Does your dog sit immediately the first time you say "sit"? If not, then follow these steps to teach your dog to sit the first time, every time.
You can also use these steps to teach your dog almost anything, such as down, stand, spin, roll over, etc.
Teaching a hand signal first and not saying sit initially, ensures that when you do say sit your dog already knows what to do and will respond quickly and consistently.
Notice that you don't push, pull or touch your dog at all. You use food to lure him to sit, then reward him. You quickly remove the visible food so that your dog doesn't become dependent on seeing it.
Start by cutting up some cooked meat into small pieces and putting them into a container or treat pouch.
Don't say sit yet. Put a few treats in one hand. Put a hand full of treats nearly touching your dog's nose, raise your hand over his head, back between his ears. Keep your hand close to his nose, move slowly.
You can let him lick the treats. As his head goes back, his bottom should go down. As soon as your dog's bottom touches the ground, say "yes" then let him take a treat.
If your dog stands up immediately, quickly give him treats - one at a time - before he gets up. If he stands, withdraw your hand and stop giving treats. If he backs up instead of sitting, position him standing in a corner.
When your dog sits quickly three times in a row and remains sitting for three seconds, go to the next step to lure the pooch using pretend food.
Don't say sit yet. Do the hand movement over your dog's head as in step one, but without food in your hand. The moment your dog sits, say yes then quickly give him a treat from your pouch before he gets up.
If your dog isn't sitting, repeat step one a couple of times then retry this step. This step teaches your dog to respond even when she/he doesn't see food. When he responds quickly three times in a row, go to the next step of a hand signal
Don't say sit yet. The signal for sit is a flat hand, palm upward arching over your dog's head, with no food in your hand. Your hand can be further from his head as you make the hand movement. The moment your dog sits, say yes then give a treat from your pouch.
Practice in various locations. Each time you change locations, start with step one or two. Stay on this step for at least a week.
The next step is to "name it". Stand still, say sit and then give the hand signal. It's vital that you say sit before you move a muscle to do the hand signal. Practice in various locations for several days.
The next step is to fade the hand signal. Say sit and then give the hand signal, but make the hand signal smaller and smaller until you can fade it away. Sometimes say sit and sometimes just use the hand signal so your dog doesn't forget either.
Once your dog is sitting consistently, you don't need to give food every time. Reward can be praise, pats, toys, games, permission etc.
Keep training sessions short, just a few minutes each but multiple sessions a day. Don't ask your dog to sit more than a few times in a row before stopping or teaching something else.
If your dog is not responding, don't keep repeating the same thing. Think about what you need to change to help your dog. Go back a step, move to a quieter place with less distractions, end the session, try better food or use a toy.
- Terri Lou runs Dog Training Newcastle.
