Just a Spoonful of Treats Makes the Puppy Go Down (How To: Down)

One of the most important commands I have learned is Down.  It is convenient and comfortable, and it can often serve as a safety net and control mechanism and can come in handy in an emergency.

Down as I watch Mom: I love my job!

Why should a Service Dog learn Down?  Easy: any dog should learn Down!  That's why it appears as one of the test items on the CGC. It's like going through elementary school for humans--it should be part of every dog's basic education.  Particularly for Service Dogs, it serves as one of the top vital commands that any SD should know (check out this article: http://www.anythingpawsable.com/vital-public-access-skills/#.VVDdL2Y5vV0) because it acts as a gateway to other commands (e.g. Under) and is part of an SD's daily routine in the public sphere (e.g. Down-Stay while waiting in a line).

Down was hard for me to understand at first, and then after I understood what Mom wanted from me, I confused Down with Sit and would do them interchangeably.  Now I do both as though I had been born knowing how to listen to Mom!  Here's how Mom taught me Down:

1)   Mom had me Sit since I already knew how.  Then she put a treat in her fingers and guided my nose to the ground.  I didn’t really understand what she wanted at first, so I tried to figure it out—I stood, I liked, I even did a Leave It, but nothing seemed to work.  Finally, I laid my entire body on the ground, and immediately I got the treat!  That definitely made me want to do that again.

2)   Mom repeated the same exercise, and each time, I learned faster what she wanted.  As she was doing this, she started pairing the action with its command, “Down.”

3)   Soon she held the treat in her left hand and made a downward motion with a flat palm while saying “Down.”  I quickly understood that her hand signal meant the same thing as the command and the treat lure.

Now I Down like a pro!  I’ve even learned that when I’m wearing my vest, it’s best to Down if Mom stops for more than a few seconds—it usually means we’re in line somewhere or another situation where she needs to stay in one place for a while.  Mom didn’t even have to teach me this—I just picked it up naturally.  But I think it shows how useful Down can be and how active a role it plays in a Service Dog’s life.

Cheers,

Kelsie Iris 

Check out these posts of mine:
SD team etiquette -- http://kelsieiris.blogspot.com/2015/04/dos-and-donts-of-encountering-service.html
Confused?  Here are some terms and abbreviations -- http://kelsieiris.blogspot.com/2015/04/as-abbreviations.html