Training: Teaching Sit

So you’ve got your new puppy home and you’re eager to start training. Good for you! Why not start off with the most basic of all exercises: sit. My partner here Zoe is a big puppy and she’s gonna help me teach it. Are you ready?

So we’re going to teach her using a lure, that’s a treat in my hand that’s gonna manipulate her body into the right position. You ready? Let’s go. So I take the treat and put it in front of her nose, move it back over her head, and then I click and give her a treat.

Now the clicker is a very precise way of marking behaviors. It lets Zoe know when she’s done the action that will pay off with a food reward. Alright, let’s try that once more with the lure, treat in hand, over the nose. Oh she’s so good, this is really easy.

Now the problem with using a lure like this is dogs can become dependent on it and if I don’t have a treat in my hand she might say “No thanks, I’m not going to sit today.” We don’t want that to happen so we’re going to make Zoe work a little bit harder this time. I’m gonna toss the treat to get her moving, now I’m not going to lure her this time I just want to see what she’ll do on her own. She’s a genius. That was so perfect.

Now we’re going to teach her English. I’m going to teach her the word sit. So this time I’m going to tell her –sit – what she’s doing as she’s doing it. It’s gonna take a bunch of repetitions before Zoe makes the connection between the word sit and the action she’s performing.

Now this is just the beginning of teaching sit. Wanna learn more? Check out my puppy training DVD New Puppy, Now What? at the Petside.com store.