New Owners-The Easy Way To Train The "down" Command

[Guest CleverJason]

For the new grey lovers out there, I thought I'd share the method I used to teach Baron to lay down. I tried several others until I stumbled on this one and realized how stupidly easy it was because it takes advantage of a greyhounds natural laziness. You can get through the entire process in a day.

 

Step 1-Greyhounds lay down often. Every time your greyhound lays down, give it a treat.

Step 2-From a standing position, show your greyhound a treat. Let him sniff it. Wait for him (or her) to lay down, then reward. Repeat.

Step 3-Your greyhound is starting to understand that when you have a treat, it needs to lay down to get the treat. Begin giving it the verbal command and gesture you plan to use, then show it the treat, then reward when the grey lays down. Repeat.

Step 4-Without showing it the treat, give it the gesture and verbal command. Reward when it lays down. Repeat and reinforce.

 

That's all there is to it. Baron learned in just a few short hours. I highly recommend this being the first thing you teach your new grey to do.

[robinw]

Great! I will try that with my guys.

[scullysmum]

That's the easy one....now teach him "sit"

[lothianjavert]

Sit was the first one that Rook learned. I noticed that he would occasionally sit on his own so I kept some treats in my pocket and gave him the treat and said "sit" each time. It didn't take long for him to figure it out. Now he offers it for everything, especially if he wants something like a walk, treat or dinner he'll come over to you and sit. If you don't get the idea, he runs to what he wants and then comes back over and sits in front of you.

[ramonaghan]

Sit was the first one that Rook learned. I noticed that he would occasionally sit on his own so I kept some treats in my pocket and gave him the treat and said "sit" each time. It didn't take long for him to figure it out. Now he offers it for everything, especially if he wants something like a walk, treat or dinner he'll come over to you and sit. If you don't get the idea, he runs to what he wants and then comes back over and sits in front of you.

 

I taught Sweep using this method, and she is the same way! She is a sittin' fool when she wants something.

[Sambuca]

That's how I taught Sailor. I used a clicker. I also taught sit the same way. As his butt touched the ground as he was going to lie down, I'd click and he's stop and wait in that position for his treat.

 

For Bu, I taught bow first. Any time he'd stretch, I'd click and treat. Once he knew that, I got him to hold it and drop his butt.

[Guest D_MansMommy]

that's how i taught Donovan. i think i read that method in "Greyhounds for Dummies" many years ago. i also taught him to roach on command the same way. when he roached, i said where's your belly and kissed his belly <3 he learned it quickly. that trick was a crowd pleaser at meet n greets

[Guest Jesse12789]

hey guys im jesse you might have seen me on face book. my lovely handsome guy is bossman... any ways this is a great technique im going to be trying this for sure.

[Guest alicefish]

I'm trying to teach my new greyhound "down". But I have a question about Step 2-"From a standing position, show your greyhound a treat. Let him sniff it. Wait for him (or her) to lay down, then reward. Repeat."

If my greyhound knows I'm holding a treat, I don't think he's going to leave me alone/go lay down until he gets it!

 

Thoughts?

[philospher77]

Alicefish- don't rush step one. Dogs are smart, but it can take greyhounds a bit to realize that they can influence what you do. Once your dog realizes that his/her actions can make you do things (i.e.: reward him/her), the speed at which you can train will dramatically increase. And your dog will start voluntarily doing behaviors to see what will make you react, which is a lot of fun to work with.

 

I would suggest adding a marker of some sort in step 1. So instead of just treating, do a "yes!" and treat. Dog learns that "yes!" means good things happens, and then you can use that marker with other things that you want to reinforce (walking well on leash, greeting politely, sitting, balancing treats on nose, whatever you set your mind to).

[Sambuca]

Yup. Go back to step 1. Add a command. As he's laying down, say "down". You will need to do that over and over and over!

[Guest justbasil]

Thank you for these instructions and additional tips. I have been trying to teach down to my new grey, Basil. As you said, he lies down readily, but he currently does not seem super food motivated (to be fair, I have only tried his kibble and milkbones, but neither are that enticing to him). Instead of treating him, I have been praising him with a "yes" or a "good boy" and then giving him a quick rub whenever he lies down on his own. But is that the best way to go about it? Should I be using more high value treats (if so, any recommendations)? Is there something else I am completely overlooking? Thank you!

[philospher77]

High-value treats tend to equal people food. String cheese, bits of chicken, bits of hot dogs, that sort of thing. I have very food-motivated dogs, and they will work for kibble in the house and yard and relatively familiar areas, but I up the value in new distracting ones.

[Guest CleverJason]

Thank you for these instructions and additional tips. I have been trying to teach down to my new grey, Basil. As you said, he lies down readily, but he currently does not seem super food motivated (to be fair, I have only tried his kibble and milkbones, but neither are that enticing to him). Instead of treating him, I have been praising him with a "yes" or a "good boy" and then giving him a quick rub whenever he lies down on his own. But is that the best way to go about it? Should I be using more high value treats (if so, any recommendations)? Is there something else I am completely overlooking? Thank you!

How new is Basil? I was at my wit's end with Baron after the first week when he didn't seem interested in anything I gave him as a reward, but it turns out that he just hadn't learned to trust me yet. You might try higher-value treats, but you may also just have to wait a while. Baron will twist himself in half to get the same treats that he wouldn't even sniff when he first came home.

[Guest justbasil]

How new is Basil? I was at my wit's end with Baron after the first week when he didn't seem interested in anything I gave him as a reward, but it turns out that he just hadn't learned to trust me yet. You might try higher-value treats, but you may also just have to wait a while. Baron will twist himself in half to get the same treats that he wouldn't even sniff when he first came home.

Ah, this is great to hear. I brought Basil home on Friday, so quite new, I should say! I was wondering if it might be too soon to try to teach him anything, and I think it probably is. Thanks for your insight!

[silverfish]

That's the easy one....now teach him "sit"

 

 

'Lay down' is the first thing I teach my new hounds, using this method. I believe it's called 'capturing the behaviour'. You can use it for anything that they do naturally - I've taught all of mine to bark on command using it, too, and also 'quiet', though that is harder for them. You can also teach 'wait' by capturing the behaviour, naming what they're doing and rewarding it.

 

I'm trying to teach my new greyhound "down". But I have a question about Step 2-"From a standing position, show your greyhound a treat. Let him sniff it. Wait for him (or her) to lay down, then reward. Repeat."

If my greyhound knows I'm holding a treat, I don't think he's going to leave me alone/go lay down until he gets it!

 

Thoughts?

 

None of mine would lay down if you were holding a treat, either. I just carried on capturing and naming and rewarding until I thought they'd made the connection, and then I'd name the behaviour as they were thinking about doing it. If they carried on and did the lay, down (or whatever) they got the treat, if they didn't, no treat. Might take a bit longer than a few hours, but what's the hurry?

Edited June 2, 2014 by silverfish