How to Teach Your Boxer to Sit

Teaching your boxer to sit is a basic command that's helpful to have mastered in a variety of situations. Sometimes it's just for convenience, but other times you may need to control your dog by having him sit. Training your dog properly will instill in the dog that you are at the top of the social hierarchy, and ultimately makes the dog a better pet.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Start by training your boxer with the aid of treats. Once he masters the skill with food as a reward, you can transition him to obeying your commands with the use of a verbal cue or hand signal.

2. Hold the treat in front of your boxer's nose, and gently lead his nose up by raising the treat. As his neck rises to follow the treat, he'll naturally be inclined to sit to more easily follow the treat.

3. Say, "sit" firmly but gently as soon as you see the boxer start to sit, so that he starts to make the connection between the word and the action. When he sits, give him lots of love and praise, as well as the treat.

4. Limit the time you spend training your boxer to five minutes. After that, the dog typically loses interest and anything you try to teach him will just frustrate both of you.

Tips & Warnings

• If needed, you can gently put pressure on the dog's hindquarters to encourage him to sit. But don't push too hard, as you could do damage to the dog's back and hips more easily than you realize.

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