It’s a work in progress. He’ll down automatically if you have a treat, so I’m working on phasing them out.
When I say a dog will Down reliably, I mean if you say Down one time, he drops to his belly, first time, every time. I never expect or train an "Automatic Down," so I'm not sure what you mean by that. The only Automatic thing I ever taught in my classes was Automatic Sit, which means, when your dog is walking at Heel and you stop, the dog sits beside you without you having to say Sit. The dog is only expected to Down on a verbal command, "Down," or a hand signal. It does not Down unless asked to do so.
Having said all that, once the dog reliably knows the Down command and drops on command, we can begin to teach Down-stay. I only teach this on leash, where I have control of the dog. Every time a dog disobeys a command, out of confusion, fear, lack of experience, distraction or any other reason, it has learned the command can be disobeyed. So you always want to set it up for success, not for failure. This prevents frustration on the part of both handler and dog.
What I do is first praise for the Automatic Sit. Easy on the praise, a simple "Good boy" will do. We don't want to hype him up. Holding the end of the leash in your right hand, with the dog on your (sorry, dog on your LEFT), say "Down." Let the belly of the leash drop to the ground between you and the dog without making a big deal of it. With the dog lying down beside you, quietly and calmly slip your left foot over the leash. Now give a Stay hand signal as you say "Stay." The hand signal is simply your hand, palm facing the dog, in front of his face. Don't touch the dog. Do this calmly, don't be jerky or over-emphatic about it. Now move your RIGHT foot to the right and back again. Say Heel, gather up the leash, and move forward.
That's it for your first lesson. Congrats! Your dog just did his first Down-stay! Doesn't seem like much right? But do about four or five of those the first day, then quit. The next day, move both your right and left feet half a step away, then go right back and Heel away. The third day, move your right foot FORWARD like you're doing the Hokey-pokey, bring it back, and Heel away.
Day Four. Move your right foot forward. Be sure there is slack in the line. Step forward, turning as you go, so you're facing your dog! Wait a second, go back the way you came, Heel away.
Day Five. Repeat Day Four, but see if you can WALK AROUND YOUR DOG. When you get back to heel position, take a deep breath, then Heel away.
Now all you have to do is start practicing going farther away (still on leash) and alternatively staying away longer. That's two different things, so do them on alternative days.
When you can stand in front of your dog for a whole minute, occasionally practice the Recall, where you call your dog to you. As he comes, trot toward him. He should pass around behind you and end up in Heel position. Let him. Keep moving forward and Heel away.
These exercises should keep you busy for a while. When you and your dog can do 3-minute Sit-stays and 5-minute Down-stays, let me know, and we'll talk about Blind stays. Where he will hold a stay when he can't see you.
