Training your dog to behave well or listen to you might not sound easy, but it’s not that difficult either, it’s all about the responsibilities you accept for the pet. You will have to train your puppy to behave in several different ways and take care of it very well. Dogs or any other pet do not misbehave on purpose; they only follow their basic instincts depending on their nature.
The training solely depends on the relationship between the owner and his pet. You can either take a dog obedience training class or do it yourself. There are a few basic commands you can teach your dog to have a healthy and loving relationship. Commands like sit, come, down, stay and leave it are the most common. ‘Sit’ command is an essential and most straightforward command to teach.
To train your dog how to sit, you have to spend at least 5-10 minutes with your dog every day. I am sure that is just a minimal amount of time you will have to invest for your adorable new furry friend. You will need an ample amount of treats to treat your dog when it listens and understands your command.
- Make sure you have the full attention of your dog.
- Always keep treats in your hand, before you start to train your dog.
- The treats must be alluring enough for the dog, or it won’t be keen on learning any command.
- Keep the treat close to the nose of your dog, and make sure it is obvious.
- Slowly move the treat behind its ears and say the command out loud ‘’sit’’.
- Your dog might move and not pay attention to the command at first, keep trying and do not give the treat before it sits.
- As soon as your dog sits on the ground with alert ears, acknowledge the dog by saying ‘’good boy/girl’’ or ‘’good job’’.
- Give your dog the treat soon after it sits and pets him instantly. This way the dog to understands to please you. He realizes that listening to you he will get praised followed by a tasty treat.
- You will have to keep doing these steps repeatedly until your dog sits even without the treat.
- After you are successful making the dog sit, you have to call out the name and tell him to sit without the treat.
If you still face problems in training your dog to sit, you will have to spend more time with it. You will have to realize the problem and understand its behavior. Once your dog understands how to sit, you will have to keep repeating the command to remind it sincerely. You sure have to be patient with your dog. All dogs are different and have different methods of learning. If this does not work, I am sure you will figure out other ways to teach your dog to sit.
Why Train Your Dog To Sit?
Teaching your dog to be obedient is helpful not only to you but will also help your dog to focus and settle at one place. It will help him learn self-control. The only rule to train your dog is to practice obedience with positive reinforcement. Sit is the most natural command and help your dog to be calmer and behave in a controlled manner.
It will also help you to understand your dog better and manage him in difficult situations. It will make it easier for you to control your dog when on a walk or at a dog-friendly public place. It develops good communication skills between you and your dog which leads to building trust and understanding.
A well-trained dog with good manners is a happy and confident dog. Sit command equals to reward for a dog. Once you start training your dog, he will always listen to your command to get a reward. Getting reward keeps him happy and more motivated to listen to you. Your dog might use sit command to say please or greet people. A sitting dog is less likely to create any nuisance or harm anyone. It is the foundation of advanced training.
When should I Start to Teach My Puppies To Sit?
The puppies are fast learners and start to learn rapidly from the time they are born. Puppies stay healthier with their mothers if kept for a month. If you are planning on adopting a puppy, adopt it after he/she is a month or 40 days old, when his nutrition and health is at the peak. It takes a little time to adjust to the new house, and you can start training it as soon as it is 7 or 8 weeks old. When the puppies are young, their attention span is comparatively short, just like humans. It will need a lot of patience at first to even train them the ‘’sit’’ command.
Training your dog other commands other than sit would be exhausting for your little puppy. Your puppy will respond more to the commands sit and stay. If you want to train your dog with traditional methods, you cannot expect a dog to learn anything before 6 months. But sparing 15 minutes daily would make your puppy understand the ways to settle, behave and sit.
Things to remember before you start training your puppy to sit.
Patience – Puppies have a very short attention span, so you should be patient with it and repeat the command various times for the puppy to understand it.
Environment – The training environment should be tranquil and distraction-free. Also, your puppy should feel comfortable in that environment.
Alone time – Indoors would be an excellent option to train your dog initially, but make sure no one else is there to interfere when you are teaching your dog.
Take a break – Your dog might start the training with a very active mood and might listen to you for a while. But their attitude might change and may not pay a lot of attention later; it is advisable to take a break then.
Benefits Of Teaching Your Dog To Sit Are Numerous
- More time with your dog – Training your dog allows you to spend more time with your dog.
- Increase in loyalty – Your dog starts becoming more loyal to you when you teach your dog something regularly.
- Discipline – Dogs have a stimulant working in them, so teaching or training them every day at the same time gives them a sense of understanding discipline and time.
- Bonding – You bond better with your dog in several ways, also it will keep the dog happy.
- Happy dog – Listening to commands and playing with you will tire your dog which will help to keep your dog healthy and keep a good appetite.
Dogs enjoy being trained and stay healthier and happier when taught well. Training not only includes commands but play and treats as well. Dogs love spending time with their human buddies; seeing their humans focusing entirely on them is a happy feeling for the dogs.
How to Teach Sit: Lure Training
Lure training can be called, as a food lure where food is used to teach your dog to sit. In this method, you can use food as a treat to train your dog to sit and motivate your dog to perform a task for his favorite food or toy.
Lure dog training is considered to be new method training, lure training sure needs a little practice but then at the end it is worth it. Alluring your dog with food and training it at the same time is different than what was practiced traditionally. But it has been noticed that dogs learn faster this way and also it keeps them happier while training.
Some people might say that luring dog is almost similar to bribing it and making it learn, but it is for a brief period, and on the other hand, it can be looked at differently, like rewarding the dog for listening to you. You can reward your dog by either treat him a snack/food or toys, food is more effective.
Some ways to use the lure training are listed below;
Treat or toy – Make sure you have a treat or a toy to lure your dog.
Small and easy to do the trick – Your treat should not be extremely alluring for the dog. Otherwise, it will try to snatch or grab it as soon as you hold it.
Small piece – Your treat should be more or less a small and exciting piece of meat or cheese.
Hand movement – Move the treat from the nose of the dog and take your hand with the treat behind its head. You will see the dog following your hand movement and will place its base on the ground.
Immediate reward – Reward your dog immediately after it listens to your command, timing is critical. As dogs don’t have a considerable span of attention, it might get bored if you are taking to long to reward your dog.
Use both hands – Rewarding your dog from the same hand you are holding the lure is not advisable. It is crucial for the dog to understand the difference between your lure hand and reward hand.
Praising your dog – You will also have to acknowledge and appreciate your dogs by saying ‘’good boy/girl’’ or ‘’good job’’. Praising and petting your dog after it completes every task or listens to your command is relevant and useful.
Release your dog – You need to release your dog from the position. Step away a little from your dog and say ‘’release’’ or ‘’done’’.
Practice – Practice and patience are the keys to train your dog. Sometimes it just might not happen the way you want it to be but do not lose your patience and stay calm while training your dog.
Lure your dog is an easy method to teach your dog how to sit. It is fast and quick; this method helps your dog to learn with happiness. Your bonding grows strong, and also your dog starts trusting you more. The bond you make while training your dog will last a lifetime with you even after your dog is not there to support you, as we all know it is regrettable as dogs have a really short life span.
Here’s one good video that you could watch to practice with your dog or puppy. Happy time with your buddy 🙂
How to Teach Sit: Clicker Training
Usually, signals are the ways used to train a dog, but sometimes we make signals with our voice like whistling or talking to the dog in a different tone, physical signs can be used like pointing at our dogs or moving our fingers to make them understand something. But sometimes a device can be used to train our dogs these devices can be a whistle or a clicker. Clickers can be an excellent option if you do not want to train your dog with the lure method that is alluring them with food. Clickers make a unique sound to make them understand an event.
Clicker training is different from luring as it has a clicker which is a metal strip inside a small plastic box that makes a clicking sound when pressed.
There are various clickers available in the market, like clickers with big buttons with a wrist strap, clickers with a small button, clickers with medium buttons and many more. You can go to the market chose the clicker you are most comfortable with and think your dog will respond and purchase one. The largely buttoned clicker is extremely easy to click. The clicker with the large button has a loud click which helps your dog to hear the sound more lucidly.
Prepare with a clicker: Purchase and keep yourself prepared with a clicker before you start training your dog with it.
Help your dog understand: Your dog needs to understand the clicker is a sound which it will need to follow to receive your commands. A clicker needs to produce a sound which has to be audible to the dog. Understand if your dog is able to listen to it or not.
Include treats: You will need to include treats with your clicker training to make the dog understand. Give your dog a treat every time after you click the clicker. You will have to repeat this method ten times. This works as a stimulant to your dog. You can even try doing this clicker method by going to other rooms and pressing the clicker, your dog when hears the sound and comes to you, you will need to give it a treat.
Use a clicker to capture behavior: By just clicking and treating a dog you can quickly discover many new tricks your dog can perform. Sitting is just a basic command.
Test your dog: You can test your dog by clicking the clicker when its attention is elsewhere if your dog looks at you immediately treat them with an exciting treat and never forget to appreciate their gesture.
The dog joins their performance with the click and, following, the reward. The dog better understands what it is performing, but this also makes the dog more likely to replicate the action when required to in the future.
Watch the video below to practice with your buddy for how to train your dog to sit with clicker.
A simple error when practicing with the clicker for dog training is to ignore the praise. Even though your dog has been taught to answer to the clicker, even they are supporting the actions to earn approval from you. Don’t overlook the dog’s requirement for praise, affection, and warmth from its owner. Since clicker practice is award based, if your dog has a low appetite or isn’t motivated by bonuses or food, this sort of exercise possibly won’t be useful. Also, if you are continuing using clicker training for more difficult moves or actions, you need very accurate hand-eye coordination and comprehensive inspection to click the clicker at the specific moment you require. If you cannot continue to do this, you will distract and lead to improper training.
Accidents are normal in puppies up to a year old while you train your dog to sit. The causes for accidents vary from unfinished house training to a difference in the puppy’s atmosphere. Keep on practicing without hesitating. With further complications, you should surely get advice from a veterinarian to check the medical condition of the dog.
