Now your Border Collie has mastered the sit command you can progress to teaching it the down or drop command. Using positive reinforcement to train your dog is the key to successful training. Use treats or a favourite toy if your dog is not food motivated.

The down command is a natural progression from the sit position....

Teaching your Border Collie to Drop

Make sure you have some tasty treats ready to reward your dog’s good behaviour.

Step 1. Put your dog into the sit position. Now you need to show your Border Collie what you want from it. Put a treat between your fingers and put it close to its nose then move it slowly towards the ground and your dog’s nose will naturally follow the treat. Move the treat forwards a bit to encourage your dog to lie down to reach it. When it lies down, give it the treat immediately and a lot of praise. Remember, there is only about a 2 second interval in which your dog will associate lying down with the reward.

Step 2. Repeat this process at least a dozen times over a few training sessions so your dog understands what you want. Once your Border Collie starts predicting your requirement when you put the treat under its nose, start adding a command word like ‘down’ or ‘drop’. Always use the same command or you will confuse your dog. Now every time your dog drops use the command word so your dog starts to associate the word with the action. As soon as your Border Collie drops, give it the treat and lavish praise. Practice makes perfect so keep practicing.

Step 3. Now your Border Collie has mastered this part of the training, start using your command word without showing your dog the treat (have it in your pocket or in your hand so you dog cannot see it). Again when your dog drops, reward and praise.

Step 4. If it takes a while for your Border Collie to catch on, keep practicing. Also, take a look at what you are doing and adjust your methods if you are being inconsistent or not being clear in your requirements from your dog.

Many dogs do not like to lie down on command, and all dogs learn at different speeds, just like us. It is also very important that you are consistent and patient for successful training.

Keep Training Sessions Short and Fun

Dogs get just as frustrated and bored as we do and will shut down. If this happens, it is impossible to teach your Border Collie anything at that time.

Keep your training sessions short and lots of fun, no more than 10 minutes. Less for puppies. If your dog is not doing what you want, there is no point continuing for the time being. End your training session on a positive note with something it already knows how to do so you can give it a reward.