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Teaching the
Down
As soon as your puppy has mastered the sit and stay, you are ready
to start on the
down. If you haven't quite got the hang of it yet, please re-read
those two pages
and get the puppy steady on those first.
With the puppy in the "sit" position, next to you and on your left
side, show him
the treat....about his eye level, use the command "Down" and then
letting his nose
follow the treat, lower your hand towards the floor and the puppy's
toes. He
should follow the treat to the floor, at least, that's the idea!
Common handler
mistakes are: lowering the treat too fast and lowering, but holding
the treat too
far in front of the pup, causing him to get up and go towards it.
Sometimes you have to put your free hand on his rump ( if you have a
"popper-upper") or give a gentle pressure downward at the shoulder
to get them
started. If he's still not getting the idea, you can use your free
hand to "walk" his
front feet out until he gets the idea. As soon as he is down, give
him the treat
and praise, praise, Praise! Remember to get in the habit of only
saying the
command "Down" once don't be a broken record.
After your pup is consistently going to the down position, you can
practice the
Down/Stay all you have to do is use the same formula as you
used for the
Sit/Stay.
-Home-
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