Getting Boxer Pup to lay down?

[StevenHanna]

Our young Boxer puppy is learning certain commands really well & quickly eg sit, stay, paw, high 5... But I'm having problems getting her to lay down.

I've got her into the sit position and have then tried to entice her with a treat to the floor and then sliding my hand out so she has to go forward - but once she starts to slide forward on her front paws, her bum always comes up. She then basically ends up in the standing position. The tutorial I read said that hopefully her bum would then go down as she slid forward.

Any good suggestions on how to stop her from getting up and instead get her to put her bum down and lay down?

Steven

[Noobs]

Try not moving your hand too far forward or not moving it at all. When I taught my dog "down" I kept my hand in position (with the treat as a lure) between his paws, I didn't move my hand back. While he was trying to work out how to get the treat from my closed fist, his bum eventually went down, and at that moment I clicked/treated.

Good luck!

[Fundog]

Yep, like Noobs said, I keep my hand directly under her face, but I keep my fist closed around the treat, and I don't open my hand until she is all the way in the position I'm looking for. She will naturally settle down, all the way on the floor, in order to concentrate on working the treat out of your fist, and that's when the "puzzle" is suddenly, magically, solved!

[StevenHanna]

Thanks folks.
I'll give that a go tonight and see how I get on.

Steven

[dodge-white boxer]

Hey-ho!! If you ll crouch on the floor with one leg further up then the other- hold the treat on the other side of the crouched down leg to go under your leg,lure him to get the treat-as soon(!!!) as he puts his bum down CLICK,our trainer(possitive trainer) tried the "once in a sit move the treat from his nose down to get him to lay down CLICK" tried that one for ages with him/ the under the leg method took him twice to work out -aah,lay down,click,treat,yum! hope that helped,xxxx

[dodge-white boxer]

Her not him,sorry!!

[doxielover]

I tried the lure method and going under the leg method with all my foster dachshunds and it would never work. Not sure if it's their body style, short legs, or whatever. Best method I came up with is to simply wait for the behavior. I don't use a clicker but the word yes. I would patiently wait until they laid down on their own. As soon as they went down, I said yes and gave them the treat (doxies are HIGHLY food motivated!). They all learned quickly what I wanted them to do. Then I started putting the word down with it and the hand signal I wanted to use. Patience is a virtue with this method, but they all know down now! Good luck and have fun with it.

[dodge-white boxer]

boxers wont really have a choice then to put there cute little butt down,a dachshund could probably still walk under your leg anyway,xx

[doxielover]

boxers wont really have a choice then to put there cute little butt down,a dachshund could probably still walk under your leg anyway,xx

Yep! That sure is what happened. And if I put my leg down too much, they would walk over it to get the treat.

[dodge-white boxer]

You could have used that for a different comand,dixielover(like jump ) and hey presto--you ment to do that ,bless!
It should work for you though,steven&hanna (if she goes over your leg teach her jump,too !)

[StevenHanna]

Hi everyone

Thanks for all the great advice & tips. Just to update you....

We purchased a nice crate mat for Poppy on Friday evening, and decided to try her on it on her own outside of the crate. Hey presto - 1st time and down she went! Must be the fact that she likes the comfort of the mat. But can I get her to do it on the floor tiles?? Not a chance. But hey, I won't complain. Even this morning, 6 or 7 times in a row she went into the sit position, then I lured her with the treat and down she went almost immediately. I've also started now to use the "lay down" command as she goes down.

[Leigha]

Bruiser won't lay down outside on the cold concrete--I have to take him to the grass to get him to lay down, otherwise he'll lay down for a millisecond and then pop back up. We had a chihuahua in puppy class who would only lay down on a blanket, never on the floor. I don't think it's that odd.

[Noobs]

Great! Don't use the lure too much - once she gets it, use just the hand without the treat in it since that's going to be your hand gesture for "down" now. Then treat after she does it.

[StevenHanna]

Cool, thanks for that. Hopefully once I have her trained to lay down, she might actually start to do it outside or on the tiled floor! We'll keep our fingers crossed

[Noobs]

Every time you progress to a new spot. Use the lure 5-6 times. Then just the hand gesture giving the treat afterwards. Remember to re-teach every time you move to a new spot. You're doing great! Well done!