Fading The Lure

Right now we are putting bait right in front of our dog’s nose to get them to give us a sit, down and stand. But this isn't practical, we want to be able to use a hand signal and a verbal cue to get them to sit, stand and down.  This involves a process called Fading The Lure.

What we want to do is move our hand farther and farther away from our dog’s nose until it starts to resemble our hand signal. Using sit as an example, instead of putting the bait right in front of your dog’s nose, move it 6 inches away and do the same motion you were doing before, straight back to your dog’s tail. Your dog should sit because he’s already done this many times. After he’s sit successfully a few times with your hand being 6 inches away, move it 12 inches away. Keep fading the signal, or moving your hand away until you can hold your hand at your waist level using the same motion and your dog sits.

After your dog is successfully sitting with your hand signal at waist level, you can take the bait out of your hand and make it look like the final hand signal! Fading the lure is the same process for stand and down. You just keep moving your hand away slowly until your dog does the behavior on the final hand signal which will be shown in class.

NOTE: If you move your hand 12 inches away and your dog stops sitting, you faded it too quickly. Try something in between like 8 inches. Remember, set your dog up for success!

As soon as your dog is giving you a sit, stand and down with a hand signal, you are ready to use a verbal cue.   First, say the verbal cue "Sit," then wait two seconds and give your dog a hint by using your hand signal.  Then click and treat.  If you do this over and over, your dog will begin to understand that every time you say your verbal cue, you're about to give a hand signal.  Since he really just wants to get your training bait, he will start doing the behavior right after the verbal cue. 

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Frequently Asked Questions - Fade The Lure

Why don't we use a verbal cue right away?

When we start using verbal cues too soon before we have taught our dogs how to sit, stand and down we send the wrong message.  For example, if you walk up to an untrained dog and say "down" and he doesn't do it, the word "down" means nothing to him.  It starts to sound like phone ringing and he will begin to tune it out because it has no meaning.  If instead however, you say "down" and then follow it up with your hand signal, he will start to understand how powerful the word is because it predicts treats!

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Green Paws Training Options

We teach and practice Down in our Puppy Manners and Basic Manners group classes. 

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Books and Tools

There are no books or tools to recommend for this behavior.

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