It goes without saying
that the basic foundation of any dog training program is to
teach your dog how to obey specific commands. If you are
capable of making your dog understand and obey the sit
command then you have mastered the foundation of training
your dog. Making a dog sit on command may seem a trivial
matter to some, but to dog owners it is the first step to
developing an obedient pet.
The sit command is an important tool in laying the
cornerstone of your dog training program. It is a command
that needs to be used frequently to keep most young dogs
under control. You can make good use of the sit command
whenever you take your dog for his daily walk. It is very
common for dogs to become excited especially when they are
brought outside and are inclined begin jumping, frolicking
and barking at people. If you have trained your dog to obey
the sit command he will immediately stop his antics and
quietly rest his bottom on the ground.
Whenever issuing the sit command or any other command for
that matter, always use a very firm tone of voice. In the
initial stages of teaching your dog the meaning of the
command you may find your dog has some difficulty in
understanding exactly what you mean or does not want to
understand possibly due to an inborn stubborn streak. If
this should happen demonstrate what you mean by gently
pushing his rear end into the sitting position. Dogs are
just like people and appreciate praise whenever they do
something that pleases you, so a pat on the back or a little
treat will not be out of place.
There are many situations where you will need to use the sit
command. For example, when you are in the process of taking
your dog out for a walk and he tends to drag you toward the
door or he jumps on you as soon as you enter the house can
be corrected by enforcing the sit command.
You can now enlarge upon his training by adding secondary
commands such as stay.
First, have him obey the sit command, then slowly move
backwards away from him arm outstretched, palm raised in the
stop gesture and telling him firmly to "stay". This sequence
should be repeated many times until he obeys you
effortlessly. Once again, don’t forget to praise or reward
your dog after he perfectly responds to your command.
There are many other times when this simple command can be
helpful to you dog. There may be a time when your dog
becomes excited and disturbed about something and by
commanding him to sit you are diverting his attention from
the problem in hand to thoughts of the reward that he now
hopes will be forthcoming and most often he will calm down.
With this simple command you have now laid the foundations
to build a caring relationship with an obedient dog.
