Teaching your dog how to sit can be a great way to help him become obedient. The goal is to teach your dog to respond to you rather than to other dogs or people in general. In this article we are going to answer your common questions on how to teach your dog to sit. Sit: Bring out the treat (preferably lures), directly over the dog’s nose so he looks up and forward and then sit down to receive the reward. If his bum touches the ground click and treat (C/P).
There are many different dog training methods to teach your dog a sit command. Most of them rely heavily on physical contact or on encouraging the dog to move forward by giving him a treat after each successful completion of the sitting task. This method tends to work best for young puppies who have not yet learned how to behave around people and other dogs.
For older dogs it is often more effective to use a clicker training method. Clickers are hand-held devices that sound off whenever your dog lies down and then stays in the sitting position. You can also use your voice or an “Ooh” or “aaah” phrase while your dog remains in the sitting position to get his attention. Once he pays attention to you, he should begin to move forward, just as you would in the sit position. Using treats for this kind of training is highly recommended.
Some dog trainers recommend using praise to teach dogs. In fact, it is sometimes called the positive reinforcement training method. Although praise is a highly valued dog training tool, it can be difficult to give praise consistently. Praise tends to fade over time, as do most of our responses to other dogs. Puppies especially respond poorly to harsh punishment.
If you decide that a clicker is the best way for you to teach your puppy, be sure to keep some treats on hand. It is very easy to lose your temper if you are trying to get your puppy to sit when he does not immediately respond to your commands. When your puppy does sit, do not immediately grab the doggie treat, but wait until your puppy has calmed down and begins to stand quietly or come to you. Then, use the clicker to reward your puppy as soon as his bottom hits the ground. Do this over again until your puppy understands what you want him to do.
Another option for how to teach your dog to sit is with the stay cue. The stay cue is simply holding a treat above your dog’s head while he is still on all fours. When the pup has stopped moving his butt to indicate that he has sat down, reward him using the stay cue. As your pup learns what to expect from the stay cue, you can increase the interval between his sit command and the reward. Be sure to always praise your pup when he obeys your commands.
If the traditional food treats and praise aren’t working, then you can try to repeat the command while giving your dog treats in return. You can also try repeating the command while he is on the leash. One thing to remember is that you should only try to teach one command at a time. This will make the process go faster, and your dog will have less issues with confusion.
If these traditional methods don’t seem to work, then you may want to try using the toy rewards method. With this method, your dog would be rewarded for sitting on the leash or with another treat whenever he complies with your command. Using treats as a reward works well if you consistently come in close while giving the command. It is important that you only give your dog one treat during the entire lesson. Your dog will learn quickly with these types of tricks because they are easy to teach and take little effort to master. It will also be easier for you to handle if you use treats that are bigger in size compared to the smaller ones that you usually give your dog.