'Lie Down': One of the Most Important Dog Obedience Command

Title: `Lie Down': One of the Most Important Dog Obedience Commands
Author: Nancy Dean

`Lie Down': One of the Most Important Dog Obedience Commands
Before you can learn the advanced obedience commands, it is
vital that you first learn the basics and the `lie down'
command is one of the first that you should teach.
Generally the earlier in your dog's life that you teach the
command, the faster and easier your dog will learn and life
will be a lot easier for you later on.

How and Why You Should Teach the Lie down Command

The lie down command is quite an important command to teach
your dog. Putting aside the fact that if you want to show
your dog at a professional level you will need to know the
command, there are so many reasons why you might need to
use it in every day life too.

So in order to teach the command it is easier to have the
dog on a lead. Putting the dog into a sit position, make
sure that the lead is fairly short and then give the `down'
command. Make sure that your voice is not too firm or loud
whilst you are giving the command but at the same time
ensure that your voice is not too excitable either
otherwise your dog will think you are playing. You can use
a hand signal along with your voice to show the dog what
you mean and many people use their right hand to give the
signal whilst their left hand holds the leash. As soon as
the dog does what you ask them to do, give them a treat
whilst they are lying down and praise them for doing a good
job. Really you should repeat this exercise at least three
times so that the dog knows what is expected of them but
never train for too long.

You should find that as the training session progresses,
your dog will go down by themselves without you needing to
show them what to do. Praise them excitedly each time they
do the right thing and end the session after a short period
of time and repeat the next day. The most important things
to remember include to be firm but fair, to be patient and
to always show the dog the palm of your right hand so that
they get used to the hand signal too. You will need this
when competing at a professional level.

Problems Which May Occur and Moving on in Training

Some problems which you may experience in the beginning
include the fact that your dog may try and crawl forward
instead of just dropping straight down. It is important
that you get them out of this habit as early as possible as
when a dog completes a command it should be smooth and
exactly what you asked of them. With persistence however
you can teach your dog not to crawl forward and that is the
only real problem that you will experience.

In order to progress with the command, you can start to
train the dog off the lead. They should know the command by
now so you generally do not need to be as close to them as
you started off with. As you get more confident, increase
the distance away from you and the dog, starting with a few
feet and working your way further and further apart from
them. It is always better to start training indoors as
there are little or no distractions there. Then once you
are confident that your dog knows what to do, start moving
outdoors, possibly into your garden and then finally out to
a park area when you are really confident.

Once you do get outside you should be able to then teach
your dog how to lie down during a recall. Basically that
will involve them coming back to you, you giving the
command for them to lie down and them doing as they are
told before they get to you. This can be tricky but you
will get there just as long as you ensure that you do not
attempt this command too early in your dogs training. The
dog should ideally know everything there is to know about
the down command before you teach it the `recall down'.

Overall the lie down command should always be taught with
every dog as early as possible. It is not particularly hard
though you can progress and do harder versions of the
command if you would like to.

About the Author:

For more important dog training tips like these, visit
http://www.ohmydogsupplies.com/news/cat/5/dog-training-tips.
html

__._,_.___

.

__,_._,___