My 4.5 month old puppy really understands the sit command. I would now like to progress to "Down". I tell him to sit and he sits. Then I tell him to sit, stay. I walk back like 10 steps and say "come" and he comes. He is also doing pretty well with the come command in general so I want to progress.
I put pup in sitting position. When I tell my puppy "down" then take the treat to his nose and slowly take it to the floor then try to lead him down, he stands up and puts is face down. I have to pull his paws ad push him down and then everything becomes a flurry of activity that turns into a confusing mess. While I'm holding him down on the floor and he is laying, I give him the treat and say good dog.
Basically, I feel that I'm training him to allow me to force him in the down position and then he gets rewarded for putting up with the forceing down. I want him to go down on his own.
(Here is a pic of him "peanut")
Can you tell me an alternative way to teach "down"?
