Down help please

blond1

blond1

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My labx is now 5 months old. He goes to dog training classes with me and is coming on well.

When I ask him to 'lie down' I hold my hand in a fist on the floor and he will lie down straight away. But, he only seems to recognize the hand signal and not the words though. He will sit, wait and recall from a verbal ask so I know he can recognize some words. When I ask him to 'lie down' without the hand signal he just looks at me :confused:

The trainer at his classes has just said to keep trying but I wondered if anyone has any hints or tips other than just repeating the command/action and hope he links the words to the action eventually. As he is still a baby we only do a few minutes of 'trick training' two or three times a day and he does get a tiny treat each time he gets it right. Thanks for any help.
 
Just a suggestion, maybe try a one word command, either lie or down, rather than both.

All other commands are single: Sit, stay, come, etc..... He might find it easier with one word.
 
Hmmm.
I would just try to phase out the hand signal after a period of using the signal along with very clear verbal commands. But I'm no expert!

My 10 month old puppy sometimes decides she doesnt know what 'stay' means, but she will respect the hand signals. She is a clever little sod and just takes the mick!

My mum asked me why I was bothered about B knowing hand signals and I really dont know why I am?? Suppose it saves my voice :p
 
We started off saying "down" and then a blast of the whistle and then keep repeating/reinforcing it. As they move further away from us the the whistle became the main command as the noise travels further and it sounds the same whoever uses it.

The only hand signal as such that we use is the arm straight up in the air, but again really to reinfoce the whistle. If they are being a bit slow, or lazy about dropping I generally push them down into position, gently but firmly, this is because we want the drop to be a really fast response, once they are released from the drop obviously they get lots of praise and play!

Try getting him to drop before you give him his food, I bet he'd pick up the voice command swiftly then!!!!;)
 
I would pull out my clicker.

Click the dog every time it lays down randomly. Don't ask for it just click when the dg lies down during the day and throw a treat.

Then after maybe 10 times i would add "down" to it.
 
Agree totally on dropping the 'lie' - in fact, you could even start from scratch and try 'drop' 'floor' or 'platz' - we use the latter, it sounds cool :p also...what do you say when you want the dog to get off the furniture/bed/out of the boot of the car, out of interest?
 
Poppy struggled with "down" too - all her other commands were really good, but she would only lie down with a hand signal. One day, it just seemed to click, and now she does a perfect "down" on a voice command. She was about 8 months at the time.

Not much help, but your dog might be the same :)
 
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