# How To Teach Your Dog to Sit



## lucy82 (Dec 23, 2010)

Here is one of the many ways to teach your dog to sit:

Have a treat of some sort in your hand. Now hold the treat out in front of you and let the dog sniff it for about five seconds. Then start to walk backwards while still holding the treat out in front of you. The dog should follow you. Walk around in that position for a little while(a minute??) and then suddenly stop and lift your hand up. As you do, say "sit" in a sort of firm way. This should cause the dog to sit down. If the dog does sit, give the dog the treat and say "good sit" in a loving manner. Practice this a few times and your dog will soon learn the command "sit."


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

How do I teach him to do the laundry while I'm at work?


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Emoore said:


> How do I teach him to do the laundry while I'm at work?


:spittingcoffee::rofl::rofl:


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

This sounds like a very complicated way to teach sit, and seems like it would create a lure/food dependent dog.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

If I walk backwards for a minute I'll bump into lord knows what...that's a long walk backwards.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Most dogs would lose focus and interest after a minute. Start by moving your hand up right away to get the dog to sit, and reward right away; and set up the exercises so there are a lot of rewards coming in quick succession. This will keep the dog motivated and interested.


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

I don't remember teaching any of my dogs to sit. I think the other dogs just tell the new guy that if he wants food, he better sit.


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## lizzyjo (Jan 6, 2011)

:happyboogieRerun....funny


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## RockinIt (Jan 29, 2011)

BlackPuppy said:


> I don't remember teaching any of my dogs to sit. I think the other dogs just tell the new guy that if he wants food, he better sit.


^^^^This^^^^ Made me laugh! 

I actually use a method posted earlier where you just hold the treat up to begin with. The dog's butt can't stay off the ground too long if they look up.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Emoore said:


> How do I teach him to do the laundry while I'm at work?


Yeah, I need to learn that too...... :wild:


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

what if your dog doesn't sit when you lift your hand
and say sit???



lucy82 said:


> Here is one of the many ways to teach your dog to sit:
> 
> Have a treat of some sort in your hand. Now hold the treat out in front of you and let the dog sniff it for about five seconds. Then start to walk backwards while still holding the treat out in front of you. The dog should follow you. Walk around in that position for a little while(a minute??) and then suddenly stop and lift your hand up. As you do, say "sit" in a sort of firm way. This should cause the dog to sit down. If the dog does sit, give the dog the treat and say "good sit" in a loving manner. Practice this a few times and your dog will soon learn the command "sit."


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

BlackPuppy said:


> I don't remember teaching any of my dogs to sit. I think the other dogs just tell the new guy that if he wants food, he better sit.


LOL that happens at my house as well. If fosters don't do what they're supposed to, my guys step in to tell them the ropes. Especially Tessa. Say we're all at the back door and someone isn't sitting so I won't open the door yet... She'll do a quick "D***** SIT ALREADY I WANT TO GO OUT!" and they sit


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

> Most dogs would lose focus and interest after a minute. Start by moving your hand up right away to get the dog to sit, and reward right away; and set up the exercises so there are a lot of rewards coming in quick succession. This will keep the dog motivated and interested.


^ This.

Use the lure to get the dog's head to go up and follow your hand, which should cause his behind to go down onto the ground. As soon as the butt goes down, click and treat. 

For some dogs, it helps having them backed toward a wall or other object to keep them from walking backward instead of dropping their behind down. There are some who are pretty likely to start stepping backward.

And, this method works on most but not all dogs. I worked with a Schnoodle (Schnauzer/Poodle) who really wanted to please but was about the dumbest dog I have ever met. I would get his head to go up, but his behind would just not go down. He'd go backward. Put him to where his behind was in a corner, he'd walk backward / to the side. I ended up just putting my hand on his behind and guiding his behind down while luring with the other hand. He got it eventually and does really, really nice sits on command now, but it was a pain teaching him.


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

AbbyK9 said:


> ^ This.
> 
> Use the lure to get the dog's head to go up and follow your hand, which should cause his behind to go down onto the ground. As soon as the butt goes down, click and treat.
> 
> ...


I've worked with a lot of dogs with very similar non-sitting issues. Some spin, some jump, some back up...


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## DCluver33 (May 27, 2010)

DJEtzel said:


> I've worked with a lot of dogs with very similar non-sitting issues. Some spin, some jump, some back up...


what weirdos lol (the dogs not you)


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

DCluver33 said:


> what weirdos lol (the dogs not you)


Right? And a lot will NOT sit if you push on their bum, either. I usually have to capture self-sits with the clicker that way. It can be QUITE annoying.


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## DCluver33 (May 27, 2010)

DJEtzel said:


> Right? And a lot will NOT sit if you push on their bum, either. I usually have to capture self-sits with the clicker that way. It can be QUITE annoying.


that is annoying thus making them even weirder. You'd think they'd sit because it's a natural position, but apparently not lol.


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

DCluver33 said:


> that is annoying thus making them even weirder. You'd think they'd sit because it's a natural position, but apparently not lol.


You'd think! Some just... don't. I guess the majority definitely do, but since I see dozens of new dogs every week, I'm bound to run into the weird ones.


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## Madzdad71 (Feb 4, 2011)

I can't teach my dog to sit for the life of me. Everytime her butt hits the floor she jumps up to put her paws on me, she wont sit still. I worked on it every night for the past week. She sees the food, I say sit and she does, just for a second, then jumps up looking for food. It's starting to become painfully redundant.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Madzdad71 said:


> I can't teach my dog to sit for the life of me. Everytime her butt hits the floor she jumps up to put her paws on me, she wont sit still. I worked on it every night for the past week. She sees the food, I say sit and she does, just for a second, then jumps up looking for food. It's starting to become painfully redundant.


Can you explain exactly what you're doing? For example - are you luring her with the food? Are you using a marker when her butt hits the floor to indicate that that's what she's being rewarded for? How quickly are you delivering the reward?


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## kidkhmer (Jul 14, 2010)

Or hold a treat in you hand and simply raise it up and forward over the dogs head so it sits ! All that walking sounds exhausting !


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