Teaching Your Dog to Sit: A Series
While dogs don’t have to know how to sit to be a great pet, “Sit” can make it easier for us to train stationary tasks such as stay at the door, stay for food, or wait calmly at your side. In this series, we will use a strategy called luring, as it will give us rapid results. We will then learn to fade the lure and then add in a cue so your pup knows when you are asking them to sit.
While dogs don’t have to know how to sit to be a great pet, “Sit” can make it easier for us to train stationary tasks such as stay at the door, stay for food, or wait calmly at your side. Dogs can easily learn this as puppies when they are not good at balancing yet, but dogs of all ages can learn.
What to Expect
In this series, we will use a strategy called luring, where we guide a dog with food or a treat to get him into a specific position. This can give us rapid results in getting a motion or position. The challenge is fading out the lure so that the treat or toy is not part of the signal for the behavior.
While we demonstrate Sit in this video series, the same techniques work for most behaviors you train with a lure. First, we have to get the behavior and improve fluency. Second, we have to fade the reliance on a treat lure or guide. And the last stage is to add a cue or command (word or hand signal) to the behavior. This process works for sit, down, spin, backing up, weaving between your legs, or most tricks taught with a lure.
Who is this for?
If your dog already knows how to sit but isn’t reliable, this series may be helpful for you to find holes in your training and improve your dog’s foundation skills. If your dog is new to training, this is a great place to start! While some dogs learn in one session, it may take other dogs multiple sessions to achieve your goal. If you get stuck, please reach out. We have virtual training services to help you get on the right track.
Resources
- Lesson 1: Sit 101: Positions Everyone
- Lesson 2: Sit 201: Fading the Lure
- Lesson 3: Sit 301: Adding a Cue