Teaching Your Dog To Sit
| Difficulty: | Easy | Tweet | |
Prerequisite: |
None | ||
| Items Needed: | Clicker, Treats |
TEACH
Get a clicker, gather some treats and wait for your dog to sit on his own. This part of the training session is fun for dogs -- it's like a game to them. They have to figure out what to do in order to get the treat. They might spin around, lay down, come up and nudge you...but just ignore him until he sits. Immediately when this happens, click and treat. The first treat should be a generous one -- enough to get him motivated for more.
Keep on waiting until he sits again. Whenever the dog sits, click and treat. By this time, it is normal for a dog to get frustrated - he couldn't remember why he got the treat the first time and doesn't understand why he isn't getting more (See Teaching Trouble Below).
"It could take
several training
sessions for you to
perfect a trick. Make sure you don't wear your dog
out and give him plenty of breaks. Always end on a good note, and you will never go wrong."
Back at work, keep clicking/treating when he sits. Soon a light will come on in the little guy's brain. "If I sit, I'll get a treat!" He'll start doing it more. When your dog gets to this stage of the training process, start saying the word "Sit" whenever you click. Doing this several times will reinforce the name with his action.
Then, tell your dog to sit. He should do it right away. As soon as he does, give him a jackpot treat and a good petting for a job well done!
TEACHING TROUBLE
Be patient with him if he starts barking or whining. Ignore the behavior and just sit there. If your dog gets frustrated, wait until he sits, click and treat well, and take a break. It is better to have short productive training sessions with lots of breaks than to do long unfruitful sessions.
