How to Train Your Puppy to Sit

A Guide to Help you Train Your Puppy to Sit

‘Sit’ is one of the first things people tend to want to train their puppy and it is a nice easy introductory skill to train them and get your training journey going together.  A really good sit command comes in handy in so many different scenarios, so it is always worth having in your training toolkit.  What’s more, if you have taught your dog a really solid ‘sit’, then this can really help with stopping them from jumping up at people, when crossing roads, when getting out of the car or opening the front door and when it comes to meal times, to name but a few scenarios!

To get started, you will need:

  • Your puppy

  • A pot of small dog friendly treats or a handful of their dinner portion

  • To be in a distraction free environment so that you and your puppy can concentrate; at home is usually best. Once they really understand the behaviour, you can start practicing it in harder places, such as the garden, park or as you walk round the block!

Steps to Teach:

1. Use a lure to teach your puppy to sit:

  • Have your dog standing in front of you so that you are facing each other

  • Take one of your treats from your pot and hold it against your first two fingers with your thumb and your palm facing your puppy’s face

  • Place your hand close to your puppy’s nose, or right on it if they are happy with this, as if there is a magnet between their nose and your hand

  • Now, keeping your treat hand on their nose like a magnet, move your hand slowly upwards towards the ceiling, making sure that as you raise your hand up you also move it slowly diagonally away from you and towards the back of their head (upwards and backwards)

  • As your puppy’s nose follows your hand upwards and backwards, their bottom will naturally hit the floor

  • As soon as it does, say “YES” and give them the treat

  • Repeat ten times

2. Once Your Puppy Is Sitting Every Time You Lure Them, It Is Time To Remove The Lure So That They Learn To Sit On A Hand Signal Only:

  • Now remove the actual treat from your hand

  • Hold your hand on your dog’s nose (in the same way as above) and move it upwards and backwards

  • As soon as your puppy’s bottom hits the floor, say “YES” and then take a treat from your treat pot and give it to them

  • Repeat 10 times

  • If your puppy doesn’t always follow your hand without a treat in it, you can occasionally lure with a treat again or, better still, pretend to pick up a treat and lure them with an empty hand; puppies fall for that one all the time!

3. Once Your Puppy Is Sitting Every Time You Lure Them With A Hand Signal, It Is Time To Add Your Verbal Cue:

  • Say the word “SIT” (only once) and then use your hand signal to guide them into the sit (the verbal cue must come first). Do not keep repeating the word sit

  • Say “YES” as soon as they sit and feed them a treat

  • Repeat ten times

  • Now say the word “SIT” and don’t use your hand signal, simply wait for a few seconds to see if your puppy has understood the verbal cue. If they do sit, say “YES” and feed them a treat, if not, help them with your hand signal and then say “YES” and give them a treat. Keep testing at different points using only your verbal cue

4.  To Make the Sit Great:

Some puppies sit initially but then pop right back up straight after. We want our puppies to remain in the sitting position when we have asked them to.  To do this:

  • Ask your puppy to sit

  • When they sit, start to increase the time between them sitting and you saying “YES” by a few seconds at a time (start with 1 second delay, then 2, then 3 and so on). Count the seconds in your head and work up to however long you want your puppy to sit for (but don’t be unreasonable here!)

  • Once you’ve reached your target time, say “YES” and give your puppy a treat.

What Not to Do:

  • Never push your puppy’s bottom to the floor in the hope that this will teach them to sit. Whilst it might seem that it works, this is effectively forcing your dog into the position and they will likely learn to hate it as a result.

  • Repeat the “SIT” cue over and over. If they don’t sit on one single verbal cue, you might need to repeat steps 2 for a little longer.

  • Get frustrated with your puppy or speak harshly. They are trying to learn and patience is the best thing you can practice when training your puppy.

  • Have long training sessions. Puppies tire easily and find concentrating for long difficult. Keep sessions nice and short each time, a maximum of five to ten minutes at a time is plenty.  You can achieve a lot of training with your puppy in very short sessions spread throughout the day.

If you want help with training your puppy you can contact me through my website or head to my online course and get started with training your puppy in your own time!

Happy training and enjoy your puppy, they don’t stay so little for long xx