does. 

Don't rush the process though, it may take a few days or a few weeks for her to fully learn what you expect.


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## jmagnet (Aug 27, 2013)

Yeah I suppose "refuse" was a poor choice of words... as much as I want her to be able to "down", I have some bad habits I need to correct first, but all in due time! Thanks for the help!


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## jmagnet (Aug 27, 2013)

To answer your question, apparently my friend never taught her "down", but thank goodness she taught her "shake"! ...ugh. (my least favorite thing people teach dogs)


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

jmagnet said:


> To answer your question, apparently my friend never taught her "down", but thank goodness she taught her "shake"! ...ugh. (my least favorite thing people teach dogs)


:rofl: Yeah, some things can start out cute but become annoying later. For that, every time she offers her paw when you haven't cued it, ignore her completely. Don't touch her, don't look at her, don't talk to her. She's the invisible dog. Get up and walk away if you need to. Occasionally, ask her to shake and then praise her enthusiastically. But NEVER acknowledge it if you haven't asked her to do it. 

Sometimes Halo offers me the paw, but she's not obnoxious about it, so I tell her "good girl!" in a happy tone of voice, then release her with "okay" as I hand it back to her. She might do the other paw too, and that's fine, but if she just wants to do it over and over again after I give the paw back, I tell her "that's it", (my "all done" cue), and disengage by turning my head and looking away. She may stay there for a moment or two, but she'll eventually walk away once she realizes that I'm not paying attention anymore.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Hey, "shake" is very handy when it's nail-trimming time! As is "bang" (play dead) so I can get the rear paws.


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## jmagnet (Aug 27, 2013)

Liesje said:


> Hey, "shake" is very handy when it's nail-trimming time! As is "bang" (play dead) so I can get the rear paws.


Hahaha well our last GSD HATED being brushed, so I'm not even messing with nails! I'd rather pay to get them clipped. I like my fingers where they are... attached!


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

Have you tried luring her into a down? Start with the treat at eye level then with a big swoop move the treat down between her front legs and chest. Most dogs will down automatically following the hand to the treat. Be sure to praise and treat when she gets it right. After awhile you can phase the big swoop to a small hand motion and eventually phase out the hand motion as well or keep it for when you want to direct with just hand signals and not voice. You might also try a clicker so when she does down click, and treat. The clicker marks the behavior you want so the dog gets it faster. It takes practice to click at the right time. I started with eye attention - put the dog in a sit and everytime it looks at you in the eye click and treat. There is no command for eye attention - it is automatic if you train it this way. Your dog will look to you for commands as it gets used to eye attention for direction. Get eye attention going first then command other stuff the dog knows. When they are giving you eye attention you have their full attention. One more thing, don't work on any exercise more than 10 minutes at first to avoid boredom on the dog's part and frustration on your part and always end on a positive note.


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## Dbrooke407 (Apr 18, 2013)

If you're still having problems getting her into a down, feel free to private message me! I'm a Dog Obedience Trainer. 


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