Hi Carrie....We have an Old English Sheepdog. Took him to PetSmart for obedience lessons when he was of age as a puppy. They give you lots of help and tell you how to use hand language. We put hand out and tell him DOWN and show him down. It works great.
Also, when we were training him to go out we put those big bells on a rope on the door handle. He still uses it. So darn funny. When in kitchen and can't see him, he rings his bells lightly. We tell him we will be right there. If a few seconds go by and we aren't at the door, he takes that rope and rings those bells so loud...it's quite funny to watch.