My dog doesn't understand what I want him to do, suggestions?

Are you consistent?

You are doing the right thing by luring him down to the floor, but you cannot use a lure for too long, otherwise they don't perform.

When you get him to lay down, do not give a treat instantly, wait for a second or two before giving a treat. Also, do NOT give treat if the dog begins to jump up.

One of my dogs was a little high-strung and this was a good way to no only teach basic commands, but to teach him patience. He had to WAIT before getting the treat.

Do not push on the dog or use your hands to try to get him to perform. A dog must learn to perform on their own, because they have learned that "positive behavior" leads to "rewards."

So, once you have your dog in the down position, make him wait and in fact, rather than allowing him to reach up for the treat, you bring the treat down to him in that position. If he moves to get up, you move the treat.

Practice this method with him...he'll get it.

I always suggest the clicker method. It's easy to learn and do and is cheap to start. You don't even need one of the extremely cheap clickers. You can use a snapple top. It'll help you because it gets the dog to try to work for his treat and try different things. The click lets you let him know the second that he does the right thing and you can teach him to roll over by increments. First by getting him to lay down and then to turn his head a little then a little more and finally to roll on his back and finish the roll. You don't even have to give him a command until he's got the roll down pat. Check out some of these sites.

I am going to disagree......

You must show the dog what you want, then reward the dog immediately precisely when he does what you ask.

Be patient, be consistent.

Re: down put hand (with treat) between his front legs. he should shift his weight on his rear end, lower head and "bow"..then if he doesn't lay down, gently push down and back over his croup (hip) area. As soon as he his down, give the treat.....and you can give him a couple.

If your hand is low, he will focus low, if your hand is high, he will focus high, head up and probably will sit......

i just got my 6mo maltipoo to lay down yesterday. here's how it did it:

i had him sit first. then i used a hand command while telling him lay down. he looked at me like i was from outer space, so i then gently scooped my arm behind his front legs and gently put him in the lay down, while still telling him to lay down. when he did it, he got a treat and tons of verbal praise. today he is laying down on command.

for some reason, with my little guy, i have to physically show him things (never forcefully though!) a couple times and then he gets it.

Give him to Michael Vick, he can train him