How Do Your Dogs "down"?

[christinepi]

Do they go down front first and then the butt? That's what my grey does, always. And then he always comes back up in the reverse order: butt first, then front. This makes teaching him "sit" harder. Not that I'm particularly concerned about teaching him that. Just curious.

Edited November 18, 2011 by christinepi

[krissy]

Summit usually downs in almost perfect unison. But when he's being lazy he will go into a bow first in order to get a good stretch first and then drop his bum. Getting up is almost exactly in unison. He literally just pops up. Occasionally he'll come up bum first... again in order to stretch. Lazy dog.

[Guest greysmitten]

Mine sits first, then slams her front feet down before settling into a "down".

[tuff]

That's exactly what my boy does. If he knows there is a reeeaally good treat in it for him, front and back will go down almost simultaneously. We haven't moved on to sit yet either.

[Guest greysmitten]

P.S. I taught Azi "sit" before "down". It actually took quite a while to get her to catch on to that one.

[rschultz]

Lexie sits first to the side then slams down too. U can her it Wherever u are in the house..lol.. When she gets back up it's with her front feet first

[maryz]

Front end first, then butt.

[OwnedBySummer]

Down is usually simultaneously but sometimes it's butt first. Up is ALWAYS simultaneous.

[Robin1017]

Robin does "down" like you describe. The trick to teaching him how to sit was to put him into "down" first, then teach him to push up into a sit. We used the "shaping" method where we held a cookie in the air and when he started to push up, we would click the clicker, and eventually he would push all the way up into a sit. Once he had that down, it didn't take him long to figure out how to go straight down into it, as that would save time in receiving cookies!

[cleptogrey]

i teach down by luring them down- head first w/ a morsel of food, then move the food under their head/neck which is down and the rest of the body will follow. for a pup who keeps their tush up i then try it this way. i sit on a chair, the edge of it so my legs are forming a right angle and lure the pup under my legs- into the tunnel. sometimes i make the L shaped tunnel w/ one leg, sometimes 2. they need to creep thru and once they feel comfortable creeping thru i eventually stop when their body is midway, under my legs, and place the food under their chest. they need to down to get it, praise and repeat many times. it may take a while to lure them thru, this isn't a one time shot. eventually they understand it and learn down. hot dog slivers are excellent treats for the hound who need motivation.

[Feisty49]

Annie Bella quickly puts her butt down, in a sideways motion, and then flops. BAM Sounds like an animal twice her size is hitting the floor.

[GeorgeofNE]

I couldn't tell you to save my own life! By the time he actually does it, I'm usually ticked off at how long it takes him to decide he's going to!

 

I shall observe him this evening.

[Mike516]

I'm not sure either, I'll have to make a mental note next time she does it.

 

Some good advice how to teach her down or sit. We're having trouble teaching her sit but want to do both eventually.

 

But speaking of "bowing", we recently turned around a big floor mirror we had in the bedroom that we had turned away so Ginger wouldn't freak out. So, she looks at herself and keeps bowing, front down back up, walks away, comes back and bows again, over and over. What's she doing? Is she mental? It looks like a greeting?

Edited November 18, 2011 by Mike516

[mangos_mom]

Mine all go into a playbow first and then plop their butts down with an audible thunk.

[Jerilyn]

I will have to watch more closely, but Lila's elbows clunk on the floor so I think the rump end goes down first.

 

I agree with Robin1017's suggestion of shaping the sit. It really helped Lila understand that what I wanted was that one fleeting instant when she was in or near a sit when getting up and down.

[Guest mirinaaronsmom]

Miri goes down simultaneously into a sphinx. I taught her to sit from that by raising a treat until she was sitting.

 

Mojo doesn't sphinx - ever. He goes down butt first and then inches both front legs forward until he's down. Then he almost always folds his right front foot underneath his chest. He's so adorable. And always gets up front first. It amazes me how fast he can get up when it takes so long to get down.

[cleptogrey]

the sit sphinx down position is a "clean"down, that's what you generally get in obedience training- and yes, there is daylight under their butt! but quite often the relaxed, on the slide-spralled out down is what one sees in a long down/stay(5 minutes) or at home. the first is when a dog is alert(waiting for a cookie)the other is when my dogs are bored waiting. i see the second at home(before they conk out) or when i stop in a local store and there is carpeting.

Edited November 19, 2011 by cleptogrey