TEACHING THE SIT COMMAND

When I teach a dog how to sit on command I first need to teach him what the word SIT means. Just because our dogs have been living with us for the past few months does not mean that he understands the words that he is hearing. When teaching all commands you need to show the dog what each command means. (show and tell).

Now that I have the dog walking around on a leash and he is learning how to release the pressure of the chain by compliance to a known command. ( come and kennel up ) I can start to formaly teach the sit/stay command.

When the dog was a puppy we made him sit by softly raising up on the leash while our other hand gently placed his rump down in a sit position usually giving him a treat for compliance. This training was done a couple of times a day every day for a few weeks untill he got the idea and was consistant about sitting when commanded with no distractions around him.

Now that we are moving forward with his training, it is time to make him sit on command and stay for longer periods of time giving you a chance to move around him while he is sitting and staying in place.

place the choke chain with the leash attached over the dogs head and around his neck. start by teaching him to sit on the floor. Lift the leash straight up applying chain pressure around his neck( under his chin and around his ears) untill he sits down. when he sits release the chain pressure immediatly to let him know that sitting is what you want him to do. If he stands up, lift the leash straight up again with a little more pressure until he sits down. Each time he tries to stand up or move. apply leash pressure immediatly untill he sits down to release the chain pressure. repeat this process several times a lesson, a couple of times a day, for a week or so or untill he has figured out how to sit quickly when commanded. making him stay in place is your next step.

Build a platform that is about 30 inches x 30 inches and elevated on a frame of 2x4's( refer to the enclosed photo) Next walk your dog up and onto the platform to get him comfortable about this new place. walk on and off a few times so he is not worried about this new training tool. When your dog is comfortable, walk him onto the place board and command him to sit just as you have done in the past, lift the leash and chain to make him sit and release the pressure once he is sitting. Command him to stay and step away about six inches to see if he will stay in place on the board. if he moves off the board stop him with the leash by raising up quickly and commanding him, to sit. when he sits command him to stay. ( SIT means sit down, stay means stay at that place... on the platform.) practice this lesson a few times each training secession and a couple of times a day for a week or so. your goal is to have your dog walk up to the platform and sit down when commanded, and to stay in place when you walk away. Like all training lessons. go slow and show the dog exactly what you want him to do. making sure you correct him immediatly with the leash so he knows what he has done wrong.

The reason for the platform is to help him understand what a place is. Like his travel crate or his kennel, the platform is also a place. place training helps a dog understand that if he moves from that place when he was ordered to stay he will be corrected immediatly and made to do it over. once your dog understands how to sit and stay in place to avoid corrections from the leash you are on your way to conditioning your dog to sit steady around distractions.

Roger Hess