Teaching Downs

I started teaching Rundle to lay down on cue when he was about 10 weeks old.  Now, he will lay down quickly when I give the cue and he is even getting some good durations on his downs.

When teaching a puppy to lay down it is easiest to have them right next to you or in front of you so you can lure or capture the down and then reward right away. This starts the foundation for a solid down on cue.  Eventually, you will want your puppy to respond immediately to the down cue, no matter where they are.  This is where my problem has come in. Rundle has generalized the down position to mean lay down right in front of me, so no matter where he is when I give him the down cue, he will always come right up to my feet before laying down. I want him to be able to lay down no matter how far away from me he is when I give the cue.  I have been working on this with him for a couple weeks and have made a wee bit of progress but not much. So, I have started working this exercise with Rundle at the top of the stairs and with me a few steps down. When I give the down cue, Rundle must lay down without moving toward me (coming down the steps). This gives him the opportunity to think through the challenge as he has the choice to come down the stairs toward me or lay down at the top. I will gradually move further and further down the stairs until he is laying down quickly no matter how far away I am.  Once we have some distance that way I will go back to asking for down at a distance without being on the stairs.