How to Train Your Dog to Sit

Use patience, encouragement and treats to teach your dog one of the most basic of all commands, "Sit."

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Dog Dishes
• Dog Food
• Dog Toys
• Dog Training Aids
• Dog Treats

1. Stand in front of your dog.

2. Hold a treat right near your pet's nose, just out of his or her reach.

3. Slowly move the treat over your pup's head and toward his or her tail.

4. Say your dog's name, and give the command "Sit."

5. Keep the treat at nose level. If the treat is held too high, the dog will jump.

6. Say the word "good" at the exact second the dog sits.

7. Praise abundantly and give your pet a treat for any movement that resembles the sit position.

8. Release your pet from the sit position with the "release" or "free" command.

9. Repeat for 5 minutes.

[kims3003]

on 8/7/2009 This worked!

[josiesusinno]

on 8/5/2009 This was very helpful :)

[rhartland]

on 7/23/2009 Trainers have always mentioned it is better to point out what your dog is doing so that is does not get confused.

IT would be better to say "good sit" instead of just good or sit.

[BrendaRobinson]

on 7/11/2009 Correction: you don't want to tell the dog "good" when it sits - you say "sit" when it sits. Always teach a dog WHAT it is doing - not what TO DO. So as the haunches hit the floor the word should leave your mouth. Training goes much faster... it's called timing. And timing is one of the main ingredients when training any animal. Other than that you gave good advice. :)

[campbear18]

on 5/12/2009 We also use hand signals in our training. The hand sign that we use for sit is one finger up on your hand.