Sitting from a walk

The handler heels his dog on leash at a slow walk. When he is ready, he commands “Sit!” and corrects the animal into a sit with the leash. As he does so he stops walking, pausing just long enough to bring the dog fully into the sit, and then continues on past to the end of the leash. He stops, turns and faces the dog for a moment, then returns to it and praises it. Then he heels forward again and repeats the exercise.

As training progresses, the handler makes less and less of a complete stop while the dog sits down. Eventually he heels along at a fast walk, commands the dog to “Sit!” and continues without breaking stride. If the dog’s sit is still crisp and fast, he can begin dropping the leash on the ground and walking out an additional thirty or forty paces. As the dog progresses, the handler can finally omit the leash altogether.

GOAL 3: The dog will down out of motion instantly on command.

Only when the dog sits cleanly out of motion and still has a perfect stand do we introduce the down out of motion.

During basic training, the dog has already learned a strong “Down!” command. By strong we mean that the command has weight and power and that, if the handler raises his voice a little and glares at the dog as he utters it, it virtually crushes the animal to the ground.

For this reason, it is extremely easy to teach the down out of motion. In fact, it is by far the easiest of the three exercises out of motion and that is precisely why we teach it last–in order to avoid the straw‑that‑broke‑the‑camel’s‑back syndrome. Our main concern is to keep it from interfering with the sit and stand out of motion exercises.

Important Concepts for Meeting the Goal

1. Down from a walk

2. Down from a run