Down, Lie Down, Drop... Need Advice!

[SnowDove]

Okay, Daisy's signal to drop what it in her mouth immediately is "drop it". I trained that from when she was a puppy, before I knew that I'd be doing obedience/rally/agility with her. She is very well trained on this signal, and for safety reasons I do not want to change it.

That said, Daisy cannot distinguish that I want her to go front-first into a down if she is standing. I started using the signal "Down" only when she is sitting, and "Lie Down" when she is standing. I have been working sessions with this for a year now, and she still cannot distinguish the two... So I'm wondering if I need to choose a completely different signal word for "hit the ground from a stand"? If so, does anyone have any word recommendations?

I'm kicking myself that I can't use "drop" :( Poop.

 

[TwoDogs]

Yes, pick a new cue. "Down" and "Lie Down" might seem obviously different to us, but she is likely just cueing off the "down" in "Lie Down" so to her they sound like the same cues.

You could try "Platz"--that is the German cue for down and usually doesn't sound like any of the common English obedience cues.

 

[Jwelch]

Settle

During my training of PJ, the trainer used settle to go from standing to laying down. I use it and PJ does really good with this. Good Luck!

 

[Sansal]

You could try "Platz"--that is the German cue for down and usually doesn't sound like any of the common English obedience cues.

I'm german and that's what I use - works for us

Good luck

 

[DiverDiva]

I've seen trainers use "crash", "splat", "plop", or "park it" as a cue for the down from a stand behavior.