Are you trying to train your dog and wonder why you can’t even get it to sit?

Don’t despair! Training a dog takes a little time and quite a lot of patience but it can be done and the payoffs are tremendous. Sitting is good – but sitting and staying is better so here’s a guide on how to teach your dog to sit down…and stay put!

Before you start – you need to know…

Patience is key. You and your canine are not going to master this in a morning.

Reward good behaviour. Verbal praise and a small dog treat are great positive reinforcement but make sure you limit the edible treats to training sessions. If you don’t do this, your dog will come to accept them as the ‘norm’ and will stop seeing them as training rewards.

When your dog makes a mistake, let it know but only verbally. If you use physical discipline it will slow the training process as your dog will start to associate pain with training and will not want to participate. Would you? Most dog trainers frown on physical discipline but some say it is justified if your dog has done something totally unacceptable like biting or attacking another dog without justification.

Keep training sessions short. You will get more achievement from three sessions each lasting ten minutes than from one lasting half an hour. If they’re short and fun, both you and your dog will look forward to them…and they’re easier to fit into the day.

What you’ll need:

• Small edible dog treats

• An area with no distractions

• A collar

• A 6 foot (2 meter) leash made of nylon webbing or leather. Don’t use a retractable leash – keep that for walks and play times.

Sit…

Take your dog to a place where there are no distractions and don’t forget the dog treats!

1. Hold the treat in front of the dog so that it can smell it.
2. Holding the treat in your hand, move it up and towards your dog, so that the treat is above the dog’s nose. At this point, the dog should start automatically sitting.
3. Once the dog’s rear is on the floor, say “sit” once, in a clear, firm voice. Then praise the dog and give it the treat.

Your dog may not sit when the treat is held up. It may try to reach the treat by stretching its’ neck or jumping up. If it does this, put the treat back into your pocket. Start again from step one, this time gently pushing down on the dog’s lower back as you raise the treat.

When you’ve successfully completed the ‘sit’ five or six times, finish the session.

Repeat the ‘sit’ training until you are absolutely sure that your dog understands it. At that point, give the dog a treat every other time it sits, then every third time and every fourth time until the dog sits purely for verbal praise.

Stay…

The most important part of this command is the hand signal. This is because the dog will learn to recognize it immediately. Practice it yourself before you use it during training.

The “Stay” hand signal

Bring your hand up, with your fingers outstretched and hold it still with your palm right in front of where your dog’s nose would be – but not touching it. Only say “stay” once for each hand signal.

“Stay” training session

You’ll need to keep your dog on a leash to start with because it’s likely it won’t ‘stay’ straight away!

1. Hold the very end of the leash and make the dog sit. You can stand in front of the dog or beside it.
2. Still holding the leash, step in front of the dog and as you face it, do the hand signal (hold it continually) and say “stay” once in a firm, clear voice. Then take two steps back from your dog.
3. Hold your hand signal for between 5 and 10 seconds. While the dog is ‘staying’, talk to it quietly and try and keep eye contact with it. Then lower your hand, step to the dog, praise it and give it an edible treat.
4. Once your dog is getting the hang of ‘staying’, start increasing the ‘staying’ time and your distance from your dog with each session.
5. Finally, once your dog really has got it, add in dropping the leash to the floor.

If your dog stands up or won’t stay, bring it back using the leash. Don’t call it by name as this may confuse the dog in the future. Simply repeat the four steps, over and over.

When your dog has completely mastered ‘staying’, start weaning off the edible treats as before.

Helpful hints

• You need to practice every day while it’s learning and then every few days so it remembers.
• Don’t do a training session if you are in a bad mood, tired, late or short of time.
• Make sure everyone in the family uses the same words and signals.
• Your dog wants to please and isn’t trying to annoy you by not learning. Patience!
• Puppies have shorter attention spans than older dogs. Keep the sessions short or your little one will get tired and bored!

Some days it just doesn’t happen! Stop before you both get frustrated and try again tomorrow!