IT IS important for dogs to be able to do an instant drop as it could save your dog's life and-or the life of others in certain scenarios. In the case of him running across a road lunging at someone who could be frightened of dogs, or some other dangerous circumstance the dog may find himself in, you need to be in complete control.
With some cases a quick "sit" could be just as effective, such as with large breed dogs like mountain dogs or mastiff-type breeds, or in cases where the dog may have a medical condition or just plain could not go into a "down" as quickly as smaller dogs.
However it is easier to break a "sit" than a "down", so wherever possible it may be better to teach a quick "down" or instant drop. In obedience or competition work an instant drop may be a required achievement.
Teach an instant drop using a clicker and the dog's favourite toy as training tools.
Start by training the dog in the home, perhaps in the kitchen first. With clicker and treats in hand, wait until the dog makes any movement towards the floor, click and treat and work on shaping that behaviour towards the floor until he is going right down. Then play with him with his toy as a jackpot reward.
Once that behaviour is established I would then begin to click and treat for the faster downs, shaping the speed of the down until the speed of the down is sufficient. Use his toy play as the jackpot reward for achieving the speed required.
Once the Instant drop is established, I would then add the cue word such as 'down', 'drop' or even a couple of peeps on a whistle can be used, especially if you want a distance drop.
Then shape the behaviour for the time you want him to stay down - delay the clicks and treats, shaping the timing at a variable schedule of reinforcement so that the dog has to wait in the "down" until his click and treat arrive.
If he breaks the "down", then he just gets no click or reward and we take a step back and start again. No harm done.
Once the whole instant drop performance is established, then we will perhaps start all over again in the garden until the behaviour is also established in that area, then perhaps in a grass area, then a park, then at the road side, then begin to add a few distractions. Hundreds of repeats may be required to perfect the instant drop, but each repeat is like money in the bank and a step closer to the perfect instant drop.
When the behaviour is established in each environment it is then time to slowly fade out the clicker by giving him a treat sometimes without a click, slowly decreasing the clicks but keeping up the treats for a while. When the clicker is faded out then the treats can slowly be faded out but never completely as it is still good to reinforce the behaviour with a treat from time to time. - Nicole Mackie
