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Through power positive reinforcementyou can teach your canine best friend all kinds of useful behaviors and cool tricks. Teaching your dog to “sit” on cue is a basic skill that you can use as a foundation for other behaviors, as well as a way to focus the beginning of training. Whether you have a new puppy or a respected adult, you can teach your dog to sit with patience and a few treats.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to get your dog to sit on cue.
What do you need?
Before you begin, make sure you have the necessary supplies.
Choose a tasty amp
Choose the reinforcement to give your dog when he performs the sit sign. Good boost is something your dog loves, it’s small and easy to give. For 99% of dogs this is some kind of food or treat. Treats like sliced hot dogs, small pieces of cheese or lunch meat, or store-bought workout treats are good options.
Decide on a marker
A marker is an audible or manual signal that pinpoints the exact moment when your dog did something that earned him a reward (a treat). A clicker is a great example of a marker. If you don’t have a clicker, you can use a consistent word like “yes” or “good” or a hand sign like thumbs up, but choose one and stick to it.
Be ready to flag behavior as soon as you see it. The more accurate and faster your assessment, the more effective your learning becomes.
5 steps to get your dog to sit
Use a treat to lure the dog into position
Luring is when you use something your dog will follow, like a treat, to move him into position. With your dog standing in front of you, slowly lift the treat from your dog’s nose above your head. Your dog will likely try to “follow” with his nose, which will result in his hind legs bending in a sitting position.
Treat and repeat
The moment their dog’s bottom touches the floor, mark the behavior and provide a treat.
Repeat this several times until your dog begins to anticipate the movement of the treat and begins to sit before the treat is lured over his head.
Advice
The quicker you mark the behavior and then provide the treat, the better. Avoid any lag time between the marker and the delivery of the treat, or you risk your dog not understanding which behavior earned him the treat (or that sitting on the cue brings him reinforcement).
Add the verbal cue “Sit”
With the treat in hand, raise the treat over the dog’s head again. The moment they start to sit, say “sit” and immediately mark the behavior and give a treat and praise. Repeat this several times.
Add a hand sign
Select the hand sign you want to associate with the “sit” sign. In this case, the signal is a raised pointer. With the treat in hand, give a hand signal and raise the treat over the dog’s head again. The moment they start to sit, say “sit” and immediately mark the behavior and give a treat. Repeat this several times.
Remove the bait and repeat
You can now hand signal or say the “sit” sign without using a treat bait. Signal or say “sit” and the moment your dog sits, mark the behavior and immediately give him a treat and praise.
Practice using it only hand sign or verbal sign. Mark the behavior, treat and praise every time.
Now that your dog can “sit” on cue, you can start teaching your dog other new tricks like “down” and “stay”. Always remember to enjoy the learning process together, take your time and have a good time.
