How to Teach Your Dog to Lie Down: Reward-Based Steps from Home to Cafe

Imagine your dog lying quietly at your feet in a cafe. Many owners want that, yet are unsure how to teach the down in the first place.

The down is not something you teach by pushing your dog to the floor. Guidance from overseas animal organizations and a Japanese city alike follows the same order: use rewards to build the position, then add a cue word once your dog can do it. This article walks you through teaching it at home and then widening the practice to the garden, the park and finally a cafe.

Teach the down with praise, not by pushing your dog down

The basic approach is to praise your dog the moment it lies down. The American Kennel Club (AKC) says you should never force a puppy into a down. Pushing tends to backfire, because the dog will want to stand even more to resist the pressure. The AKC adds that you may also frighten your dog and make the position itself less appealing.

In its 2021 position statement, the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) recommends using only reward-based methods. The same statement names "dominance downs", forcing a dog down by physical manipulation, as an example of a method to avoid.

There are three ways to teach the down; pick the one that suits your dog

The AKC describes three ways to teach the down: luring, shaping and capturing. All three share one thing: you reward the moment your dog gets it right. Blue Cross, a British animal welfare charity, also says the reward needs to come immediately after the action.

If you are unsure, start with luring, whose steps are easy to follow (our suggestion). For shaping, the AKC explains that it is best to choose a first step your dog can do easily and raise the difficulty little by little. It also says it is better to make things too easy than to frustrate both of you by asking for too much.

Teaching the down with a lure in five steps

When you use a lure, start with your dog sitting. If your dog cannot sit on cue yet, you can lure the down from standing.

1. With your dog sitting, bring a hand holding a treat to its nose
2. Move your hand toward your dog's chest, then straight down to the floor between its front paws
3. With your hand on the floor, slowly draw it forward; your dog follows it into a down
4. As soon as your dog lies down, praise it and give it the treat you used as a lure
5. After several repetitions, reward with a treat from the hand you are not luring with, and finally lure with an empty hand

In the last step, the movement of your empty hand becomes the hand signal for the down. The AKC recommends fading the treat lure as soon as possible.

Add the cue word only after your dog can do the down

Add a word such as "down" only once your dog can get into the position. The exact timing varies a little from source to source. All of them add the word only once your dog can lie down fairly reliably, and the table below sums up what the main sources say.

Use the same word across the whole family. The Nagoya City Animal Welfare Center's handout recommends keeping commands consistent, simple and short, with everyone in the family using the same one. Decide in advance so that "fuse" (pronounced "foo-seh", the usual Japanese word) and "down" do not get mixed up at home.

Keep practice short, and do it after a walk or play

The basic rule is short sessions, done often. Blue Cross recommends keeping each session to about two to five minutes and practicing little and often. The Nagoya City Animal Welfare Center's handout also notes that a dog's concentration does not last very long.

Choose a time when your dog is a little tired rather than bursting with energy. The AKC suggests working on the down after a walk or a bout of play.

On days when it is not working, stop on a good note and try again later. Blue Cross explains that food is the easiest reward for helping your dog concentrate on a new skill. Toys and praise can work as rewards too.

Once your dog has it at home, widen practice to the garden, the park and a cafe

Once your dog lies down at home, gradually extend practice to places with more distractions. The RSPCA recommends that once your dog is happily lying down on cue at home, you practice in more distracting places such as the garden or a local park. Blue Cross reminds owners to keep distractions to a minimum in the early stages of learning.

Moving through places one stage at a time, as below, makes it clear where to go back to if your dog struggles (our suggestion).

• A quiet room at home
• Another room or the entryway
• The garden, a balcony, or a quiet spot on your walk
• A park where people and dogs pass by
• At your feet in a cafe at a quiet time

If your dog finds it hard to lie down in a new place, go back to luring in that place (our suggestion). At the venue, use the same cue word and hand signal as at home, and give the treat while your dog stays down (our suggestion). Besides the down, practicing settling on a mat also helps your dog relax at your feet in a cafe. That practice is covered in our column When Your Dog Can't Settle at a Cafe: Signs to Read and Mat Practice.

If you want to try the down at a venue, look among cafes with spacious seating, where it is easier to find room for your dog to lie at your feet. Seating and conditions for dogs vary from place to place, so check the latest details with the venue.

Tonight, after your walk, try one lure

Tonight, when you get back from your walk, take one treat and try luring your dog from a sit. If it lies down, give the treat while it is still down, and call it a day.

You can find out which rewards motivate your dog with the self-check Your Dog's Reward Type: Beginner. Explore how to practice at home with Your Home Practice Style: Beginner, and test your understanding of training approaches with the quiz Training Methods Quiz: Advanced.