If Puppy naturally Sits for Everything, how

[AndreaRobicheau]

Hi All, so I have a question on training.

My puppy Ellie is almost 3 months old (rescued her around 2) and were starting training.

She is getting good with her name and is VERY food motivated, but when training her, she will naturally sit when she sees I have a treat.

How would you suggest I train her to sit if she naturally does it without the command? 

We have been working on "come" but as soon as she sees the treat in my hand she will either sit in her tracks or run up to me and sit, so I don't know if I should be rewarding her for sitting even if I say "come".. Also on the other hand when teaching "Sit" I can't even get through the hand gesture because she automatically sits, so do I just start enforcing the word Sit as she touches the ground?

[Adrienne]

Hello and welcome to the forums!

Ellie is a smart girl! To tackle her repeated sitting, you can try the following:

-Don't let her see the treat. Hide it in your pocket, sit down and when you see her standing, just ask her to sit. She'll likely readily comply. Praise and rewards when she does.

-Ignore her voluntary sits, reward her sits only when asked to. 

-Once she sits, praise and toss the treat so that you "reset her" and she's back to standing giving you the opportunity to ask for another sit. 

-Anticipate her by being quick. You know she's about to sit? Beat her up to it by asking her to sit before she does it. 

To tackle her sit when asked to come:

-Be quick and reward her the moment she approaches you by lowering your hand and and hand feeding the treat or you can toss the treat before she has the opportunity to sit. 

-If you want though to have a recall with a sit (I know many want this), call her and try your best to say "sit" before she does. 

In regards to her sitting even before you make the hand gesture, it sounds like she's a step ahead and has figured every thing out, so yes, you can certainly just say "sit" before she sits and when her bottom touches the floor, praise and reward. 

Happy training!