How To Teach A Dog To Lay Down : Step Two

When doing basic obedience or teaching your dog to lay down on command it is important to remove the lure as soon as possible. You do not want your dog to get overly dependent on treats. Once your dog is following the treat, after about 6-12 times, you want to put treats away and have him follow your empty hand.

You also need to start generalizing “Down” in new locations and times of day. This way your dog will learn that “down” means “down” anyplace anywhere! Dogs can’t generalize, this means that every new place and time means new rules and new experience. Anything that he learned, might not be recognized in the new place. Each dog is different and can pick this up faster than others.