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How To Teach Your Dog To Sit

dog sittingTraining your dog to do tricks can be a difficult task. Often times dog obedience training involves rewarding your dog at the slightest movement, hoping that in time they will complete the trick you have laid out for them. Luckily, “Sit” is the one trick that is completely natural for your dog, and easily one of the quickest and most fun tricks to teach your pet.

Why is “Sit” So Simple?

All dogs exhibit specific behaviors as a response to stimuli. One of those behaviors is the “begging,” where the dog sits and stares at you or the treat that it wants. When you hold a treat towards your dog’s nose, your dog is very likely to move into a sit in order to beg for that treat, allowing you to easily train them to perform the task.

In addition, it is easier for dog’s to look upwards when they sit. This allows you to do a common obedience training technique known as “leading” as you will see in the instructions below.

How Do You Teach a Dog to Sit?

Teaching your dog to sit should be the first trick they learn, as it will help them learn other tricks in the future. In order to train your dog to sit, simply do the following.

  1. Gather a tiny handful of small treats.

  2. Face your dog.

  3. Bring the treats in front of your dog’s nose.

  4. Say your dog’s name (you should always lead every trick by saying your dog’s name), then say “sit.” Right after you say sit, raise your hand just slightly so that your dog follows the treat upwards. The natural response to this will be to sit in order to more easily bend their head upwards. This is called “leading,” because you are leading your dog with the treat in order to see the desired response.

  5. Give your dog the treat and lots of praise immediately after they sit.

Repeat these steps over and over, each time rewarding yourdog treats dog. After a while, however, start giving treats with less frequency, varying when they receive a treat. This will make it so your dog does not expect a treat every time you command them to sit. Also, once your dog is trained, it is a good idea to move your hand further back each time you use the command, so that your dog listens more to your voice than to your hand gestures.

Leading is the most basic form of dog obedience training. With commands like “Sit” it is incredibly useful, while other types of dog obedience training will involve a slightly more complicated approach that has proven itself to be even more effective.

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