Dog Training Basics: Start With "Sit"

Many people's experience with dog training can be described like this; when their dog is six months to a year old, they sign up for a dog obedience class; some make it through the six or eight week course and some do not; but for many, that is the end of their dog's education, and they describe their pet as "an obedience school dropout."

To these people, I say, "Let's be honest." The dog didn't drop out. You did. After all, who didn't drive to the class or decided to skip the session?"

The Problem with Obedience School

But in fairness to dropouts, let's also admit that a dog obedience class can be a frustrating experience for both dog and owner if this class is the dog's first experience with training. Obedience classes traditionally begin with the heel command, which is actually one of the more complex things you can ask a dog to understand. It's like expecting a child to learn algebra when they haven't had basic arithmetic.

When you give a dog the heel command, what you're asking her to do is not one specific thing. What she is supposed to do depends entirely on what you're doing. She should walk when you walk, turn when you turn, and stop when you stop. Add to that the fact that if this is her first training experience, your poor dog doesn't even understand that training is what is going on. She's not a bad dog, and she's not a stupid dog, but she not only doesn't know what you're asking her to do, she also probably doesn't even understand that you're asking her to do something!

An Easier Way

It doesn't have to be this way. There is a simpler way to train your dog, so relaxed that you can begin training your puppy the day you bring her home.

You start with sit.

The "sit" command is the most universally useful command you can teach your dog. The new dog owner might wonder why. "How is this useful? She's not doing anything!"

Exactly! A dog that is sitting is not jumping all over your grandmother, or whatever other obnoxious behavior you want her to stop doing. And more importantly, a dog that is sitting when told is a dog that is under control and doing what you want.

The traditional method of teaching the sit command is to have the dog on leash at your side, repeat the command "Sit" while you pull up on the leash and push down on her butt. You're forcing the dog into the correct position, but this is not enjoyable and can be stressful and frustrating for both you and the dog.

But why force the dog into position when you can coax? Start with a treat, something yummy like dried liver, or even a piece of kibble if she hasn't been fed yet. Call the dog, get her attention, and make sure she knows you have a treat.

It won't take long. Within seconds she'll be there, her nose right at your fingertips. From this position, all you have to do is move the treat back over her nose and the top of her head.

Keep your hand only an inch or two over the dog's head; too high and she'll rear up on her hind legs. But, with the treat moving right back over her head, the nose will follow it, up and back... until... she... SITS!

Tell her she's a good dog and give her the treat.

Now you've proven to yourself that this trick works, so the next time you do it, tell her to "sit" as you move the treat back over her head. When she sits, give her the treat and praise her.

Do this a number of times every day. When you feed your dog, she'll probably be jumping and frisking when she sees you coming with the food bowl. Tell her to sit, and when she sits, tell her she's a good dog and set down the bowl.

You don't need to give the dog a treat now every time you tell her to sit. But do give her praise! She's doing what you asked her to do, acknowledge that, let her know how pleased you are, and what a good dog she is.

Now tell your dog to sit when she's jumping, when you're getting ready to take her out, or occasionally just tell her to sit from across the room to get her used to obeying your commands. Preface the command with her name, so she'll be paying attention. "Susie, sit." When she sits, don't forget to praise!

Some More Commands

Once sit has been mastered, you can teach several other commands with this follow-the-treat method. First have your dog sit. Now pull the treat straight out away from her and tell her to "stand." She'll have to stand to follow the treat. Stand is an important command if you plan to show your dog; the dog needs to be in a stand when the judge comes to examine her. It's also a useful command when the dog is being groomed.

Or, from a sit, move the treat slowly down, not straight down between her paws, but a little way forward, and tell her "down." She'll settle down on the ground to follow the treat. (The distance out from her paws will be different for every dog, due to their size; you want the treat to be right where her nose will land when she moves down.)

These exercises are not just useful in themselves, your dog is also learning to learn. She's learning that sometimes you want her to do something, that there is a word associated with the thing you want her to do, and that if she pays attention, she can figure it out,

Stay

Now for something a bit more advanced; the stay command. This is more difficult for your dog to comprehend because in the previous commands you were asking her to take a specific action. Here you are asking her to do nothing, but to hold still in her current position.

You want to combine stay with another command, such as sit or down. Once again, start with sit. When your dog is sitting, don't praise immediately, but tell her "stay." You'll be using the same brisk tone you use to give her the sit, stand and down command, so she knows you're asking her to do something, but she doesn't know what. Odds are she'll sit there and look at you. After just a few seconds of holding the sit, praise her! She stayed!

With stay, you should use a release word before you praise, to let the dog know she's done. Most trainers use "okay." At the end of a successful stay, say, "Okay! Good girl!"

If she breaks the sit, put her into sit again, tell her stay again, and release and praise after a few seconds of sitting. Remember, make the stay for a very short period when you start, because you want your dog to be doing the correct thing so you can praise and reward her. It won't take long before she realizes that holding still and keeping in a sit is what you want.

Now start inching further away from her while she stays, and making the stay longer. You should be able to work up to a minute stay. Then begin combining stay with the down command, and follow the same procedure as with the sit-stay. Give the command, and release and praise within a few seconds, gradually increasing the time and your distance from the dog.

Recall

Another important command to teach your dog is the recall, the "come" command. It is traditional in obedience to teach come after stay, but if you prefer you may begin earlier. But do teach the sit first.

Teaching a dog to come is easy. A dog will often come without training if you just call her name. But to make it official, call her name and give the command. "Princess, come!" If she doesn't come, go to where she is and show her a treat, that'll get her attention!

Do this a number of times, having a treat when you call your dog. When she comes, have her sit before praising and giving her the treat. A good recall is a dog who comes when called and remains under control, not a dog who is leaping all over you.

And never give the come command when you are calling a dog in order to confine her, take her to the vet, or chew her out for being bad, this will be training your dog that she does not want to come when called! In these cases, don't call your dog, go to where she is.

Continuing on

If you've followed these steps, you have a dog with a good basic grounding in obedience training. Now you'll want to take her out into the wider world and continue on with her training. You can sign up for obedience class and investigate other interesting fields for a trained dog, such as retrieving and agility.

But be aware that even if you've done all these steps, when you take your dog to a class, you might be dismayed by her behavior. She sits and stays beautifully at home, but in class she's all over the place, being the class clown! Don't be discouraged, this new environment and other dogs and people are extremely distracting to her. At first she'll probably be too interested and excited in everything else to pay attention to you. Just be patient, and eventually she'll settle down.

Above all, never consider that you're "done" training your dog! There's always something new to learn, and new ways for you and your dog to have fun together.

Acknowledgements: I am not a dog trainer, but a dog owner who is training my own dog. I haven't invented any new methods, but have described methods that others have created and that have worked for me. For the method of coaxing your dog into position with treats, I am indebted to Dr. Ian Dunbar, whose books and videos on dog training I highly recommend.