Sitting training

[LakiaMoore]

hi. I recently bought your training program and have been training my two dogs. at the moment I’ve gotten them to lay down and stay pretty good but one of my dogs doesn’t properly know how to sit. I’ve been trying to teach her but it seems that the dog is supposed to be standing prior to raising the treat above the nose so they can sit but she always is in a sitting position. I don’t know how to train her to sit if she doesn’t stand first. I tried standing her legs up but she sits right back down haha. even when I put it in the air she’ll jump and stand for a bit but sit down really fast after. 
hope you can help, thanks! 

[Adrienne]

Hi there!

Welcome to the forums!

Some dogs may insist to sit by default. I have seen dogs do this when they are rather shy and use sitting as a calming signal. They sometimes do this if we loom over them which they may find a bit intimidating due to their softer temperaments.  Other dogs just find it rewarding to sit because we may have given them rewards or attention when they sat in the past. And some others may sit if it hurts to stand or it feels tiring for them (perhaps due to some orthopedic problem,) but I am pretty sure we can exclude that if your pup acts happy and healthy. 

So how do we work on this? Here are a few things you can try:

• Try sitting on the couch and have your puppy on the floor.  With you sitting on the couch, your puppy may feel less intimidated by looming over from a standing position if that's what is triggering this sitting behavior. 
• Try capturing the behavior rather than luring. Capturing is a training method where we reinforce spontaneous behaviors. It should be easy with her since she sits so often! So let's say your puppy is sitting, try to "reset" her by tossing the treat, she'll walk to get it, then she'll likely return,  when she does right when she sits say "yes!" and toss a treat. Rinse and repeat several times. At some point, start saying sit, just before she sits and see if that evokes the behavior. If it does,  say yes! and give a jackpot of treats (several small pieces of treats).
• Try to stay relaxed and hide any frustration. If your dog is rather soft, she will sense that and this will trigger more sitting  to appease you. Think of it as a game and don't feel pressured. With some pups, slow and steady wins the race, but once they grasp the concept, it tends to stick!

Keep me posted on how it goes!

Happy training!

Best, 

Adrienne

[LakiaMoore]

thank you so much, i will definitely keep you posted! 🙂

Edited May 7, 2020 by LakiaMoore

[Adrienne]

You're very welcome! Please do let me know how it goes.