What’s the best way to teach a command like “DOWN” to a dog.
This command may require a little more patience, more practice and obviously more time than the previous commands. The objective is to make the dog lie down with his front paws extended before him. Make the dog sit and then sit in front of him. Draw the pup’s attention to your hand in which there is a treat. Using the same technique as used for the SIT command, snap your fingers; move your hand with the treat in it from the dog’s nose down to the front forwards, giving a little bit of the treat sometimes while moving the hand. When he is down, praise him profusely.
The other method is by making the dog sit and then pulling his front legs forward with your right hand, while pushing his back down with your left hand. At the same time, say DOWN and praise the dog when he is in a lying position.