“Nature to be commanded, must be obeyed” was a well-known maxim of Francis Bacon. This sentiment is nowhere more accurate than when it comes to teaching dogs. Dogs will have a natural propensity to seek out and stay with a ranking structure with a leader (alpha) at the topmost of the pack and all the way down to an omega at the bottom. That is why the ‘Down’ command is certainly invaluable for supporting your status as alpha.

Functionally, it is good for your dog to know and obey the down command. This can save your furniture from getting battered about and small children from getting knocked down. It’s also a good start for your dog to learn additional commands such as “crawl” or “roll over” or even tricks.

Training your dog to obey the down command is actually pretty straightforward. Your dog will naturally lie down when he is tired or relaxing. So the first thing to do is study your dog and learn to recognize when he is about to go from a sitting position to a down position.

When this happens, you want to speak a specific command and use a unique hand gesture simultaneously. This gesture should be something you would not normally do, so you must make a special effort to do it. Every single time the dog goes into this position, you should clearly issue the command and make that hand gesture. Always use the same tone of voice.

After you make the command and gesture combination, and as soon as the desired behavior occurs, give the dog lots of praise. Initially, the dog won’t really understand why he’s getting praised. But this is actually irrelevant. As you repeat this consistently, the dog will learn to associate the praise with his action following your command. And this desired behavior will be the link to that praise.

At first your dog probably won’t obey as commanded because he’s not certain what you want. So you will need to be patient and consistent. The best way to teach a new behavior is to work with the dog alone, away from other people and voices and distractions.

Another way to help your dog learn the down command and reward him is to do the following. When your dog is in a sitting position, place a toy or treat on the ground right near the front of the dog’s nose where he will naturally want to lie down to engage with it. At the same time, simultaneously give the down command and then reward the dog with praise when he complies.

You can also try using a “wave down” motion with your hand, palm down, directing the dog toward the down position on the floor by the treat or toy. But be sure you don’t reward the dog with the treat or praise until he correctly complies and lies down. This may take a while, though, so don’t get discouraged or angry if the dog doesn’t comply at first.

Some dogs may also require the use of a collar and leash to help with the training session. For this purpose, use a very short-only 2 to 4 feet in length-leather or nylon leash on your dog. Place the dog in the sitting position. Then kneel down in front of the dog so you are facing him.

Make the clear-cut hand motion signaling the command, while at the same time giving the verbal command and moving a treat or toy by the dog’s chin and to the floor while gradually and gently pulling on the leash. The aim is to encourage the dog and not to penalize the dog in any way.

In those really tough situations where the dog does not do what is expected immediately, kneel down and put the leash beneath one foot and then slide the loop under the knee of the dog’s opposite leg. Do this while facing the dog at a bit of an angle. The goal is to pull the leash loop with your other foot gently pulling the dog down. At the same time, you should gently take each of the dog’s forelegs and pull them towards you while you give the verbal command.

At the Point the dog is in the correct position, you should praise the dog generously even though you were the one who set in motion the movement and not the dog. The idea is to get the dog to couple such a position with positive feelings: both his feelings and yours.