Teaching your puppy to sit is one of the most important lessons that your dog can learn, it is not just a simple trick but a skill which is very useful. Once a dog is in the sitting position, the owner has the full attention of the dog whilst it awaits another command (i.e. whilst waiting to cross a road). It is also the starting point for many other commands such as “lie down” or “stay”.
The sit command is actually a very easy skill to teach. A dog has an inflexible spine which means that if it is to tip its head up high it will naturally sit. A puppy already knows how to sit, the purpose of training is to teach the dog to sit on command.
Teaching the ‘Sit’ command can be broken down into 3 easy steps.
1. Call your puppy by name to ensure that you have its attention and have it stand in front of you, facing towards you. This should be the starting point for the training of any skill for it lets the dog know that training has begun and that you want its attention.
2. Command your puppy to sit whilst pushing down on its hindquarters and pushing it into the sit position. At the same time use a hand signal such as pointing to the ground. Food can be used in the process too. By holding food in front of your dogs nose and moving it slightly back over the dogs head your dogs eyes and head will follow the food and he will move into the sit position( do not hold the food to high above the dogs head or it may jump in ant attempt to reach the food).
3. Congratulate your puppy with praise and if using food during training, use it to reward your dog. The key to successfully teaching any skill is repetition. In each training session the skill should be repeated successfully at least five times and followed with some play time to reward the dog. You should also make sure to finish the training session with a successful attempt at the skill, this way both you and your dog will finish on a high note.
With some bigger breeds of dog (and stubborn dogs) it can be quite an effort getting them to the floor by pushing on their hindquarters, keep persisting though and eventually the dog will understand what is expected of it. The use of hand signals is very useful and offers reinforcement to the command, it also means that with enough training the dog will eventually perform the skill with hand signals only with no need for a voice command.
If using food for a reward during training you should reduce the frequency with which you use it so that the dog does not expect a reward every time it performs the skill.
Even once your puppy has perfected this skill it should still be rewarded with praise each time it performs the skill. This continued positive reinforcement with create a close bond between you and your dog.
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