We are going to look at how to teach sit and stand behaviours.

Now there will be times that even once you have taught sit that it will fail. Common reasons are emotional overwhelm (dog is excited, anxious, vigilant, fearful etc), lack of teaching or feeling overwhelmed in the situation (also emotional overwhelm) such as refusing to sit at the kerb when a lorry thunders past…

Lack of teaching tends to be that you havent taught it enough, or in sufficient locations and environments for your dog to completely understand what you are asking.

We also want you to consider why you want your dog to sit… typically people insist on sit by the kerb, when waiting for dinner, putting lead on, to stop the dog jumping etc. Consider does your request increase safety (for you and the dog), is it necessary – could the dog stand instead? What does your dog get out of it – how do you reinforce the behaviour? Could you use stand instead?

Some breeds also have a preference for standing over sitting – typically sight hounds, some are uncomfortable sitting (often dachshunds with their long backs and short legs), some dogs may have undiagnosed pain (and so are reluctant to sit), your dog may feel safer standing (easier to move away from that noisy lorry).

The easy way to teach sit and stand

• Wait for your dog to offer a sit (easy with a gundog) – and then mark/click and reinforce
• wait until your dog is standing and then mark/click reinforce

After some repetitions you can start to add the cueword of your choice. Be mindful of using ‘sit down’ if you want to use ‘down’ to mean lay down. As the dog moves/is in position, say your cue word, then reinforce. Most people find it easier to drop the mark/click at this point for the sake of simplicity, but it remains effective you continue to use it for precision.

Then, like all dog training, its time to increase where you practice, the level of distraction and duration. Have a look at our blog on effective teaching for more help.