How to Train Your Dog to Sit

Series Summary

Dogs can bring an infinite amount of joy and companionship into our lives, and dog training or obedience school gives dogs the discipline they need to stay happy as well. Coming home to a wagging tail and an eager smile creates a feeling of love and happiness, and can make anyone feel needed as part of a family. In fact, studies have shown that having a pet can reduce stress, lower blood pressure and relieve depression. Whether dog training in the backyard with a puppy or taking a long walk in the park with an old German shepherd, it's important to show dogs as much love as they show their owners. In this free video series on how to train a dog, professional trainer Nancy Cusick teaches dog owners the basic obedience commands that make living with a dog much easier. Cusick uses positive reinforcement techniques to teach dogs to stay, sit, come, lie down, shake and leave it. Training a dog gives the animal enough discipline to function in the family and find its place in the pack. Cusick also offers tips in clicker training, which marks a dog's good behavior with an audible click that signals a treat is coming.

Video Transcript

"Hello, my name is Nancy Cusick and I'm a professional dog trainer in Austin, Texas. You can visit my website at trainmydogs.com. Today we're going to show you how to teach your puppy to sit. This is one of the first behaviors you would teach when you're getting a new dog. It helps prevent jumping. We're going to replace the behavior with sitting. So, if your puppy is standing, you're going to take a yummy treat, lure it above their head, their bottom's going to hit the floor, mark it with a yes, and give them their reward. Good girl. And we'll keep repeating that, yes good girl. And, as soon as you can, we take food out of our hand and start to get the puppy to where they get in what we call offer mode. Where they begin to offer to you the behavior, good job, whatever you do. This is a great way to teach it when you're feeding them their dinner, so you don't have to give a bunch of extra treats at home. You can also use toys. Yes, good girl, good job, good job. That's a good puppy, good job. Thanks"