Dog training: Sit

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Teaching your dog the 'sit' command

Weigh out your puppydog's daily diet and take a handful of kibble. Give one piece to the pup to let it know 'the game's afoot', say "Rover, Sit" and then slowly move a second training treat upwards and backwards over the pup's head, keeping it close to its nose. As your pup lifts its head to follow the food, it will sit down. When the dog sits down, give it the food lure as a reward. Magic? No, just quadrupedial vertebrate structural engineering. Basically, it is impossible for most quadrupeds to look directly upwards without sitting down. We call this 'the coyote howling at the moon' posture. Try this on yourself. Stand like a dog (or a football lineman) with arms and legs straight and toes and fingers on the ground and then try to look up at a point on the ceiling directly overhead. This is impossible without: either raising one's fingers off the ground, or by bending the legs and sitting down.

If your pup raises its forepaws off the ground during this exercise, you are holding the food treat too high. Lower the treat and move it backwards between its eyes only an inch above its head. (To teach the pup to sit on its haunches or stand on its hind legs please see the section on Tricks.) If your dog backs up, perform the exercise in a corner.

Teaching your dog to go from 'down' to 'sit'

With the puppy lying down, say "Rover Sit," let it sniff another training treat and then move the lure upwards and backwards over the pup's head. Your pup will push itself up into the sitting position. You may have to waggle the treat or clap your hands over the pup's head to energize it to sit up. Enticing the larger 'sack 'o potato' breeds to sit up can take no small amount of enthusiasm and mental energy on the part of the trainer. So, get enthusiastic! Once your pup sits, give it the treat for its effort.

Training games: Sit-down-stand sequences

Vary the order of the sit, down, and stand commands at random, or by using the following, easy-to-remember test sequences:
1. sit-down-sit-stand-down-stand
2. sit-stand-sit-down-stand-down
3. down-sit-down-stand-sit-stand

Varying at least three different body positions increases the speed with which the pup learns verbal commands. If we alternated just two body positions, e.g., sit and down - 'doggy push-ups', the pup would quickly  [Continued]

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