teaching Cleo "Down"

Okay here's the video...I guess watching it now I am doing more of a downward motion to the floor. I would wager getting that consistent on my part would work better? I do tho only release the treat when her elbows are down...

VIDEO LINK

Can I just come over and pet her for a little while? 

I think you're doing it perfectly and she seems to have picked it up quickly. I always thought "down" was an easy command to teach but I found out otherwise recently. A coworker brought his lab puppy to the office and I gave it a try and failed miserably. The puppy was hyper and has such a long neck that she'd never actually lie down to get the treat. If I pulled back, she jumped up and we started all over again with the same result.

Yes I'd imagine it'd be frustrating with a very active pup, not to mention setting one up for a head clobbering haha!

Cleo is a natural "flopper" which means anytime she is in a sit...down is the eventual position really...so she doesn't mind. Once we moved into the kitchen I tried it a couple more times and she sliiid down easier but also seemed to not like her elbows hitting the floor as much so protested just a bit.

But she's getting there! She seems very focused for her age...she'll come and sit and stare at me sometimes like "tell me to do something" LOL...very different than a Beagle lemme tell ya!

I can't help but smile every time I see your Cleo.  Your first steps in teaching the down look good.  If I may make the suggestion:  Start doing it in a standing position once you feel that she's got it in the way you are doing it now.  You could continue by leaning over instead of kneeling down at first.  Then progress to the standing position.  You should then be able to give her the command while standing and instead of handing her the treat...toss it gently between her front legs.

Also, once she gets the hang of that...continue to toss the treats between her front legs to keep her in a down.  Some trainers say that the down/stay shouldn't be taught before the age of 6 months...but its a good way to introduce the stay.  And, by tossing her treats while she is in the down, gives her a reason to stay down.  I wouldn't enforce the stay at this point...but again, I think its a good introduction.

rwbeagles

She seems very focused for her age...she'll come and sit and stare at me sometimes like "tell me to do something" LOL...very different than a Beagle lemme tell ya!

That's exactly what she is doing...waiting for your direction.  She is so smart!

Looking good!

Okay here's another easier to see video I took this morning. She is still doing it most times even if I am standing. She gets silly sometimes but I still am not releasing the treat til she's down. I have also incorporated it into the pre feeding request....but it's hard because she is so smart she is pre guessing and downing herself while I prepare the food! She did the same with any command I ask for prior to putting the bowl down. If I was asking "Talk" for a day or two she barks preemptiveley while I prep...if I was asking "Sit" she sits pretty while I prep...LOL

VIDEO LINK

It looks fine to me!  She goes right down, that's faster than Coke and he *knows* down.  He is kind of a "slow" dog, in everything he does.  He doesn't care much for obedience training which is fine as long as he will do it when I ask.  Sometimes I say "down!" and wait about 4 seconds before he slides down.  Cleo looks really good.  She starts going with with you as you drop your hand, so she knows the hand signal and would do it without a treat.  We had to lure Coke for a looooong time before he even got that much.

really?

Thank you for the input, Liesje. I don't really "train" much so I have a hard time knowing if things are going badly, okay, or good LOL!

Is it confusing to go to a new command when the one before is mostly learned but not automatic? I really also don't know what else to teach next...probably leash walking/heel? I have never ever trained a dog to heel before...LOL. She probably needs it tho...

I re-read your other post where you asked about your position (kneeling vs standing), and IMO I don't think it matters as long as you are consistent.  If the goal is to gradually ween off the treat and hand signal/lure to a vocal command, it'll be a moot point soon anyway.  Since Coke is large/tall and needed a LOT of luring, I believe I also sort of knelt down as I lured him.  Now I just say "down" or say "down" and point to the ground.  Once he was doing like Cleo where he obviously knew the hand lure, we would use the vocal command and gradually make the hand signal/lure less and less obvious.  There were times where he would sit and stare at me for 5-6 seconds before trying it, but I like to wait and see if the dog can think it through and offer it, rather than repeating myself or having to always use a full hand signal.

I don't think it's confusing to do more than one command at once.  Coke was learning down, recall, and three different rally positions at the same time.  Ironically, his rally positions are spot on while his simple down is slow and his recall is almost nonexistant! 

 ha, her tail in that 2nd video looks so huge! I just can't get over how big she is already.

 I think that her down is really coming along great.
 

Thank you Jewliee

I love her tail. Most of her coat elsewhere has gotten shorter as she's grown into it...but the tail fur has gotten longer and bushier LOL! It's truly an admirable tail..almost brushes the ground when she is standing.