Sit
Such a simple behaviour, it is usually one that is taught first and when puppies start in class I am often told ‘oh he can already sit’. Cue an owner saying ‘sit’ in an increasingly loud and exasperated manner, leaning further and further over an over-excited and slightly confused pup!
I find that we as dog guardians skip over sit, keen to move on and just don’t want to put the time into such an apparently mundane behaviour. But is such a great behaviour to get right! The aim is for the dog to become unconsciously competent, say sit and he will sit automatically, doesn’t have to think just does it, and, more importantly, is able to stay sat until released. Sounds good, doesn’t it? So why don’t they? Simply put we haven’t taught them, we don’t teach them a release cue and don’t put the time into adding duration, distance, distraction, the 3 D’s and just expect them to be able to sit beautifully at all times.
If you are reading this and have a dog, I want you to try it out. Stand up straight, put your hands behind your back or just down by your sides. Get your dog’s attention and without moving your body, arms or hands just very calmly say ‘sit’ just once. And wait. If your dog sits give yourself at least 10 brownie points if they don’t not a problem, it just means you need to do a little more training. If your dog has sat, what now? Has the dog sat and got straight back up, are you needing to say ‘wait’ or ‘stay’ continuously to maintain the sit? Can you take a step away? Can you walk around the dog? How does the dog know it is able to now move? Lots to consider with such a simple behaviour. Okay, you can give your dog a well-earned treat and sit back down now and think about what you have learnt from this simple exercise. When I first did this exercise, I realised that one of my dogs is not at all good with verbal cues – she is very clever and loves training but predominantly works of visual cues, my body language, so if I take it away by standing completely still and just saying ‘sit’ she was a little unsure as too what I was asking. Interesting isn’t it?
Sit is underrated and underutilised I feel, and well worth investing time in so if you would like to know more read on!
Training a sit
Even if your dog already knows this behaviour and let's face it, they probably do. It is worth working through the steps, the more experienced dogs and guardians will progress quicker, but I would suggest you don’t skip steps.
Step 1
To teach your dog to sit, have a treat in your hand, held between your thumb and index finger. The dog should be able to smell the treat but not grab it out of your hand.
First, get the dog’s attention and give him a little taste of the treat. Once he is a willing participant, you are ready to start.
1) With the dog’s nose against your finger, bring your hand backwards in a slight arc, (imagine there is a piece of string from their nose to your fingers) over the Dog’s head towards his tail. The dog’s nose and eyes will follow the treat causing him to lean backwards and naturally sit.
2) Once the dog’s butt hits the ground (or near enough!), mark it verbally with a ‘yes’ or with a clicker ‘click’ and let him have a little piece of treat and praise him.
3) Release the dog before he breaks the sit. I use ‘OK’ and throw a piece of food to one side, this also helps with building duration as they get used to waiting for a release cue.
Next step
· drop the treat as a lure after the dog has mastered the behaviour.
· keep the finger shape and the hand movement (visual cue) to move the dog into position.
· Mark as soon as their bottom hits the floor – pause and treat.
· Use your release cue ‘OK’ and throw a piece of food to one side.
Last step
· add a verbal cue say ‘Sit’ wait 1 second.
· and then use the visual cue – they should sit.
· Mark as soon as their bottom hits the floor - pause and treat.
· Use your release cue and throw a piece of food to one side.
· Soon the dog will anticipate the verbal cue ‘Sit’ means put your bottom on the floor and you can drop the visual cue.
And now you start adding the ‘3 D’s’ Duration, Distance and Distraction. Start with duration ask for a sit wait 2 seconds and then release, 4 seconds and so on until you can comfortably get to 1 minute. If the dog struggles at any step go back, if they don’t respond to the verbal cue go back to the visual. They are not being stubborn or naughty.
Now add distance. Ask for a sit, take a step back away from the dog, step back towards the dog and release and again build up from here. If the dog breaks the sit, go back and ask for this sit again and drop the criteria.
And lastly distraction. This can be wiggling your fingers, waving your arms, someone walking by, touching the dog, practicing in the garden, in the street, and out on walks on and off the lead, and so on.
Sit is a super useful behaviour with several everyday uses:
· A dog cannot jump up on a person if he is sitting.
· A dog cannot run out of the house or jump out of the car if he is sitting.
· A dog cannot knock over a small child if you ask him to sit instead.
· A dog cannot pull you on the lead while you are chatting with a friend if he is sitting.
Train using a portion of your dog's food allowance, train little and often, and keep it fun! If you would like a copy of my worksheet then please do email me at info@bark-ology.co.uk for your free copy.
If you are not already, join my free training group @barkologytraininggroup and post your training videos and questions.
Good luck!
Karen 🐾
