# Teach down from a stand position



## LHunter82FXRS (Oct 20, 2008)

Hello. Chico knows how to sit, down and stand, and can stay in those positions for a good amount of time, but I am trying to teach him to go from stand to down. He keeps wanting to sit, then go down. Last night he was in a stand, and I tried to lure him down with hot dog, but all he would do is have his head down. I couldn't get him all the way down. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!


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## bmass01 (Apr 7, 2005)

I am sure you will get a lot better advice, but what worked with Dakota was to use a hot dog and as I moved it to the ground I said down and put light pressure between the shoulder blades as soon as his body hits the ground fully I say "yes" (which is my marker) and treat. Then stand, heal a little than repeat the excercise. 

Good Luck!


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## JeffM (Dec 19, 2005)

Hmmmmm...how about putting a leash on him, give him the down command immediately followed by slight downward pressure on the leash/collar then reward when he's in the down.

Quick google found this. Looks like they kinda obscure the treat so he has to lay down in order to get it

http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/sit-stand-amp-down


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Take the treat and bring it down between the dogs paws and then WAIT.

If the dog puts their front legs and head down but not their butt ... WAIT. Eventually they will get tired of being in that position and they will bring their butt down.

At the moment the butt hits the ground release the treat with TONS of praise.


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## Caledon (Nov 10, 2008)

I had a harder time teaching this to Dakota to do this with a word command and or a hand signal. You can use the command down or drop (in prep. for drop on recall). I decided to use down, but our instructor uses drop. 

What you want is a spinx down. Start with the dog standing and take a treat and lure them down by moving the treat behind their front paws. If the dog is backing up to get the treat try positioning the dog's back end closer to a wall.


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## LHunter82FXRS (Oct 20, 2008)

Thanks for all the replies! I will try tonight (I am at school now) with bringing the treat between his front paws, and see how it goes. Now I can't wait to get home.......


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## LHunter82FXRS (Oct 20, 2008)

I tried luring with a treat between his front paws and it worked!!!







It took him less than five tries before he figured out what exactly to do. Thank you everyone for all the help!


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

Ditto! I tried this with Anna tonight and she's just about got it...as long as I have the treat. We'll try to wean off the treat the next day or two. Thanks for starting this thread and thanks for the great training tip!


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## IliamnasQuest (Aug 24, 2005)

You have some good tips on the training of it - I just want to add one more thought on the process.

If you look at how a dog lays down from a sit, and how they lay down from a stand, it can be quite different (and I purposefully train it so that it's different). For my dogs, laying down from a sit means that they walk their front legs out to lay down and often curl onto one hip. This is the down I use when I want them to lay down and stay.

The down from a stand, for my dogs, is that they fold backwards and go down into a "spinx" position, square on their bellies. This is the down I use for drops on recall, down in motion, utility down (for the third level of AKC competition obedience). Because they have to fold backwards, it's an excellent way to use for the moving drops because they HAVE to stop their forward motion in order to fold backwards. On the first down, because the front legs continue forward to put them into a down, you often get a dog that goes forward a few steps (or more) before downing.

Now, because these are two different behaviors (to the dog they're two different behaviors even though they both result in the dog laying on the ground), I teach them separately and with DIFFERENT COMMANDS. The down from the sit is simply "down", the down from a stand is "platz". I highly recommend that you use a different command for the down from a stand. If you don't, at least you should consider that the dog truly doesn't understand down from a stand until it's explained to him. Sitting often becomes part of the cue for a down for many dogs, and when the sit is taken out of the equation the entire exercise needs to be trained just like the dog had never learned a down at all.

Because I like the fast, backwards-folding down (it's a great emergency down) I tend to teach that first. I actually teach stand and down long before I teach sit to my dogs. 

Melanie and the gang in Alaska


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## LHunter82FXRS (Oct 20, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: IliamnasQuest......
> If you look at how a dog lays down from a sit, and how they lay down from a stand, it can be quite different (and I purposefully train it so that it's different). For my dogs, laying down from a sit means that they walk their front legs out to lay down and often curl onto one hip. This is the down I use when I want them to lay down and stay.
> 
> The down from a stand, for my dogs, is that they fold backwards and go down into a "spinx" position, square on their bellies. This is the down I use for drops on recall, down in motion, utility down (for the third level of AKC competition obedience). Because they have to fold backwards, it's an excellent way to use for the moving drops because they HAVE to stop their forward motion in order to fold backwards. On the first down, because the front legs continue forward to put them into a down, you often get a dog that goes forward a few steps (or more) before downing.
> ...


Very good point, and I am going to use a different command for down from stand position. I'll keep "down" for down from sit, and I'll start using "drop" for down from stand. Thank you.


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

I use "lay" for the sitting position and now working on "platz" for the standing. I was going to use "down" but I use that words in context for things like "get off the counter, don't jump" etc by saying "down" so to avoid confusion later, I'm using platz.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I would just teach it how we teach puppies: put a treat in your fist and hold your fist on the ground. Eventually the dog will trying lying down and immediately open your fist. I don't think they usually sit first for this, often they will sniff and paw at the treat, maybe swing back and forth, and finally try lying down.


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## Ucdcrush (Mar 22, 2004)

In my group obedience class, we trained this by starting the dog from walking, then lured them to the ground. They seem less inclined to sit first since they are already moving, and the fastest way to the hotdog is straight down..


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## Zisso (Mar 20, 2009)

How would you teach down froma stand without a treat? Z cannot have treats ATM due to getting his IBD under control so everything we do is treatless.


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## Ucdcrush (Mar 22, 2004)

Can't you just give him some of his kibble when he goes down?

Or if you dont want to give him any food, you can excite him by making him want to bite a toy, and lure him down with the toy and reward him by letting him get it.


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## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

Like Ucdrush said, if you want to use kibble turn meal times into training time







then let him finish his meal from his bowl.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: ZissoHow would you teach down froma stand without a treat? Z cannot have treats ATM due to getting his IBD under control so everything we do is treatless.


If he knows it in other contexts, maybe hold up his toy reward and wait for him to offer it.


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## Zisso (Mar 20, 2009)

Holding his tug up and waiting for him to offer a down doesn't work. First he sits, then he jumps for it. However, this morning, I did try to use his tug between his front feet with a seperate command(platz) and it worked! We did it 5-6 times and then worked on other stuff, like heel, getting him in the correct position, etc. Thanks for all the advice!!


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## bergwanderkennels (Mar 26, 2009)

> Quote:In my group obedience class, we trained this by starting the dog from walking, then lured them to the ground. They seem less inclined to sit first since they are already moving, and the fastest way to the hotdog is straight down..


This is easy to use either food reward or toys reward for this method. This is the way I also teach it.


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