Teach Your Dog To Sit, The Life Coach For Dogs Way
Teaching your dog to sit is easy.
Kinda.
You teach your dog to sit. You guide their sweet little butts down and you reward them when butthole touches earth.
It shouldn’t take too long before your dog doesn’t need the extra guidance and They have figured out
“Sit” = Butthole on ground = Praise & Treat
Congratulations you have trained your dog to sit.
A Note On Journaling: Some people just have it together, but my life falls apart if I don’t write stuff down. I designed The Habit tracking Dog training Journal with measuring distance/duration/distraction in mind. Teach your dog sit and achieve all your other dog training goals by breaking down the impossible into manageable steps. It also features Dog training tips, interesting dog facts and inspiring quotes to keep you motivated!
“Turning “Sit” into 100 challenges also turns “Sit” into 100 celebrations”
Oh wait actually. Yes, your dog sits but they do it in way that they are using their butt to hit the ground like it’s a game show show buzzer.
Aaaaaaand they don’t do it unless you are right in front of them and there is nothing more interesting around.
The secret teaching a dog to sit is actually teaching your dog to sit 100 times.
Every time increasing Distance, Duration & Distraction
Though it seems daunting, this process can actually be pretty fun. Turning “Sit” and every other command into 100 challenges also turns “Sit” into 100 celebrations
Distance
Will your dog listen if you ask him to sit when you stand up? What about from across a room?
Imagine your dog has an invisible circle around them. That Circle represents the area you influence your dog That circle starts off very small and grows with training.
When you teach your dog to sit you are right in front of their face, ready to reward so you can be there to intercept any distraction that interferes with their learning.
Duration
Are we STILL teaching this dog to sit? Yes. Yes we are.
Sure, your dog sits but how long do they hold that position?
Is the floor hot lava or will they hold a nice sitting position until you release them?
In the same way you build distance with your commands one inch at a time We build duration one second at a time
Distraction
You might think your dog is a sitting machine until you get to the park,
or see another dog,
or a squirrel
or the wind blows a leaf.
Your Dog has a sense of smell 100,000 times greater than ours and a superior sense of hearing. They live in our world of lawnmowers, cities, cars, and fireworks.
From day one your dog has their senses overwhelmed by a world that was not built for them.
In the spirit of incremental progress try breaking down your surroundings into video game like levels for your dog to beat.
Level One: Your Home: you are just learning the controls
Level Two: Your Yard (or Building Courtyard for city folks) The Game is getting interesting with increased intensity but it’s not so hard you give up.
Level 3: A park: Once you step into the public, you give up control of your Ernvironment. Your dog is going to get shocks and scare jumps
Level 4: A Patio. Think of your life and the challenge thats your dog’s final boss. Crazy Distractions, Day drinkers, spilled food. squirrrels still.
So You’re dog sits, holds the position on a busy Patio. NOW thats a dog who knows who to sit
Tim Cornett is the person behind Life Coach For Dogs.
Tim is a Positive Dog Trainer, Podcast host, Stand Up Comedian & Author of The Habit tracking Dog Training Journal.