Teaching your Dogs the Down and Stay Commands

There are several ways to teach your dog what down means. Start with your dog in a seated position. You can gently grasp the dog’s elbows and slide the dog into a down position while saying “down”. This works well for small dogs and puppies.

To teach a large or resistant dog the down command, you can use the foot on the leash method. You start with your dog sitting at your left side. Make a loop with your leash to step on with your left foot. The pressure of your foot on the leash will pull your dog to the ground. You may need to hold the pressure for a little while until the dog moves into the down position. Reward your dog for moving into the down position.

Teach your dog to stay in the down position by putting your palm in front of your dog’s face and say “stay”. Keep your dog on leash and move just a little in front of your dog. Allow your dog to be successful by gradually increasing your distance.

Choose a word like “OK” or “Free” to release your dog.

Once your dog knows what stay means, do a thirty-minute down stay every day. Your dog can be next to you. This can be done while working on the computer, reading, or chatting with friends. Remember to release your dog, when the time is up.

Update on Stormy

Stormy is healing nicely and has adapted well to walking on three legs. She runs and plays with Blizzard.

Eco Lawn and Dogs

We are happy with the eco lawn seed we planted. We killed our old grass by chopping it with a weed whacker and spraying it with roundup. We spread the eco lawn seed on top of the old dead lawn. The seed germinates fast if the temperature stays below 65 degrees. Winter or early spring are good times to spread eco-lawn seed in Orange County. This grass is drought tolerant and grows slow. People who mow their eco lawn only need to mow it once a month. People who prefer the natural look of a meadow never mow their eco lawn at all. The grass only grows nine inches and then folds over. This grass holds up nicely to our large dogs and cats playing on it.

Dog Owners and Dog People

Dog owners may love dogs, but they do not understand dog language.
Dog owners think behavior problems are their dog's fault.
Dog owners think punishing a dog will change behavior.
Dog owners may not allow their dogs in their house.
Dog owners may even have problems with one tiny dog.

Dog people speak dog language.
Dog people are able to help cure behavior problems for other dog owners.
Dog people know that positive reinforcement works well with dogs.
Dog people live in the same house as their dogs.
Small people, who are dog people, can handle dogs that are much larger than they are.
Dog people are able to walk three or more dogs, at the same time, without problems.