Joined
·
1,879 Posts
I have had a couple of dogs like that, they would roll over on their sides or backs when trying to teach them the "down". One way, as Cbrand said, is as soon as the dogs gets itself nearly into the down position, to give the treat reward, praise and allow the dog to get back up before he ends up on his side. Obviously, this means timing, timing, timing. After the dog gets the idea, you proceed to not giving the treat or praise till his body is laying completely on the floor, as soon as his whole body makes contact with the floor, treat, praise and allow the dog to get up before he flops over.
Remember, if you can't get your dog to do a complete exercise the way it is supposed to be done during training, you can always start with getting your dog to do a partial, in this case a partial lay down, as in getting the front end partly down - before the butt end goes up - and treating and praising. Even if this means only getting him to put his front legs out in front of him and his chest down just a little bit. As he starts to do it consistently, then you up the anti and make him go a bit further down before he gets his treat/praise. If his butt goes up, then you start over, no treat, no praise, but not reprimands either. It is better to do small steps that can be praised than one large step that ends up not what you are wanting.
If all else fails, and you just can't get him to stop flopping on his side, (I had one like that) I ended up having to physically moving him back over onto his belly, repeating the down command and treating. It is best not to manually place the dog, but if you cannot get him to stop flopping over any other way, placing him and treating him immediately when he is on his belly will also get you the final results.
Remember, if you can't get your dog to do a complete exercise the way it is supposed to be done during training, you can always start with getting your dog to do a partial, in this case a partial lay down, as in getting the front end partly down - before the butt end goes up - and treating and praising. Even if this means only getting him to put his front legs out in front of him and his chest down just a little bit. As he starts to do it consistently, then you up the anti and make him go a bit further down before he gets his treat/praise. If his butt goes up, then you start over, no treat, no praise, but not reprimands either. It is better to do small steps that can be praised than one large step that ends up not what you are wanting.
If all else fails, and you just can't get him to stop flopping on his side, (I had one like that) I ended up having to physically moving him back over onto his belly, repeating the down command and treating. It is best not to manually place the dog, but if you cannot get him to stop flopping over any other way, placing him and treating him immediately when he is on his belly will also get you the final results.
