When to Start Training the Down/Stay
Before getting into the specifics of training the down/stay, I want to discuss how teaching this skill fits in with teaching the other skills related to the down.
For the most part, this course has a very definite order for teaching the various behaviors. Many behaviors have other behaviors as prerequisites. However, there are times when the order that I teach is different depending on the strengths and weaknesses of a particular dog or puppy. When you begin teaching the down/stay is one of those times that order may vary.
We recommend teaching the down/stay whenever a puppy will offer a momentary glance of eye contact before they get up from the down. This momentary staying in the down with eye contact could come at any stage of training the puppy to down. Some puppies pop up quickly after every reward when learning the mechanics of getting into a down. Others will tend to linger longer in the down positionIt could happen while the puppy is being lured into a down. This pausing in the down with eye contact could happen while the trainer is pointing for the down or when the puppy is almost completely trained to go into a down with a verbal command only. Sometimes, for it doesn’t happen at all.
If your puppy hasn’t offered to stay in a down, read the next chapter on fading the lure for the down and work on fading the lure until your puppy offers to stay in a down. Then you will work on training the down/stay and fading the lure at the same time.
For the most part, more active puppies will tend to pop up over and over again. They don’t offer to stay down without more work from the trainer. Therefore, I work more heavily on teaching them the mechanics of getting into the down sooner. These puppies will be slower in learning to stay in the down, but quicker in learning to get in the down.
On the other hand, other puppies will offer to work on the stay portion of the exercises sooner. These puppies will find it easier to be rewarded over and over again for just staying still than to do the work of learning how to get their bodies into a down. These puppies will tend to be slower in learning the mechanics of getting into the down, but faster at learning to stay in the down.
As a trainer, it is always easier to work with whatever your puppy is offering. You’ll want to train both behaviors: getting into the down and staying there. Make it easier on the puppy and on yourself by focusing on what the puppy offers first.
You will see in the videos that there is considerable overlap between teaching the two behaviors. Once you begin teaching the stay portion of the exercise, continue marking and rewarding until the puppy gets up. When your puppy gets up, you’ll work on training the mechanics of getting into a down. Practice getting them into the down at whatever stage they have been working. Then once down, you’ll shift your training back to practicing the down/stay.
As long as the puppy is giving eye contact, practice it over and over. When the puppy gets up, don’t worry about it. Puppies at this stage need practice in both staying in the down and in getting into the down. When the puppy gets up, it’s your opportunity to have them practice getting into a down.
At some point, all puppies will learn both skills: getting into the down and staying in the down. The order you teach it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you follow the steps in order for the mechanics of getting in the down and you follow the steps in correct order for staying in the down. How you mingle the two behaviors and how they overlap with each other doesn’t matter.
How to Teach the Down/Stay
While working on teaching your puppy to get himself into a down, your puppy might at some point look up at you for a very brief moment while remaining in the down position. Capture that moment by marking and rewarding it. You have to be vigilant about noticing these moments and quick to react to them. Otherwise, you will miss them.
Most puppies will tend to get up at the same time that they look up. You don’t want to reward this. You must be on the look out for that moment when your puppy happens to look up while not getting up. The moment will likely be brief, (less than a half second). Therefore, you must time saying your marker word so that the word comes out while the puppy is giving eye contact and before he gets up. Then, you must get the food to the puppy as quickly as possible. It is best if the food can come before the puppy gets up, but it is not necessary. What is necessary is that the mark comes before the puppy gets up.
If your puppy gets up right after the mark, but before you deliver the food to him, give the puppy his food anyway. He has earned it with the momentary glance up at you while in the down position. As you are giving the food to the puppy, use reward placement to encourage the puppy to get back into the down position. If he does, great. You will have built a little muscle memory toward staying in the down the next time. If he doesn’t go back down quickly and easily, give the puppy his food anyway while he is in whatever position he’s in. Reward placement is a bonus. It is not necessary for good training.
If your puppy does not offer to give that momentary glance while remaining in a down, you can continue working through the steps for getting into the down and hope that at some point, he will offer that momentary glance or you can use what I call “rapid rewards” to hasten the process.
Rapid rewards is a process by which we pull treats out of our treat pouch with one hand while rewarding the dog with the other as fast as we can. During rapid rewards, the primary reward comes so quickly after the marker that it appears as if the marker and the reward are simultaneous. While rapid rewards are being used, the marker is not building value because there is little to no pause between the marker and the food reward. Therefore, we only use rapid rewards when the value of creating a new and better habit is more important than the temporary delay in building value into the marker. Examples of new habits that rapid rewards can create are staying still, not popping up from a down/stay, and maintaining eye contact during the first step at heel .
I like to use the rapid reward process for the down/stay at the very earliest after the puppy is proficient at getting into a down with a lure. More often, I wait until I’ve trained the puppy to go down with just a point. It depends on the puppy and how determined the puppy seems to be at popping back up out of the down as soon as he gets his reward. I will wait longer with those puppies that have harder times staying down. I use the rapid rewards technique when I think that it is unlikely for a particular puppy to offer to stay in a down and give eye contact at the same time on his own.
When using the rapid rewards technique with many puppies, I reduce criteria for the mark and reward. I don’t wait for the puppy to offer eye contact in a down. Instead, I mark initially for simply staying in the down regardless of where the puppy is looking. Then I begin marking and rewarding over and over again as fast as I can get food out of my food pouch and for as long as the puppy will stay in a down.
During the rapid reward process, I don’t worry about the marker coming prior to the reward. The reward must come fast or these puppies will pop up. My goal is to develop a habit of staying in the down without the popping up.
As I reward with one hand, I am pulling treats from my pouch with the other. Then I mark and give the puppy the treats from the second hand as I begin pulling treats out of my pouch again with the original treat. You must reward quickly for your puppy to stay down.
If your puppy gets up, either lure or point for him to get down again depending on the stage of training you are at. When he goes down again, try the rapid reward process again.
For some puppies with exceptionally strong instincts to pop up, I will bend forward at my back so that I am closer to the puppy and can therefore get the treats to him faster and before he tries to stand up.
If you can get the puppy to stay down for 7 or 8 rewards without getting up, he will start getting the idea that the treats will continue coming as long as he is staying down. Once the puppy understands the game, you can gradually slow down your reward rate and begin pausing briefly after the marker before giving the food. By this point, most puppies are giving eye contact in between rewards. If not, it’s time to wait for eye contact before marking.
Where to Find Demonstration
The skills described in this lesson are first demonstrated in our Day 2 Video.
