Chapter 13. Down

You and your dog are about to play a simple game: Your dog tries to get you to say GOOD or OUT, and you won't say it unless he makes a particular response—the down response, in this particular case.

Begin with Free-response Method

Use the Free-response Method in steps 1 and 2 of down-response training. The method provides an excellent indicator of the dog's willingness to perform, because no urging or assistance is given to get the response. In step 3 of the down exercise, training shifts to the Assisted-response Method—the usual method for training a dog. Both methods are described in Chapter 2.

Training by the Free-Response Method:

• Work the dog off-leash.
• Don't tell the dog what response to make.
• Don't show the dog how to make the response.
• Don't touch the dog, say anything to him (except GOOD or OUT), or try to get his attention in any way.

Free-Response events that typically happen:

1. The dog lies down without being told or helped to make the response (it's one of the things dogs do naturally once in awhile).
2. GOOD or OUT is said at the moment the dog downs (the response is thus reinforced).
3. The dog stands up to reach the rewarding food tidbit (or grand reward). The dog is in position to lie down again.

In short order, you will notice an increase in the frequency of down responding. This happens when you do the following: 1. Consistently say the reinforcing sound, GOOD, when the dog lies down. 2. Give the dog a food-tidbit after each GOOD sound. 3. Deliver a more attractive reward on the last trial of the session—after saying the OUT sound.

Do not correct or aid the dog in any way during this simple training. Just wait for the response to happen, then reinforce and reward.

Cueing the Down response. The dog will not show this increased rate of responding just any old time. He soon learns when it's advantageous for him to respond. You will introduce an action in the setting that will cue (tell) the dog when down responding is rewarded. We've chosen this cue to be "handler sitting on the floor." After several sessions, the dog will attempt to lie down as often as possible when he sees you sitting on the floor during any work session that's preceded by the READY sound.

Why use this cue-event when it has little or no relevance to controlling a dog's behavior in the real world? For two reasons: (1) The "sitting on the floor" cue is easy for you to get the down response under control. (2) The cue is conveniently used as a "prompt" for learning an arm-and-hand signal—one that has some relevance.

You could train the arm-and-hand signal (the relevant signal) directly. But, it's tiring to keep the arm-and-hand signal in place for long periods of time. The "sitting-handler" cue, on the other hand, is effortless and relaxing. It, rather than the arm and hand signal, is maintained in place during the Step 1 sessions.

Step 1. The first two sessions.

To begin, start the down training sessions without the READY sound. Don't let on that you are about to start a training session.

1. Put 4 food tidbits into your left hand.
2. When the dog is in the same room with you, sit on the floor, and make yourself comfortable. Do it without drawing attention to yourself. Quietly wait for the dog to lie down.

If you choose to do Team Training with another person, Team Player 1 says the GOOD and OUT sounds; the other Team Player is the feeder. The feeder can be standing or sitting close by.

During the first session or two, you may experience long waits between down responding, so pick up a book or newspaper and read awhile, or watch television. But keep a close eye on the dog.

3. When all of the dog's elbows touch the floor in a down position, say GOOD.
4. Then, and only then, take one food tidbit from your left hand. Hold the food away from the dog so that he has to rise to get it.
5. After you reward the dog, immediately sit back and resume your normal activities. Wait for the next down response to happen, ...etc.
6. Continue the session until all tidbits are gone. Then, wait for the last response.
7. Say OUT at the moment the dog downs. Then get up and go to the place where you keep the Grand Reward. Reward the dog.

Go to Step 2 when the response rate increases. Put the book down; stop watching television. Look at your dog. Now remain still between trials.

Step 2. Increase the rate of responding.

The call-to-work and session preparation

1. Begin the session with the READY sound. The dog should come running to you.
2. Put 10 food tidbits in your left hand. Also, have the Grand reward available nearby, but out of the dog's reach.

Perform Stand-stay trials

3. Do a Stand-stay trial (see Stand-stay training in Chapter 6). Stand and face the dog for several seconds.
4. When the dog is standing and looking up at you, say GOOD. Then deliver a food tidbit.

If the dog sits or lies down during the wait period, gently lift the dog back up on his feet; wait two more seconds while holding him up, then say GOOD and reward the dog.

5. Do one more Stand-stay trial.

Introduce simple discrimination training

6. After you reward the dog on the Stand-stay trial, sit on the floor and make yourself comfortable. Close both hands and hold them still at midriff. Remain still while waiting for the response. For the rest of the session, reinforce only down responses, whenever they happen. After the dog hears the GOOD sound, he can immediately break from the response and go to pick up the food reward.
7. On the last trial, reinforce the down response with the OUT sound. Then rise and deliver the Grand reward.

Discussion

All that you get from the dog up to this point is a simple down, not a down-stay. The down-stay training is introduced in Step 6.

You will know that the sounds GOOD and OUT are working as reinforcers when the down response begins to happen increasingly more often. After a few training sessions, be prepared to see your dog make 10 down/rise responses in about 25 seconds, provided that you can keep up with the dog. This high rate of responding will have come about without assisting the dog in any way.

This is a simple procedure. Perform it precisely as described. Don't try to get the dog to lie down with a command or hand signal in these first two training steps, even if your dog knows the command or signal from previous training. Your primary concern at this early stage is for the dog to learn a new strategy for turning on reinforcers and rewards—he does that with the present method. Also, do not say the dog's name, or get him to down-stay, or help him to make the response. Just wait for the simple down response to happen, then reinforce and reward.

The cue that stays "on" during the down trials, i.e., "handler sitting on floor," also helps the dog to distinguish readily between a down-training session and any other training that's currently being done. That is, you'll sit when doing the down-training (but only for the first several down training steps), and stand when working on something else. Your sit-posture cue is used only until the down response comes under reliable arm-and-hand signal or command control. Signal control happens in Step 4 of down training; The sit-posture cue is totally absent when working on command control (this happens in Step 5). It is then that down training is done when you remain in the up stance.

Continue doing, both, Stand-stay trials and down trials in the same training sessions. When you are standing, the dog will stay standing and be looking at you; When you're sitting, he will lie down, whenever he can. Do one session of Step 2 training daily for the next two weeks—you thereby will increase and stabilize a high rate of down responding during this period. Your dog will enjoy playing this simple "game." For the next two weeks, you can also be doing other kinds of training.

Finish with Assisted-response

Step 3. Introduce the arm and hand signal

After you get a high stable rate of down responding for a week or more, switch to the Assisted-response Method of Training. The Method is described in Chapter 2. By this Method, you first "tell" the dog to do something, then help the dog to make the response (prompting).

In the present training step, you will tell the dog to down with a new arm-and-hand signal (see The Arm-and-hand signal, next). Follow the signal closely with the "sit pose." Since the dog is responding strongly whenever you sit on the floor during a training session, the "sitting" cue makes a powerful prompt for learning the arm and hand signal. By pairing the new signal with the "sitting" cue, trial after trial, the dog will soon begin to respond to the arm-and-hand signal, when the signal is given alone. In this, as with other training procedures in this course, the dog is permitted not to work if he so wishes, without penalty.

The Arm-and-hand signal. To make the signal for down, raise your right hand as you would in taking an oath. The arm-and-hand signal must be started before the "sitting" cue-prompt, but can briefly overlap it.

1. Begin the session with the READY sound. The dog should come running.
2. Put 10 tidbits in your left hand. Also, have the grand reward ready, but out of the dog's reach.
3. Do two Stand-stay Trials, as in Step 2.
4. If the dog tries to lie down while you're standing, and before you deliver the arm-and-hand signal, ease the dog back into a stand-stay before continuing.

This is a good exercise for Team Training. The other Team Player can position herself near the rear of the dog so that she can easily prevent the dog from downing, when required. If you don't have others to assist you, put the dog on a loose lead. Face the dog as you normally would. If the dog tries to lie down, take a step back and pull the dog gently toward you. This prevents the dog from downing before he should.

5. On the third trial, stand and face the dog for a second or two. Then deliver the arm-and-hand signal.
6. Wait another second, then sit on the floor (or low stool). End the arm-and-hand signal when seated.
7. When the dog goes down, say GOOD.
8. Hold the food away, so that the dog has to get up for it.
9. Remain seated for the remaining trials of the session.

In this step, the down response is reinforced whenever the dog downs in the presence of either of the "handler sitting" cue or the brief Arm-and-hand signal. The dog may begin to respond to the "hand raising" signal, at this step, but it's not likely. The next Step gets Arm-and-hand control over the down response. Continue the Step 3 procedure for 2 days.

Step 4. Strengthen Hand-signal control.

The hand-signal was introduced in the former step, but it may not have appeared often enough to be learned—it was delivered only once per session. Before you begin Step 4, the dog must be responding at a high, steady rate, whenever you're "sitting" during the training session. No down-stay is required yet. That's learned in Step 6.

According to the Association Rule, the dog will begin to make the down response to the "raised hand" signal, if the signal closely comes before the "sit pose" of the handler.

In this fourth step, do Stand-stay trials and down trials during the same training session, in a random fashion. However, do more down trials than Stand-stay.

Start with the READY sound. Then prepare to begin the work.

The Stand-stay part:

1. Begin the session with one trial of Stand-stay. Stand facing the dog and clasp your hands in front of you. Because you're standing, the dog should also remain standing, if earlier basic Attention-training was successful in getting the dog to do that.
2. Stay still and wait 1 to 4 seconds. Then, while the dog is standing and looking at you, say GOOD. Proceed to reward the dog. You may repeat the Stand-stay procedure or do the down-trial part next.

The Down Part:

1. Stand still and wait 1 to 4 seconds.
2. While the dog is standing and looking at you, deliver the raised-hand signal.
3. Less than one second later, kneel or sit down. When seated, lower your arm (end of signal).
4. Wait for the dog to lie down. When he does, say GOOD at that moment. Then, hold the food tidbit away from the dog so that he has to get up for it. As you're delivering the food, stand up and prepare to give another trial, of either kind.

If the dog begins to lie down as soon as you raise your hand, reinforce it with the sound, GOOD, and reward. In that case, you don't do the sit (or kneel) prompt. Prepare to give another trial.

If you don't like the prospect of "sitting and rising" every time you give a "down" type trial, you might fudge a little on the procedure. That is, a second after you deliver the hand signal, bend your upper torso partially over the standing dog, as if you're going into the sit. If the dog does not lie down after a second or two, then you'll have to be seated, as before. It's been our experience that the trainer can thereby avoid having to sit on most of the down trials of this training step.

The work in this step is called differentiation: That is, down responses are reinforced, and rewards follow, but only if his responses are made in the presence of the "down" signal or other "down" cues; The dog must otherwise be in the Stand-stay until the signal comes on. Continue to intermix Stand-stay trials with down trials.

If the dog lies down when he should be standing, nudge him back up on his feet. If the dog sits instead of downing to the down signal, raise the dog to his feet, repeat the signal and continue with the trial. If the dog persists in sitting, go back to Step 1 of this exercise for awhile. Also review Stand-stay training.

The Test for learning. To do a test trial, deliver the new signal without the cue-prompt. In the present case, a test trial for learning may not be necessary. Learning may show itself while you're doing the training trial, i.e., the dog responds ever more rapidly when the arm-and-hand signal comes on.

Modifying the Arm-and-hand signal. The hand is brought up to the usual position. Then, without delay, is brought down again. A short signal as this, is required by the Obedience-trial Regulations. Most training Instructors will teach you to do it this way.

Stand-stay trials during Down-training sessions. By now, the dog has learned that he must stay in the "up" stance, until "told" to do something else. To keep the dog watchful, continue to reinforce and reward one or two Stand-stay Trials in every training session The dog still enjoys this simple game.

Your dog will be ready for learning the voiced command, DOWN—when the dog downs quickly and consistently to the modified hand signal. The "handler-sitting" pose is no longer required for the next step, and can be discarded as a "cue." It served its purpose.

Step 5. Teaching the command, "DOWN"

The dog is taught the DOWN command by pairing the command with the hand signal for down—which already controls the response. Learning is by association: A to-be-learned event—the command, DOWN, in this case—is associated with an event that the dog already understands. In the present linking, the command, DOWN, is delivered first; then is followed by the arm-and-hand signal. Continue to reinforce and reward, both, Stand-stay and down, as in Step 4.

1. To begin, say READY (the call to work).
2. Go to the place where you keep the training foods. Put a tablespoon of a tasty food (grand reward) into the dog's food dish, and place the dish out of the dog's reach. Take the tidbit foods with you to a place nearby where you'll do the training.
3. Put 10-12 pieces in your left hand. Keep both hands closed in front of you at waist level.
4. For the first trial, reinforce the Stand-stay response with GOOD and follow with a tidbit reward.
5. On the second trial: After the dog has been in a Stand-stay for 1-4 seconds, say, DOWN, followed closely by the arm-and-hand down signal. The interval between the end of the voiced DOWN and the start of the Arm-and-hand prompt should be about a half-second. Do not begin the signal until you have sounded, DOWN. With this pairing sequence, the dog will down to the voice command itself in no time at all.

Do one or more sessions of Step 5 training per day, along with additional sessions of any other exercises that you care to do. Continue the Step 5 schedule until the dog responds reliably to the command, DOWN, when given alone.

Step 6. Teaching the Down-stay

Although the dog already remains standing at the start of every training trial without being told, it is good technique to "tell" the dog to do so. A hand signal will do the telling. The same Stay hand-signal will also get the dog to stay in the down position. Until this step, the reinforcing sounds (GOOD; OUT) came on at the moment when the dog's elbows touched the floor; Now, the reinforcers come on after the dog has been in down-stay for a period of several seconds.

The Stay signal: Bring the flat of your right hand in front of the dog's eyes in a non-threathening way, then bring it back to your midsection.

Procedure for the Stand-stay trial:

1. Begin the session as you normally do, with the READY sound and usual preparations.
2. Stand in front of the dog with both hands closed in front of you.
3. Deliver the Stay signal when the dog sets himself in the stand position. Then wait about 2 seconds before reinforcing the response. Increase and vary the wait period (2 to 5 seconds) as trials progress.
4. Reinforce with GOOD while the dog is standing still; quickly pass a piece of food from the left hand to the right, and give it to the dog.

If you want the dog to remain standing for the next trial, then immediately follow the food delivery of the previous trial with another Stay signal, ...wait, ...Reinforce, etc.

Procedure for the Down trial:

1. After food is delivered on the previous trial, stand in front of the dog with both hands closed in front of you.
2. When the dog sets himself in the stand position, deliver the Stay signal.
3. Wait 2 or more seconds, then give the down signal.
4. At the moment the dog's elbows touches the floor, quickly place the flat of your right hand in front of the dog's eyes and keep it there for one or two seconds.

It's a good idea to maintain the Stay signal in place during the early trials of down-stay training. At first, the dog will reflexively tend to remain in the down-stay for a short period while he assesses the hand-in-face procedure. If the dog rises before you can reinforce, repeat the down signal, and go on from there to complete the trial.

Step 7. The Down-stay with distractions

Continue the trials as before, but now make brief and smooth distracting movements close to the dog after you've put him in the down-stay. If the dog moves before you release him, say NO in a normal tone of voice, and then start the trial over again.

Conduct one or more sessions per day, for as many days that it takes to get a ten-second down-stay reliably, with distractions. Do about five trials in these sessions. Goal-Reinforce with OUT and a grand reward on the last trial of each session.

You will be finished with Distraction Training when the dog stays down when you can make the following movements: Turn away from the dog after signaling him to Stay, walk about 10 paces, turn to face the dog, stand in place for several seconds, return to the dog, go around his left side to his right (the heel position), stand there for a moment, say GOOD, and give him one tasty tidbit.

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