One of the first steps of dog behavior training is to teach your dog how to sit. To most people, showing your dog how to sit could be a really hard task. Let’s face it most dogs are just very stubborn. Don’t let this worry you though you will be able to teach your dog how to sit down.
Because a lot of dogs are somewhat stubborn by nature, there is something that you should do before you can even attempt to teach your dog to sit. You need to train your dog to answer/react to your voice.
When you are confident that your dog will answer to your voice, you can try to teach him/her to sit. Like most dog behavior training methods, when showing your dog how to sit, you really should have some treats readily available. Remember, treats should only be given for a reward, so just give your dog a treat when he/she does something that you are teaching them. Quite a few people give their puppies treats all through the day, which will cause them to think that they don’t need to do anything to get that reward.
Now, you and your dog should go to a quiet area. It is important that you take your dog into an area with some privacy. Dogs can have short attention spans and the smallest distraction can cause them to lose focus on the ultimate goal, learning how to sit.
Since you and your dog are in a quiet room, stand in front of your dog. In a calm voice say, “sit.” After you say that, easily push your dog’s rear-end to the floor. When your dog’s rear end is touching the floor, even if you have coax it to the floor, give your puppy a treat. Remember, dog behavior training really depends on rewarding your dog for doing the right thing.
After saying the command “sit” a few times and pushing his/her rear end to the floor and rewarding it, it will realize what is going on. It will understand that when his/her rear end touches the floor, it will get a reward. It will start to associate putting its rear on the floor with getting a reward and sit down without being touched/pushed.
Congratulations. You have just taken the first step in dog obedience training. If you can train your dog to sit, you can basically train it to do anything that you wish. Dogs are a lot more intelligent than most people think, so don’t just stop your teaching after you have showed your puppy to sit. Move on to more advanced tricks, and soon, your dog will be one of the most well-behaved dogs in your neighborhood.