Training separate alerts- Low alert

After much thought and some false starts, I'm finally starting to train Senator to distinguish between the high and low blood sugars with his alert.

I originally wanted to use the left hand low and right hand high for the alerts.  I even began training him to mark left/low and right/high.  Then, I decided that they were too similar and that it would be too easy for me to lead him towards the correct hand.  So, I changed my mind and am going to train him to do a down for low and a sit for high.  Both would follow the initial alert which is for him to paw me.  He has this down so well and even has learned to escalate it at times.  So, I don't want to change that part.  My goal is for him to first paw me and then do either the down or sit to tell me which it is.

I began by holding a container with the low scent in my hand and having him smell it.  I would say "touch" for him to paw me and then "down".  I'm using a separate treat (cheese) for this training.

I've done three sessions now.  The second session was similar to the first.  This time, I had him first find the low on me and then went through the same routine with me commanding the touch and down.  I say "yes" when he does the down and this is when he gets the cheese reward.  I repeat this about 6 or 7 times.

The third session, I again had him find the low on me.  Then, he pawed me and I said down for the first time.  For the remaining 6 times, I didn't say "down".  He just did it.  I did lead him a little with body language, but he seems to be making the connection.

On the fourth session, he did the down with no verbal or physical cues.  He has definitely made the connection between the alert and the down.  I'll continue to do this for awhile before I start him on the alert for high blood sugar.