Can't teach lay down!

[LuptoLego]

I have a 6 month old puppy who is very intelligent. He loves to learn and I can normally teach him something really easily. I've taught him quite a few tricks now but for some reason I can't get him to lie down. He just doesn't seem to get it! I've just taught him to stand up on his back legs and wave, so I don't know why he can do more complicated things but not lie down!

Has anyone got any ideas please? I don't use a clicker.

Can he sit on command?

Get him to go down from there by moving the treat from his nose down to the floor. Say the command word. Click/Give treat. Repeat.

www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/dogs/training/liedown

This is going to be hard to explain but I'll try as it worked brilliantly with both of mine.
Sit on the floor with your legs slightly apart and one of your knees bent so it is off the floor (but your foot isn't). Have your dog sat/stood on the same side as your bent leg, but not in between your legs iyswim.
Then with your opposite arm to your bent leg, hold a small treat under your bent knee so it is close to the dog, as you say your command word e.g LIE slowly pull the treat away from the dog. Your dog should aim to try and get under your knee which on turn forces them to nearly lie down.
Keep repeating this until they have learnt, it didn't take long for either of mine!

Get a sit. Lead on dog. Hold lead so dog can't go forward. Lower treat to floor. Will make front legs move forwards and you can entice a down.
Also works to say the word and treat when they are doing the behaviour already. That's how I ended up training my girl to wee on command!

I've also been unable to teach my dog to lie down, I tried the method in the RSPCA link above but it just doesn't work for my pup!
I'm going to try flowerpat's suggestion.

I've been trying the way in the RSPCA link too. He does lower his front but sticks his bum in the air! Will try it on a lead though and see if that helps.

Flower I think I know what you mean. I will give that a try too.

Thanks everyone. I will try again later on today and let you know how he gets on.

Let me know how it goes missy

Are you clicker training? That makes things 100x easier.

I used to be a dog trainer and I have always used the above method that flowerpat had suggested. As soon as they hit the floor, click and treat. They soon get it.

I don't use a clicker. I've heard loads of good things about them though. Would it confuse him to start using one now though?

A clicker makes it easy. The instant he lies down you click, then give him a treat. So funny to watch dog's expression, trying to work out what the hell he did to deserve that . Amazing how quickly they pick things up.
Lots of info online if you google clicker training.

I really like this method - it's less about luring and more about the dog having to figure things out for himself.

Good luck, OP.

"Would it confuse him to start using one now though?"

No, not at all - you can introduce a clicker anytime.

You can also just use whatever you do use as your marker, yes, good boy - whatever it is you currently say when he does what you want, it's not as precise as a clicker, but it's the same idea.

It won't confuse him unless you do it wrong. Watch lots of tutorials and read up on it first. Go to a class if you can. Once you know the basics, it's a much easier and positive way of dog training and you can teach all sorts.

It's fine to introduce a clicker now. You want to use the clicker to mark when he gets part way towards what you want as well. So if he comes down at the front, that's good as an intermediate step. Here's an example of a dog who doesn't immediately get the lie down thing:

(You can skip the start of the video)

I've had the same problem but realised it was more the 'down' word association that was the issue. Excitable friendly dog that is too jumpy at times, so he got told to 'get down' often - it's too close to the 'lie down' command and poor dog just looks confused by it all.
Now he's made progress using the 'flat' command, you could try changing the word, hope that helps.

Lay out a blanket to lay on as dogs will usually gravitate to them. Then say 'lay' when she does and treat accordingly. It would be much easier with a clicker though.

Look at YouTube and 'How to train your human' - she explains it very clearly. She also introduced clicker training late I believe.

The only thing I would say with clicker training is you need to be precise otherwise the dog can think you're praising something else.

When we brought our 4 month old rescue puppy home - I clicker trained her sit and lay down in the first day. She learned other commands since then Also taught a 3 year old rescue how to lay down, off and started on wait in the week we had her. I've never done it before then, just watched her videos. I don't do it silently though - I use voice and hand signals.

Roll over is defeating us at the moment though

Good luck!

We were at a game fair last year with dog aged 6 months. We spent a good hour watching a dog trainer go through basic training techniques. DS taught dog to lie down while watching the trainer. The secret is to train from sitting position. Put treat to dogs nose and move straight down to the floor. As the dog reaches down position say 'down' and reward as you say it. They don't take long to associate position with command but you have to reward and give command as they reach position not before or after until they have learnt the command.
You can also teach the down to sit and sit to stand this way. To teach stand you put the treat to their nose and move it horizontally away, again only give the command and treat when they reach the stand position.
It's quite difficult to time the command at first but you might as well be asking them to make a cup of tea if you say the command before they reach position until they have associated the command and position.