Crawl, a down that shuffles forward bit by bit

How to teach a dog to crawl starts from a down. Hold a treat on the floor just past the nose and draw it forward slowly, paying the first shuffle while the elbows stay low. If the rear pops up, the hand moved too fast. Add distance one shuffle at a time, then a low bridge, then the word.

Why does a crawl start from a solid down?

A crawl is a down that travels, so the down has to hold still before it can move. If the down is shaky, the first pull of the treat turns the whole thing into standing, and you are teaching something else.

A crawl sits among the down-based tricks. The lay down guide covers the down itself, so this page leaves it there and picks up once your dog can drop and stay dropped.

Practice on a floor with some grip. A rug or a mat works. A slick surface makes a shuffle look like a slide, and then there is nothing to pay.

How slowly should the treat move for a crawl?

Slower than feels right. That is the whole lesson, and it is harder to do than to read. The hand should creep along the floor, close to the ground, only a little ahead of the nose. Watch for a shuffle of the front legs, then the back. Every shuffle is worth a payment.

Pay down low, where the nose already is, and pay often. Many tiny pieces beat a few large ones, since each shuffle gets its own reward. Break the pieces down to crumbs; the piece size guide has more on that.

Signs the hand is moving too fast:

• The rear end lifts off the floor.
• Your dog lunges for the piece instead of shuffling toward it.
• Your dog lies flat and stops following the hand.

Any one of those means slow down and shorten the trip. Go back to a hand that moves a single nose length, pay, and build from there. Add distance a shuffle at a time, and drop back to a shorter trip whenever the rear starts to rise.

Can a low bridge help your dog crawl?

A bridge keeps the dog low by giving it something overhead. The simplest one is you: sit on the floor with your legs bent into a tunnel. A low chair over a rug works too. Think low-clearance parking garage, where the roof does the steering.

Draw the treat under the bridge, and pay once your dog has shuffled out the other end. Start with a bridge low enough that the way through is on the belly, and so short that the trip is only a couple of shuffles. Make it longer and lower only when the short one is easy.

Never press your dog down, and never hold it under the bridge. The bridge only works when your dog chooses to go through it. If your dog backs out, make the tunnel shorter and try again.

A crawl is paid in small change, which is where the cheddar bites earn their spot. Our listing says they crumble, and it lists them as pay for training, never as a complete diet.

When do you add the word for crawl?

Add it once the shuffle follows the hand along the floor with the rear staying down. Give the word, pause, and only then let the hand creep forward. When the first shuffle comes as you speak, lift the hand off the floor little by little until it becomes a low sweep in the air.

Pick a word that sounds nothing like your down. "Crawl" works for most people, and so does "creep". Keep it flat and slow, to match the trick.