"Sit!" (Old School Way)

Doggie07

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#1
This is an alternative way I learned to teach a dog or puppy the "Sit" command. The reason why I call it the alternative way is because I rarely see it used to teach a puppy the "sit" command. The reason why I call it the old school way is because I learned it from an old video tape a long time ago. But be warned, because it's old, it may not no longer be one of the proper ways to teach a dog the "Sit" command. So before you try this, talk to an experienced dog owner or dog trainer about it.

Now, I suggest anyone whose method of teaching a puppy or dog how to sit isn't working, give it a try.

Step 1: Get a treat or some dog food. This method works better if your dog doesn't always have access to food or before you feed your puppy or dog.

Step 2: Let your puppy or dog sniff it, maybe even lick it, but DO NOT let him or her eat it. This is to get your puppy or dog's attention and interest. (Substituting a toy for Step 1 might work as well)

Step 3: Say the "Sit" Command, and gently but firmly place your index finger on one hip and the thumb on the other hip and press down. Remember, just enough pressure so your dog will sit.

Step 4: From step 3, once your dog is sitting, give him or her the treat or toy and say "Good boy" or "Good Girl" or give praise.

Step 5: Once your dog is standing again, say "Sit" and repeat what's in Step 3 and 4. After five times, your puppy or dog should sit at your command.

Step 6: Once the puppy or dog gets your command, you can throw in hand signal, however, make sure you use the hand signal the same time you say "Sit".

Notes:
1)One thing I noticed about this method is some puppies are dogs may sit "unevenly". Unevenly as in their hips are not even. I have no idea how to correct this and anyone who tries this method may want to talk to an experienced dog owner or trainer about it.
2) Another thing I noted about this is it takes a few secs for the dog or pup to actually sit after command is given. It may be that the puppy didn't fully respect me as pack leader or that the food I held was not interesting enough. Not sure.

One more thing:
If this method of teaching "Sit" is indeed out of date and out of wack, I apologize. I just wanted to share it with you guys.
 

Fran101

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#2
I was the same way, thats how I always taught dogs to sit when I was younger

but later, I learnd that sometimes putting that kind of pressure on their hips (even just a little) and forcing them down is not a good way. plus.. dogs dont really "get it" as fast.

I like to hold a treat in there, right above the dogs head, and then slowly move the treat back towards their butt.. that will make them sit down :) then treat!
 

Maxy24

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#3
That way might work, I know people who do that. I don't prefer it for a few reasons. One is because you are pushing on the dog which often results in the dog pushing back instead of sitting. Another thing is when physical manipulation is used dogs are often not aware of their actions. They didn't think about sitting down and then do it, you did it for them so they didn't have to. For this reason it sometimes takes longer than letting them think about what they need to do to make you reward them and then experimenting with their own behavior. If you do it on an older dog they may not appreciate their hips being pushed on as older animals often get sore joints.

if it works for you then that's fine, so long as you're not really pushing down on the dog's hips which could harm him. It may not be the way I prefer but I don't think it's harmful or anything like that.
 

Lolas Dad

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#4
I was the same way, thats how I always taught dogs to sit when I was younger

but later, I learnd that sometimes putting that kind of pressure on their hips (even just a little) and forcing them down is not a good way. plus.. dogs dont really "get it" as fast.

I like to hold a treat in there, right above the dogs head, and then slowly move the treat back towards their butt.. that will make them sit down :) then treat!
Thats a good method and if one form of a treat does not work try a higher value treat.
 

Saeleofu

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#5
I like to hold a treat in there, right above the dogs head, and then slowly move the treat back towards their butt.. that will make them sit down then treat!
This is what I do. No pressure, at least not on a puppy. On an adult dog, maybe some butt taps.
 

corgipower

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#6
IME, the easiest way to teach a sit is to capture it. Most dogs sit on their own at some point...or can be sneakily set up to sit...and as soon as they do, mark it, huge reward...they're likely going to do it again after a huge reward.
 

Southpaw

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#7
Isn't that how a lot of people do it anyway? I don't know maybe I just need to meet some new people lol but physical manipulation seems to be the popular option. Before I really started participating on this forum and actually -reading-, that's how I taught Lucy... I had no idea how else to do it. Same way I tried teaching her to lie down, I'd pull her front legs out... but they weren't that effective and thankfully I've learned better ways.
 

xpaeanx

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#8
haha, I can't even *touch* Muffin. That is one way to not only finish a training session before it even began, but also end on a bad note. Don't get me wrong, he loves to cuddle and be pet.... but he does things because he wants too, and not any other way.
 

lizzybeth727

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#9
IME, the easiest way to teach a sit is to capture it. Most dogs sit on their own at some point...or can be sneakily set up to sit...and as soon as they do, mark it, huge reward...they're likely going to do it again after a huge reward.
This is how I do it too. It's slower in the beginning, but you don't have to fade out a lure and in the end the dog really understands that it's his behavior that got him the treat.

I do this to teach down, too. It's always funny to me to hear people say that they can't teach their dog to lay down, since dogs HAVE to do it at some point. Again, it often takes a while in the beginning, but in the long run it's definately quicker than other methods.
 
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#10
I've always taught "Sit" one of two ways: Sometimes the way Fransheska described and other times the way Corgipower described. Which way, for me, depends on the dog and how they respond. But with either, it's never taken more than a few repetitions to teach "Sit".

I have never used any physical manipulation to teach "Sit". It bugs me when I see people repeatedly pushing a dog's butt down to try to teach "Sit". For a puppy it's possible (maybe not probable but possible) that it might hurt them. For an adult dog (like a rescue that had no previous training) it's not necessary at all ... because it's so very easy to "catch" an adult dog doing a "Sit".
 
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#11
I have used physical placement to teach sit, but you don't have to push anything.

One hand on neck then run your other hand down the back and around the rump into the back legs. It takes almost no preasure at all and "rolls" the dog back on his butt.

After about a week most dogs get that the command means to be on their butt. No pushing, pulling, catching, yanking, lureing, or clicking needed.
 

Saeleofu

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#12
After about a week most dogs get that the command means to be on their butt. No pushing, pulling, catching, yanking, lureing, or clicking needed.
A week? Wow. I have never taken more than a day to teach sit. Most dogs I've been around get it pretty fast - just a few repetitions. I can't imagine taking a whole week just to train "sit."

Also, I wanted to add that the "butt taps" I mentioned earlier aren't actually to teach sit, but more as a reminder for a dog that's distracted. Just like sometimes when Gavroche is off not paying attention, a light tap on his forehead/check gets him to go "OH! What are we doing again?"
 
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#13
A week? Wow. I have never taken more than a day to teach sit. Most dogs I've been around get it pretty fast - just a few repetitions. I can't imagine taking a whole week just to train "sit."
I'm talking reliable sit. Where command responce is 98% or better even in distractions. I've never had a dog that was that good with sit in a day (even more so a distractable puppy). But by week three of basic obediance the dog is fully reliable in sit.

Just beacuse they respond the first day, does not mean they have fully learned the command. It takes repition and consistancey to truely train your dog.
 

Doberluv

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#14
I'm talking reliable sit. Where command responce is 98% or better even in distractions. I've never had a dog that was that good with sit in a day (even more so a distractable puppy). But by week three of basic obediance the dog is fully reliable in sit.

Just beacuse they respond the first day, does not mean they have fully learned the command. It takes repition and consistancey to truely train your dog.
No kidding! I agree. There's so much more to getting a sit that is on stimulus control than meets the eye. Try at the end of the first day of teaching sit, when you're 100 feet away from your dog, turning sideways and give your cue while some kids are playing basket ball 15 feet away from him. Or telling your resting dog, who is lying down to sit while you're not looking straight at him. Or as he's running across a field, hollering from a distance to sit. The first way you do it when starting out might be that you're standing in front of him, sort of bending over if you're luring to teach it... and you're using some particular type of body language. You might be using the same tone of voice every time, not too loud, not too soft since you're inside the house maybe where it's quiet. THAT....that combination of position, location, body language, voice, what's going on around him, whatever else he's doing and his putting his rear on the ground IS what sit is to him....not necessarily JUST putting his butt on the ground. Until you can separate the actual sit from all other behaviors and other things that are going on, he really doesn't know what sit is. That's why it's important to mix things up asap after he starts to get a handle on it, so he doesn't get stuck in the one context for too long.
 

Maura

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#15
While I sometimes use congruent learning (capturing the behavior), it's so easy to teach a sit that I just take a couple of minutes a few times throughout the day to work on it. The old way was to hold onto the dog's collar (buckle or chain, with or without leash) to hold his head up and push down either at the base of the tail or with fingers in the leg/hip joint. Prior to that, I think people probably used their finger to point and as the dog followed the finger, they'd sit.

I don't think that when your dog didn't sit it wasn't because he doesn't respect your alpha position. He didn't sit because he really didn't quite get it yet.
 
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#16
I capture to teach sits and downs. ;) In fact I'd say I capture/shape 90% or more of everything I teach...the dog full understands that he is the source of the click, not anything I did. To me the process is the product.

you get a smoother sphinx type down IMO that way versus a lure.


I frequently see people pushing, tapping or even hitting their dogs rear to make them sit after they said sit four times and the dog didn't comply...IMO if you don't fade the touch quick enough the touch becomes the cue...and I want a verbal or hand signal cue for that behavior personally...not a physical one. :)
 

Saeleofu

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#18
So yesteday was Yappy Days and one of the obedience trainers around here had "obedience" demonstrations ("obedience" because it wasn't really much obedience, and the dogs weren't listening to a word they said). If their dogs didn't sit after 3 commands, they KICKED the dogs on the top of the hips, REPEATEDLY, and hard. Ugh. Even then most of them never ended up sitting.
 

lizzybeth727

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#19
they KICKED the dogs on the top of the hips, REPEATEDLY, and hard. Ugh. Even then most of them never ended up sitting.
:yikes: Wow, never seen that one.

My standard is, if I wouldn't do it to Luna - a 7-pound, 8-inch tall chihuahua -I wouldn't do it with any dog. And I can safely say that I would NEVER kick a 7-pound, 8-inch tall dog in the hips. And would hope that even a trainer who would do it with large dogs - as terrible as that is - would never do it with a small dog.
 

corgipower

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#20
So yesteday was Yappy Days and one of the obedience trainers around here had "obedience" demonstrations ("obedience" because it wasn't really much obedience, and the dogs weren't listening to a word they said). If their dogs didn't sit after 3 commands, they KICKED the dogs on the top of the hips, REPEATEDLY, and hard. Ugh. Even then most of them never ended up sitting.
:yikes::mad:

I'd like to see them try that with Nyx...just don't cry to me when you're missing a limb...
 

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