Step Four of the Down

Do fifteen clicks for a boring down, saying, “Down” as the dog does it. Then say the command to see if the dog connects the command with the behavior.

We did fifteen with the word, although it took thirteen minutes. Parker kept his eyes on me the whole time and each down was a slow slide rather than a real flop down.

Then we did about fifteen commands before he made a move to down. Each time, he immediately sat and then slo-o-o-o-owly slide down, popping up immediately with the click and the toss of the treat.

So I think (1) he’s not fond of the down, (2) he sorta gets it and (3) we need to revisit this step a few more times before moving on to Step Five.