“SIT” Command

A reward marker is a valuable tool to have in your tool box.

A simple “yes” or “click” from a clicker can mean a lot to your dog. This marker will allow your dog to truly understand that he/she did something that right and a treat is on the way!

A great way of getting your dog to sit, is by first getting your dog to follow your hand with food in it.

By placing the food in your hand and not allowing complete access to the treat in your hand, (I like to put the food in between the fold of my thumb and palm) this allows the dog to be able to continue following your hand until the dog is in the position that you want him in.

Place a treat in your hand, in a way that the dog can smell and possibly see the treat. move the your hand close to the dogs nose to the point where your dog is following your hand very closely.

While your dogs nose is very close to your hand and he is following your hand well, start to move your hand upward.

Moving your hand upward will start to move the dogs head up, as well as moving his hind end down into a sitting position.

Once the dog is in a sitting position, mark and reward the sit.

Do this a few times, and when the dog is sitting pretty well with the lure you can then start naming the command “sit”.

When the dog is sitting fairly reliable with the reward we can then start to fade out the lure. Fading out the lure may take some time. We can start fading it out by not moving your hand so high or even leaving the treat out from the hand and rewarding the dog once the dog is in the sitting position.

Another great way to teach the sit is by shaping the behavior.

Shaping a behavior is very simple. We wait for the dog to do the behavior, mark the behavior and reward. Once the dog understands that a certain behavior is something he can do for a reward we can then start to name the behavior.

Shaping the sit command is very simple. Like any other behavior, we are just going to wait for the dog to do the behavior we want.

Wait for the dog to sit. The moment the dog sits, mark the sit and reward.

It’s as simple as that!