How to Teach Labrador Retriever to Sit

I own a 1 and a half year old black lab named Tucker. I taught him to sit when he was only 2 months old a lot easier than I thought. Here are the steps I used to teach him. I am no dog expert, but I used my own techniques to train mine.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• dog treats
• patience

1. 

   Teaching a young Labrador retriever to sit needs to be done while the dog is young. I recommend soon after you get the dog. If the dog is young, then the process is easier. If the dog is older, it may take a little longer, but stick with it and it will happen.

2. After the Labrador can respond to his/her name, get the dog's attention while you are sitting on your knees. Have some small doggy treats ready but not visible to the dog.

3. Address the Labrador by his/her name and say the word sit. Take the treat and put it to the dogs nose. As the dog is trying to get it, move you're hand slowly towards the tail and it is a natural reaction for the dog to sit as his/her head goes back. This worked like a charm for me. Continue to use this approach over and over and enforce the word sit as you do it. When the dog does this properly, praise him/her and reward with the treat. The Labrador will catch on very quickly and will learn how to sit on command without even being rewarded.

Tips & Warnings

• Be patient
• Have fun with it, training a dog needs to be a fun and bonding process.

[02SmithA]

on 4/22/2009 Love the labradors... have taught mine several things too... sit, paw, wait, stay, etc... great dogs