doggiestylish

Teaching your dog to sit is the most basic obedience command. It's easy to do with these simple steps!

STEPS

1. Bond with your dog before training. He or she will pay better attention and will be more eager to please.
2. Understand that you are not teaching your dog to sit, per se. Your dog knows how to sit and has been doing so for quite some time. What you are doing is teaching your dog to sit on cue (or "on command", if you prefer) so, if, in the process of training, your dog sits without being told - no reward! Much like a pitcher and catcher in a baseball game, you are establishing a "code" or signals that mean something specific. In this case, you have two choices of how to cue your dog. You can visually cue your dog to sit, usually done by holding up one finger in front of the dog's face, or verbally cue your dog by... well, by saying, "Sit!"
3. Make sure your dog is hungry when you teach this skill and use small, tasty, easy to gobble dog treats. 1/2" cubes of hot dog work very well, as does cheese, Cheerio's or expensive store-bought treats. DON'T use hard biscuits as they take too long to crunch down and you will lose your dog's attention.
4. To get the attention of your dog, say his or her name in a clear but normal voice, and coax the dog to you. If your dog has not learned the basic command 'come', you can teach that to him or her first. Say the dog's name first before the command. (Such as "Fido, come".) Keep the command short and simple. Saying his or her name first gets the attention of the dog, and the simple command next tells the dog what you want.
5. Lead him back into the sitting position with the treat by guiding his nose up and back until he has no choice but to sit. RIGHT BEFORE his bottom hits the ground say, "SIT!", then give the treat. If your dog won't follow the treat into the sitting position and just backs up, try doing this in a corner. You can also ease him into it by rewarding him each time he gets closer to sitting, or push him gently into a sit.
6. Keep using treats until the dog knows exactly what you mean and sits every time you tell him. After that, you can and should give treats once and a while. Don't worry about his "expecting" them. You are just going to make him work harder to get them.