How To Teach "lay Down"

[Guest Shermanator]

I am trying to teach Chase "lay down". He is too obsessed with the treats in my hand. I tried pushing down on his butt... Fail. Everything else I try... Fail. He is too obsessed with treats. How do I teach him?

[Neighsayer]

Does he sit? It's easier to teach down from a sit. Treat in front of his nose in your fist. Down and forward a bit, so he isn't looking between his legs. Stay out of the way so he has room for his front legs. Good luck!

Edited December 25, 2014 by Neighsayer

[Guest Shermanator]

Nope, he doesn't sit. He's still learning the ropes here, he's been home a week.

[Guest normaandburrell]

We took Iceman to obedience classes. They talk us how to tuck him into a sit. Basically you slide your hand down his back and over his haunches until you are pressing very gently on the back of his legs between the tail and the hocks. At the same time your other arm is in front of his chest to prevent him from moving forward. From the sit it is very easy to teach down, as greys don't like to sit. Just say down and move the treat down so that he has to lie down to get it.

That said, he is adjusting to a lot if he has only been with you a week. Why not wait to teach the sit? It is not natural for greys, and I think stresses them somewhat when they first learn it. Congratulations on your new hound!

[cleptogrey]

you can try this, sit down on the edge of a kitchen chair- sit at the very very edge and let your legs make a 90degree angle.

have your treat in your left hand- the dog will be near your right hand(i'll let you figure how to get your dog there on your own).

scoot the treat under your legs from the left and bring attention to your dog so he will go for the treat. let him eat it while you are twisted, bent over and the arm is under your bent legs(thighs).

once he becomes comfortable taking the treat from this awkward position start to move your hand w/ treat under your legs. essentially you have created a tunnel that your dog will eventually crawl under. this will not happen in one session, it can take as long as a week or more.

when he is under your legs(sometime next week) use the word down and keep the treat on the floor and let him nimble it. and say good down- repeat a couple of times.

at this point you should be able to just bing your hand under your legs and say down and the pup should go for the treat and lie down and eat it.

teach him to crawl through the space under your lap.

eventually just hold the treat to the floor- no sitting on a chair and use the word down.

remember Rome wasn't built in a day and do this using your left or right hand- stand up and spread your legs apart, bend over and hold the treat to the floor- he should down in-between your legs while standing as well. and remember TO HAVE FUN and use a high quality treat- dehydrated liver or cheddar cheese- something special for this activity and only this activity.

 

after writing all of this i remembered this http://neversaynevergreyhounds.blogspot.com/2009/07/greyhound-downs-101.html

 

i find a chair easier-

Edited December 25, 2014 by cleptogrey

[Batmom]

Put the treats in an easy-to-access pocket or bait bag. Now there's nothing in your hands to obsess about .

 

The easiest way is to wait until the dog is starting to lie down on his own, say your instruction/command ("liiiiiiiie down" is ours), "Good dog!" and treat when the dog is all the way down. You can get the treat out of your pocket while voicing "Good dog!"

 

The second easiest way I know is to get down on the floor and be a turtle -- all curled up and as flat as you can get. I sit down with my lower legs underneath me and then bend at the waist so shoulders @ knees, arms and face on the floor. In this case I usually have the treat in my hand and tuck that hand under my stomach. Now you wait. Pretty soon the dog will lie down to get closer to you. Same as before -- "Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie down" when dog is about to do it on his own, "Good dog!" and treat when the dog is all the way down. CAUTION: Not a method to try with large and rambunctious dogs who might pounce on your head. Unless you have a good helmet with face guard to wear, too .

[Guest Shermanator]

Tried the whole tunnel thing this morning. .. major fail. He kept reaching over me

I'll try curling up on the floor with him later... that would be funny video. Ha ha ha!

Thanks for all the tips!

[Batmom]

Sometimes it helps to do some other training things for 3-4 minutes first, so the dog knows you're asking him to do stuff and he will get treats. Then he is likely to be more curious and to try stuff to see if he can get another treat out of you. For example, you could start training him to shake hands (fun and easy), do a couple rounds of that, then crouch down on the floor.

[cleptogrey]

it took annie quite a few tries to do the tunnel thing. she was pretty spooky when she first arrived. success is getting them to take the morsel/treat from your hand under your leg and for annie it was getting her near me- that's how timid she initially was. baby steps- it sounds like your going to get some exercise and stretching in yourself- have fun.

[NeedlenoseJake]

We had the same issue with Jake. The trainer at obedience class couldn't even get him to lay down. We tried the tunnel, pushing, begging... What finally worked was that I put a treat in my hand and sat in front of his bed. He stood in front of me on the bed and tried everything he could think of to get the treat. Finally, after about 15 minutes, he got bored and laid down- "yay! good boy!" and treat. The next time it took only 10 minutes, then 5.... you get the idea. He will still only lay down with treats and only on his bed, but we haven't really tried further training. Good luck!

[Guest normaandburrell]

 

 

Finally, after about 15 minutes, he got bored and laid down- "yay! good boy!" and treat. The next time it took only 10 minutes, then 5.

Typical greyound behavior!

[cleptogrey]

in obedience classes the trainer/owner used the "magic carpet" technique with the greyhounds and IGs. she was hysterical running around grabbing the rubber backed bathmats we brought to class when she called a sit or down.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

I do the lazy way of training lie down, you wait until the hound is starting to naturally lay down, then issue the command as soon as his front touches the floor/bed. Do this for a week or so and they will learn. Down has always been the easiest to teach all of my hounds and the fosters. Sit tends to be more of a challenge, unless you have a hound that naturally sits (i have had a few). The toughest thing I have trained any hound is "leave it" with a treat on their paw when they are in the sphinx position. Its tough to teach them self control, but it is possible. Work with your hound every day for a few minutes, they love having a job to do. Since they no longer have the job as professional racer, they need something to do.

[a_daerr]

Try putting the treats in your closed fist, then luring downward, putting your fist on/near the floor. Open your fist and give the treat when he does it right. Sometimes it helps to actually sit on the floor with them.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn_GEhid88Y

[Guest CleverJason]

I just gave my grey a treat every time he laid down for a day or two (he got a LOT of treats). Then he automatically associated the treat with laying down, and voila.

[Guest lunasmom]

Down was the first command I taught Luna. I originally tried sit but she was very resistant to being physically manipulated into a position and luring from a stand wasn't working. For down, I tried the tunnel method but she walked around my leg to the other side instead of trying to go under.

 

What ultimately worked was holding a treat in my closed hand in the floor. She nudged and pawed at my hand a lot before giving up and laying down at which point I gave her the treat. Rinse and repeat. Each repetition she got it a little faster. As she became more reliable I added the verbal cue.

 

Once I found the method that worked for her, she caught on quickly. It also may be helpful to use high value treats in the beginning but most importantly, keep training sessions short and fun and try to end on a positive note

Edited January 7, 2015 by lunasmom