Victoria’s Positive Dog Training Methods are the way to go
When your puppy knows how to sit on your command you will have control over him in almost any situation because a sitting dog can’t be up to any mischief, even if they are insecure or perhaps even afraid in certain situations, the “sit” command can help to let them calm down.
Contrary to what most people think training a dog to sit is not so difficult at all.
In the following video Victoria teaches Dylan the Sit command
In Teacher’s Pet, Victoria Stilwell shows you how to employ her Positive Reinforcement Method to train your dog the right way, growing your level of communication to strengthen the bond between you and your pet.
Sit is one of the first cues you’re ever going to teach your puppy or your dog, and it’s a great cue to be able to use in any kind of different situations that you want. It’s really starting to build up that language of communication between you and your dog, and I’m going to demonstrate it today with Dylan, who’s about a 10-week-old puppy. So, I’m going to start at the very beginning and show you the process Positive Reinforcement Dog Training.
Here we go.
In the positive reinforcement method of dog training, food is often used to reward desired behaviors. So, I’m going to put the treat in front of the puppy’s nose, and he has got to work out how to get it out of my hand. And the only way he’s going to get it is if he puts his behind on the ground. At this stage, I’m not going to tell him to do anything because he doesn’t know what the word ‘sit’ means. There’s no point telling him to do it. I want him to build up the association of the action to the reward.
Puppies have a short attention span, so it’s important for me to keep him motivated. But his brain is working this out. Now, his brain is thinking about it. Again, even a pup at this age can problem solve. Good boy! As soon as he puts his bottom on the ground, he gets the treat. He still hasn’t made the association yet because it’s too early. Let’s see if he does this again. Good boy!
I don’t mind that he put his paw up because, at the moment, I’m just looking for him to put his bottom on the ground. Good boy! Good boy! Now, as he’s in the process of putting his bottom on the ground, I’m going to put the word to the action. ‘Sit,’ good boy! Good boy! Sit!
That time he didn’t get the reward right away because I don’t want to make him think that the action is ‘sit’ and put a paw up. So this time, I’m going to look for just a clean sit without putting the paw up. Sit, good boy! That was a beautiful clean sit, no paws being put up.
Okay, here we go. Sit, good boy! Now, I’m going to put the word at the beginning to see if he’s made the association between the word and the action. What I like about this is that there’s no physical manipulation. I’m not putting my hand on his behind and pressing it down to the ground. I want him to think about it himself. Sit, good boy!
A little bit of a paw came up, but not so much as not to get the treat because that’s the first time he responded to me asking him to sit. Sit, good boy! And now, what you can see is if you look at him closely the next time I do this, see what my hand is doing. He’s now responding to a hand signal as well as my vocal cue. Good boy!
I didn’t actually ask him to sit then. He has just begun to read my hand. So you can use the vocal cue, which is ‘sit,’ and the hand signal together, or you can use the vocal cue by itself or the hand signal by itself. You can mix it up. Remember, this is a very subtle hand signal, but dogs watch our body signals, and we can communicate with them using various signals as well.
Do one more time. Sit, sit, good boy! Good boy! I want to do one without that paw coming up. This is how specific you have to be. You don’t want him to think that the action is putting his behind on the ground and then putting his paw up. Sit, uh-oh! Even if that paw comes up a bit, now he’s not getting it. Sit! Uh-oh!
Sit! Ah! That paw came up a little bit. Sit, good boy! Good boy! Nice, good boy! Keep these sessions short, five to ten minutes, because the pup’s attention span is pretty short. And always finish it on a good note. Very good, yeah! So good, see? It was so good!
I love training dogs a ‘sit’ cue, especially to puppies, because it’s the foundation of building up that common language between you and your dog. And that’s how you teach the sit positively.
Originating Content: Victoria Stilwell
More on dog training:https://grab4dogs.com/category/dog-training/
