Teaching Puppy To Sit – Is it possible within Minutes?

Teaching puppy to sit is in most cases the first command that pup’s learn and it will be beneficial throughout their lives. It also creates the basic training relationship between the puppy and the owner. Make sure your puppy has a pleasant experience during this stage and they will want to continue training throughout their life….

Teaching Puppy To Sit – Some of the suggested methods to teach puppy….

Teaching Puppy to Sit – Creating a Pleasant Training Atmosphere

• Rather don’t do training outdoors. To prevent any unnecessary distractions, rather don’t do Outdoor training sessions, you want a controlled environment. It will also limit your ability to restrict the puppy to maintain his focus. If you need to train outside, rather use a leash to prevent your dog from running off. This can dramatically limit the effectiveness of the training techniques and can make training more complex.

• Choose the right area. The training area should be an area where you know the puppy would be comfortable also without any distractions. If possible it can be an indoor area, where you can control the puppy’s activity level and this will let him focus all his attention on you. To prevent any other distractions from people in the house, it would be wise make them aware of the training session, you don’t want interference.

• Take your time. Dogs, specifically pup’s, have a meager attention span and can easily be distracted. Be aware of this while training and know that you will have to take your time at this stage. Short breaks every now and then will allow your pup to focus during the training.

• Watch your puppy’s Emotions. Sometimes your puppy will start on a high note during the training session, very focused on you, adhering to all your commands, and participating —but the next moment his emotions can drop, then rather take a short break. Sometimes it could be too overwhelming. Most of the times the training session might be too long or there might be distractions – best to keep your training sessions short!

Teaching Puppy to Sit by Using Treats Properly

• Getting Puppy’s full attention. First steps first, you want your puppy’s full attention. This is best accomplished by standing directly in front of your dog. Make sure your puppy is facing you directly, stand In front of your pup, so that he can be completely focused on you, can see and hear you clearly.

• Time to show Puppy the treat. Keep a treat in your hand, your pup must know you have it, but must still not get access to it, have it handy and visible to the puppy. The puppy should be very curious by now, trying to figure out how to get the treat from your hand. Now you will have his full attention.

• Treat Trick, Teaching Puppy Front to Back (from nose to behind his head). You can keep a treat close to the puppy’s nose, then slowly raise it, from front to back, over the top of his head. He’ll follow the treat with all his senses, eyes and nose, looking up and normally without realizing it placing his behind on the floor.

Hold the treat close enough to the puppy’s head so that he won’t try to jump up to get to it, but low enough to the floor to force him to sit.

If puppy’s behind isn’t fully reaching the floor, you can help him further by gently easing him into a full sit position, at the same time keeping the treat in the same position.

If your puppy tries to get up to get closer to the treat, rather than raising his head and sitting, try the treat trick, best to try it indoors in a corner to start with. This will limit the dog’s ability to move backwards, automatically assisting to get him to sit.

• Best to say “SIT” as Puppy sits, then reward Puppy with a treat. When your puppy’s behind makes contact with the floor, important to say “SIT” in a firm voice, then you can immediately reward him with treat, but only afterwards.

At this stage it’s important to only focus on one command, the sit command. If the dog doesn’t sit right away, don’t be verbal about it or introduce other commands. If you limit your speech to just the sit command and the praise, the sit command (the word sit) will stand out more clearly to your pup.

• Praise the Right behavior. When you reward him with a Treat, also praise him hard; you can rub his head and motivate him with words such as “good boy”. You want to reinforce it every time he does something that please you. Reinforce this every time your dog completes the sit action during the session.

• Great, Now Release your Puppy from the sit position. This is an important step in the process, you need to release your pup from the sit command by using a command word such as “release” or “go” or “free” while taking a few steps backward and encouraging him to follow you.

• Rinse and Repeat. It can be effective for about 5 to 10 minutes. After a while your pup will get bored, best to take a break and resume training another time. Two to Three short training sessions every day would be ideal and very effective. It will likely take around 2 weeks of consistent training for your puppy to learn it properly.

• Over Time Wean Puppy off the treats. In the beginning when you start training with the treat trick, give your puppy a treat each time he sits. Most importantly always offer enthusiastic praise at the same time. After a week or two, when your dog is reliably sitting, offer the treats only now and then but continue to offer praise. Slowly but surely you can work towards getting the dog to sit with your hand signal and the “sit” command without giving any treats.

Teaching Puppies that’s active with a Leash

• Best method for very active puppies. This method will give you more control over the puppy and it’s better suited for very active puppies. When working with difficult puppies – Teaching Puppy To Sit – you can use a leash to maintain control and to reinforce positive behavior. Ignore all Negative behaviors during training; if you react to them, you will be reinforcing them.

• Time to put pup on a leash. Attention is key here, for you to have all his attention and for him to stay in place during the training session, make use of a leash. Using a leash will help to keep him close to your side. If you really prefer not to work with a leash, you can still use this method to train your puppy as long as he will stay by your side, and then you will only be using it during training.

Hold the leash firm so that your puppy is close to you, but not too tight it will make him uneasy.
There is different types of harnesses or collars so you might have to experiment to find the best one that works for training your dog. Maybe a head halter or a harness that attaches at the pup’s chest rather than on his back may offer you more control over the dog’s movements and behavior.

• When Teaching Puppy To Sit – Make sure your Puppy is on your side, then convince him to sit. You can help him lower from the standing to the sitting position by very gently pushing on his back above his rear legs. In the beginning he may be confused, but after repetition he’ll get the picture and sit.

Best not to force your puppy to sit. Pushing him too hard could hurt him and you definitely don’t want to scare him at this stage.
Never spank or hit your puppy. This will only result in him fearing you, and will not result in teaching him to sit.
If your puppy refuses to sit, maybe walk him around on the leash to try and “reset” the sit session, then stop again and try again to see if you can ease him into the sit again.

• Announce “sit” as his Botox touches the ground. Hold your hand in place for about 30 seconds, lightly holding his back, so that he associates the position of sitting with your command.

• Rinse and Repeat the sit command. Best to repeat this process a couple of more times, constantly rewarding and praising your puppy for each successful sit attempt. Again helping him to the sitting position with your hand for as long as necessary, one normally need to repeat this process until he learns to sit with only your voice command.

• Might have to Change areas. If your dog is constantly resisting to the sitting position, you should then maybe look for a different area that your puppy may be more comfortable with. If he still resist take a break and try again later after giving your pup time to rest, his “Quiet Time”.

• Don’t give up, be determined. With a lively puppy, it can take weeks of consistent practice before he get to know the sitting command. Please remember to keep calm yourself and speak in a calm voice at all times, it will help in calming your dog and will also speed up this process. Maybe schedule your training sessions during a time when there is less distractions and after the dog had enough playtime or exercise and is hopefully then less energetic.

• Now time to practice the unassisted sit command. After practicing regularly with your assistance, it is time to try without you guiding him. While your puppy is still on the leash, practice the “sit” command when your puppy is standing without using your hand this time on his lower back. Teaching Puppy To Sit, in the beginning still rewarding him each time he sits on command, but over time progressing to a stage where he will sit on command without needing a treat.

Teaching Puppies to Sit using their Natural Behavior

• This method normally works best with calm older dogs, but you can try it with puppies. This method is less likely to be effective with a puppy, but works well with older dogs who have a relatively calm attitude.

• Working with your puppy in a comfortable environment. This training method would work best in a home environment with less distractions. Teaching Puppy To Sit -Training should rather be indoors in a relatively small area, but allow your puppy to move around willingly. Remember this is not going to be observing only, but should be a time for training. Important to remain calm and try not to change your pup’s natural behavior.

• Watch your puppy closely until he sits. In this scenario you don’t need to do anything to tempt your puppy into sitting, this would be all natural, allow him to move around willingly until he sits on his own.

• Announce “sit!”  Now and reward the pup immediately. Be sure that you Now announce the word “sit” and give the reward the moment the puppy’s Botox touch to the Floor. You need to speak clearly and in a nice tone. Reward your puppy by patting him on the head and also announcing that his “good boy!”, you can also give him a small treat. Never yell at the puppy (not too hard please), dogs don’t respond well to negative reinforcement.

• This exercise can be repeated on a regular basis. Practice this as often as possible, your puppy need to associate the act of sitting with the word “sit”. Best to stay close to your pup at least for an hour, using the above technique to train your puppy each time he sits.

• Instruct your dog to “sit” randomly. As soon as you have successfully trained the pup to understand the meaning of the word “sit”, immediately work on getting him to sit when you ask him to, this could happen randomly. Reward him right away when he follows your instructions. Your goal should be to practice this for a few weeks until he’s able to sit on command without a small treat.

At what Age can you Teach a Puppy to Sit

• Puppies Train Young – Teaching Puppy To Sit: Best of all is you will be starting to train your pup the moment you bring it into your home environment, in fact you will immediately start to house train your puppy. Puppies are learning from birth and the best breeders start immediately, they will begin handling and socialization from birth. Basic training will begin as soon as the pup open its eyes and walk, isn’t it amazing. Such young pup’s have very short attention spans but you can expect those blue eyes to begin their learnings such as simple obedience commands as “sit,” “down,” and “stay,” as young as 8 to 9 weeks of age.
• Don’t Postpone Training: In the past Puppy training was originally delayed until 6 months of age. Really, postponing training is really delaying the whole process. The puppy is normally learning from every situation, from every experience and to delay the training will lead to missed opportunities for the puppy to learn how you would like him to react and behave with certain commands. Normally at the juvenile stage, the puppy would start to solidify certain behavioral patterns, its also at this stage where the puppy will progress through certain fear obstacles. Some of the behaviors learned as a 7 week puppy may need to be influenced and changed at this stage. Added to this, any wrong behaviors will need to be un-taught and the correct behaviors need to be distilled. Pup’s are capable of learning much more than we think, even from such an early age.
• Treats or Food-Lure most Effective: “With Pup’s it is possible the teach the most important commands like ‘sit,’ ‘down,’ and ‘stand’ using a method called food-lure training. Basically using Treats to enforce the correct behavior”

Normally it would be best to use methods that rely on positive reinforcement, from ages 6 to 8 weeks gentle teaching would be would yield the best results. Because puppies have short attention spans, it’s normally more effective to keep training sessions brief, but it’s critical to have these training sessions every day. At this stage, the best method would the to use small treats or food-lure training to teach Puppies to “sit,” “down,” and “stand”. Food treats will entice the puppy to follow its nose, without him knowing, moving him into the proper positions for “stay,” “stand,” “down,” and “sit”.

When to Teach a Puppy to Sit

One of the regular questions we get, is “When to Teach a Puppy to Sit”? Puppy general training begins a lot earlier than most puppy owners would think. Most owners only start around 12 weeks, but the truth is that you should rather begin at about eight weeks instead. As soon as puppy’s open their eyes, they start to learn about their new environment and how to man-oeuvre around it. The best way to assist them is to constantly guide them in the beginning!

So back to the question then, here’s a suggested list of times to consider, Teaching Puppy To Sit ,when to teach your puppy:

• Around 7 weeks – Puppies start to understand praise and can learn to wear a collar when they’re seven weeks old. It’s also a good time to begin a proven housebreaking program where your puppy can learn to only go to the bathroom in the right place. Yes, it’s important to do potty training at this age. Focus on getting your puppy used to being around people and other animals, and to get used to distractions. You also want to consider to slowly expose him to some of the five basic commands for dogs: sit, lie down, come, stay and heel. Also very important to teach your puppy to go into his crate, your puppy’s crate is his safe and secure den. Most important at this stage, is to help make training go smoothly, make it a time to bond and reward your puppy with positive reinforcing or treats. Keep things positive and always focus on what your puppy is doing right, not what he’s doing wrong. That said, it’s important to train your pup that “Yes” is Good and “No” is Bad!
• Starting at 8 weeks – You want to t each your puppy to be calm indoors. He must learn to take food and toys gently from your hand. Teach him as early possible not to mouth or nip anybody’s hands, face or feet! He should not be jumping on anyone, including yourself. A difficult one, but he must be learned to drop or give whatever’s in his mouth when told. Puppy should learn to respect the other animals in the family.
• Starting at 10 weeks – Puppy should start to be moving around on a leash without pulling. Important to teach puppy to come to you when you call his name. Now important to know that he must wait at gates or open doors until you give him permission. Again very difficult, but so important to teach him not to bark unnecessary, don’t allow your pup to bark at harmless things such as your neighbor or your neighbor’s dog.
• Starting at 12 weeks – The command you’ve been asking about, at around 12 weeks you can teach your puppy to Sit and then to stay sitting until you release him to get up. And so it goes on……..

Shame there’s allot of things you want to train your pup over time. Just remember all should be done at due course, there’s a time and a place for every step. As previously stated, it’s most important at all these stages, to make it a time to bond and reward your puppy with positive reinforcing or treats. Keep things positive and always focus on what your puppy is doing right, not what he’s doing wrong.

How Long does it Take to Teach a Puppy to Sit

Teaching puppy to sit is in most cases the first command that pup’s learn and it will be beneficial throughout their lives. It also creates the basic training relationship between the puppy and the owner. Make sure your puppy has a pleasant experience during this stage and they will want to continue training throughout their life. So how long does it take to teach a puppy to sit?

Puppies have allot of extra energy and that can make them strenuous to train. Be patient. Wait until your pup sits, now reward him, saying “Sit”, when he does. If you do this regularly, your puppy will learn the command quickly.

Two to Three short training sessions every day would be ideal and very effective. At around 12 weeks of age, it will likely take your puppy around 2 weeks of consistent training to learn it properly.

Once your puppy learns to sit on command you should have his attention far easier, which will make future training a pleasure.

How to Teach a Dog to Sit on Command

Training a dog the “sit” command is the first training exercise you should attempt, and one of the most important commands your dog will ever learn. Below we’ll have a look at how to teach a dog to sit on command:

• Dogs tend to Sit Naturally – Teaching the “sit” command to your puppy is normally quite simple, all puppy’s need to sit naturally. “Sit” is a critical basic puppy training command that all puppies should know. The command will assist your pup to settle down in one place to focus on you. The “sit” training will also assist to lay down the basics for the “stay” and other more advanced commands. The key is for your puppy to associate the word “sit” with the action.

Ready to start, make sure you have small training treats to offer your puppy. You want the treats to be soft, small, and highly appealing to your pup. If you are using clicker training with your puppy, also have your clicker handy. Choosing quiet park or indoor area as training location will be more private and also be free of distractions.

• The Proper Sit Position – When your pup is in the proper “sit” position, and his Botox are firmly planted on the floor, then only praise your puppy. Some puppies can cheat and “hover” above the ground a little, not fully sit down flat on the floor, so be sure not to reward until his Botox is flat on the floor. Ideally, your pup should remain sitting until you release him (you can use the word “OK” or “Free” as a release command), but sometimes this behavior doesn’t come until the dog has learned the “stay” command. For the training to be effective, set aside 10 minutes a few times a week to rehearse this training.

• Show the Small Treat – Get your pup’s attention and show him that you have a treat in your hand. You can Hold a small treat just above your his nose (not too high or the pup might jump). You can move the treat from the front to the back towards his ears, but keeping it close to his head. Ideally his nose will turn up to follow the treat at first, but most pup’s will automatically sit when the treat gets to a certain point. The moment your pup’s Botox lands on the floor, announce it with a “yes!” or “good puppy” in an upbeat tone (or, alternatively click your clicker). Instantly give your dog the treat followed by some patting on the back and praising.

• Call out the Release Word – You want to repeat these steps as often possible until your pup sits at some stage with the sight of the treat above his nose. Next, add the Release word: Call your puppy’s name followed by the word “sit”, spoken clearly and holding the treat in the position as mentioned before. This could be repeated a number of times, using the word “sit” every time and slowly phasing out the hand motion (still use the treat for now, just phase out the hand motion).

• Continue this to Perfect it – You can hold short training sessions throughout the day in various areas, preferably indoors for less distractions, but overtime also outside. This will slowly increase the amount of distractions. End training sessions on a high note (allot of positivity for success). Consistency is crucial and also be patient.

• Problems Might face and Proofing Behavior – If your pup does not sit on his own after many tries, it’s still not the best advice to push him into a sitting position. He will not learn well that way. Also, Never yell or punish him for mistakes. Puppies do not respond well to negative reinforcement. Rather consider more valuable treats, a string of cheese, Liver tasters, like fresh meat, hot dog pieces etc.

If you still struggle to get your pup to sit with valuable treats, maybe “marking the behavior” could assist you further. You have to watch your dog, and when your dog naturally sits, praise and reward him, announcing the word “sit.” You can do this every time your dog sit. You will have to carry treats with you at all times if you want it to work well. It’s normally easier to capture behaviors with a clicker. If your dog knows how to sit on command, work on training the sit command in different areas, and also have some distractions. This is called proofing the behavior and will make sure your pup will obey this command whenever and wherever it’s given.

Teaching Puppy to Sit and Stay

All puppy lovers will agree that there are many methods and tips available when it comes to teaching a puppy to Sit and Stay. It is beneficial to research widely and also talk to other puppy owners, even better would be owners of the same breed, and if you can also get in touch with professional puppy trainers. Taking that into consideration, there is certain principles that would apply to all puppies and all breeds. One will not go far off the track if you keep these principles in mind when teaching your puppy:

• Teaching Puppy To Sit – Announce the command only once and then it could be expected of your puppy to do so on the 1st command. Try not to tell your puppy to “sit” and then, if he doesn’t sit on the 1st command, carry on saying “sit. sit; SIT! “. If continue training your pup this way, you are creating bad habits and are actually training him to ignore you.
• Announce a clear command. Maybe obvious, but make sure your command is in a clear voice and also a simple one-worded instruction. As it is your pup do not speak a language. He will be recognizing certain sounds, so make sure it is clear.
• Step by step, one activity at a time. Young puppies, do not respond well to info overload, everything takes time. Best to keep your training sessions short and simple at first. Your role as a trainer is to help your pup succeed. It’s advisable to keep the activities to a minimal in the beginning. Confirm every success, no matter how small, every success will give your puppy more confidence, and then he will more be eager to repeat this over and over again.
• Again, keep your training session short. Pups have very short attention spans, they sometimes become tired very quickly. It is therefore better to not overdo your training sessions and try finishing on a positive note. Rather have a goal in mind for every session. When he achieves the goal, stop and let him rest.
• Don’t practice bad behaviors. In simple terms, if he’s not doing it, rather stop the session and try again later.
• Don’t Yell at your pup. Scolding and Shouting will only achieve the wrong behaviors: You will frighten him, potentially creating a timid dog, and you might also train him to be aggressive. None of these would be assisting you or your pup towards your goal.
• Know this is the beginning, like a blank canvas. When you bring a puppy home, between 7 and 8 weeks, he will only have learned how to feed, pee, poo, and a little about socializing at this stage. He really still knows nothing. That’s why teaching him in the correct way and also the right things are so important. Don’t forget, you will be helping him for the rest of his life.

Utilizing these methods will give you and your pup a real foundation for all training sessions. These training sessions will be a journey for both of you and can take longer as you think. Don't rush the steps, and enjoy every moment. OK, before we move on the Stay Command, make sure you first have success with the previous point, “The Sit Command”! If so, then move on to the next point.

Training a Puppy to Stay on Command

Let’s first explain the difference between the “stay” and “wait” command, as this will be very important. It sounds very similar, but in puppy terms, they mean two totally different things.

When instructing your puppy to "stay" you are actually instructing him to "stay put" and not to move under any conditions until you release him from this position. You can train him to "sit" and "stay", as an example to prevent your pup from getting into danger. A Real example could be, to prevent him from jumping into a busy road, the "sit" and "stay" commands will keep him out of danger.

The “wait” command is normally used when you want your puppy to stop temporarily. As an Example, you might be opening the door, and you want him to wait before going in. This is normally when the “wait” command comes in very handy.

Teaching Puppy the Stay Command

As soon as your pup is used to with the “sit” command, “stay” is normally easy to initiate. The main issue you will face in the beginning is that puppies normally follows you wherever you go. To overcome this you will have to do all training at closed quarters until he is used to be separated from you.

As mentioned previously; if you vary the length of his “sits” while you teach him, you are already on your way to train him the “stay” command:

• First get your pup in the “sit” position then next simply stand in front of your puppy and don’t move. Now just introduce the word “stay”. Instruct puppy with the palm of your right hand and announce the “stay” word. If you’ve been practicing to vary the length he “sits” in the past, then he should “stay” now. If he starts to move around, just re-seat him and try again.
• If Puppy is now sitting still for varied lengths (important to remember he will be waiting for you to release him) it is now time to introduce the “step back.” Take a step backwards, say stop and also show him the palm of your hand. Wait for at least ten seconds and then return to your puppy and now release him. Don’t forget the praise throughout the training. Do this exercise again and again while increasing the length of the “stay” and also the amount of “steps backwards.” Always taking in consideration that he’s still a puppy. At this age his natural instinct will still be to follow you, so it’s important to not get frustrated. Return to the area where he is expected to be sitting, re-seat him, and then try again.
• Next you can stand at his side and get him to sit/stay. Now take one “step forward” and stop. Your puppy may find this difficult, remember he can’t see your face and to him it will look like you are leaving him. If he stays, then great you can turn around to face him, stop, return to him and praise him. Slowly increase the distance between you and him by taking more steps forward. Then always turn to face him, stop, return to him and praise before releasing him from the “sit” position.

Puppies need practice over and over, some will take longer than others to learn skills. By doing this over and over again you will master it and soon you will have your puppy sitting and staying, even moving a fair distance away from him and still have success.

How to Teach a Dog to Sit Pretty

Teaching Puppy To Sit – This is a very prominent question people ask me every now and then – How to Teach a Dog to Sit Pretty, and if it’s worth it to train it. The command ‘Sit Pretty’ is one of our favourite skills to teach dogs.  It’s not only a charming trick, but it has many benefits that makes it worthwhile to teach.  Teaching your dog to ‘Sit Pretty’ will increase his balance and body consciousness. 

This will also strengthen your dog’s core muscles, that will intern protect their spine from injury during training & dog sports, such as Agility, Frisbee and also Canine Freestyle.  This is also beneficial for simple things like playing fetch with your dog, as dogs, specifically when they are over energetic during play, can injure themselves when playing fetch.  ‘Sit Pretty’ is an excellent training session for healthy dogs.  If your pup has old injuries, rather consult a Vet to inquire if this training is safe for him.

Most dogs first need to train their muscles to be able to sit pretty without support.  For some dogs it can take 3 to 6 weeks to build the muscles to support the pretty sit.  You can practice short sessions and train ‘Sit Pretty’ daily until your dog builds up the strength and balance to hold the position. 

To begin the ‘sit pretty’ training, you will need an extra few minutes per training session every day and also some high-value treats to make it work per training session. Have Fun, your dog should pick this one up fairly quickly. Preferably your dog should know the ‘sit’ command first.

The Tasty Treats Method – Summarised Version – How to Teach a Dog to Sit Pretty

STEP 1: Announcing ‘Sit’ – Using the ‘sit’ command, let your puppy sit first.

STEP 2: Use a Treat – Start with a treat above your dog’s nose, hold it and then very slowly raise the treat up. Think of it practically, you want him to lift himself up higher to take the treat. So try again, very slowly raise the treat to get your dog’s front paws off of the floor, the goal must be to take the treat from your hand.

STEP 3: Front Paws Up – Now give your pup praise, announce it, Obviously only after his front paws are off the floor, also remember the treat.

STEP 4: Rinse and Repeat – Repeat this process a few times, same story over and over, very slowly raise the treat up to get your dog to rise his front paws every time you raise the treat up over his nose.

STEP 5: Ask for More – After doing this for a few times, you can now raise the treat even higher, with the main aim to get your pup to sit up completely on his Botox with his front paws off the floor.

STEP 6: Announce it “sit pretty” – Every time your pup get to this position, sitting on his hind feet with his Botox on the floor and his front legs up, basically into a begging position, name the command clearly. Announce it hard and clear, “sit pretty.”

STEP 7: Rehearse – Keep on practicing the new command but be consistent about raising the treat higher over time, but important to only offer him the treat when he get to the “sit pretty” position.

The Tasty Treats Method – Detailed Version – How to Teach a Dog to Sit Pretty

Sometimes getting your pup to lift off the ground you will first have to get together a treat that is enticing enough, this must be a treat that they want to continuously lick every time you hold it In front of their mouth. Maybe put a bit of peanut butter or cheese on the treat. You will have to get him really interested in licking the treat, only then slowly move the treat enough so that he can still continue licking the treat while you move it up… The key here is to lift it very slow, inch by inch.

If you need to, you can also lift him slowly to assist, placing your hand under his chest while he tries to follow the treat, then praise him. The moment he lift his paws off the floor, even with your help at this stage, praise and give a treat. 

When Teaching Puppy To Sit – In the beginning you don’t need to wait until he is all the way into the “sit pretty” position before you reward him, reward for all efforts to achieve the command – example the moment he lifts his paws off the floor. If he needs your help lifting up in the beginning, that’s also fine, as long as you gradually over time assist less and less with your hand on his chest, eventually after a few weeks he should be balancing on his own.

Very Important!!!! Most dogs first need to train their muscles to be able to sit pretty without support.  For some dogs it can take 3 to 6 weeks to build the muscles to support the “pretty sit”.  You can practice short sessions and train ‘Sit Pretty’ daily until your dog builds up the strength and balance to hold the position. 

Therefore in the beginning, even rewarding him for just barely lifting off the floor will motivate him to really get good at doing it without having to assist with your hand anymore, then and Only then you can move the treat a bit higher up so that he lifts up higher. You can also reward a bit more than normal if he manage to lift higher.

Reward him for his current level of lifting off the floor, practice until he gets good at lifting up to that level, then slowly over time try motivate him to lift even further, giving the treat each time he improves, until he can move all the way up into the “sit pretty” position.

Eventually when he can move into the “sit pretty” position easily (obviously his muscles developed enough), then wait you can wait a little longer before giving the treat, in other words you will require him to hold the position for a second or 2 before giving the treat. So over time increase how long he needs to hold the position for before rewarding him.

Again So Important – Little Steps at a Time – How to teach a dog to sit up… Break the training up in really small steps and reward progress toward every goal… If you can do this long enough with lots of baby steps and goals, then eventually your puppy will be able to do the entire trick before you reward him. Bigger dogs might be able to easily move into the position the first time – normally dogs that’s really motivated by food and dogs with a great balance, but Most of the Puppies need the command broken down into baby steps first, and it’s so important to develop balance by practicing it often. Best of luck with this one!

How to Train your Dog to Sit Between your Legs

With the next command I will try and explain in short how to train your dog to sit between your legs. When Teaching Puppy To Sit – You can call this command whatever you’d like, for now I will call it “Dip” simply because I want it to sound completely different from my “Sit” command. That’s the only reason I call it “Dip”, you can call it whatever you’d like.

Lure him Inn – To teach this behavior we will start off luring. First of all get your dog to dog sit and wait. Now step in front of your dog, wait a second or so, and then lure him in-between your legs. Initially you might have to bend right through and lure him through, it’s ok, in the beginning he might not be comfortable to get underneath you.

Praise by Announcing it – The moment he get through underneath you, praise him, “good boy”. You can announce it hard and clear “yes” and then reward him for being comfortable and on guard between my legs. To make him use to the position you can add motion to it, leaning side to side. Ideally, have treats in both hands so that your dog doesn’t start curving off to one side or the other.

Treats still Important – If you always feed treats out of the same hand, you’ll end up with a situation where your dog always pulls off to that side. So, I’m going to simply use treats again to move him forward another step, yes, and then reward him.

Rinse and Repeat – Repeat the process over and over again, yes, and then reward, and then eventually you can try fading out the treats, you can remove it out of the picture by keeping it on the side instead of right in front of him.

Over Time Wean off the treats – Once he’s comfortable moving in-between my legs, move the treats away to the side. Announce a Yes, and then reward him. Just take one or two steps at a time. Keep on practicing the command while rewarding him often, announce it “Dip” loud and clear and if necessary reward with a treat.

Master it – Teaching Makes Perfect – Rinse and repeat the process for a week or two and you should be fine.

How to Teach a Dog to Sit Without Treats

Why you shouldn’t Favor Treats when Training your Puppy. Your puppy should love you for multiple reasons and not just giving him treats. Favoring treats as a main training method to train your pup can prevent a more meaningful relationship with your pup. This section will aim to provide you with more info on how to teach a dog to Sit Without Treats!

We found that a balanced mix of alternative ways to connect with your puppy besides treats, for example play, affection, life rewards, being a team, can really deepen our relationship with your pup. Also thinking of your pup’s behavior more holistically, outside of basic obedience commands, will help you address some training issues that you may not know how to solve, example keeping her attention in a distracting training session.

You will realize that when you treat train a puppy, he will be continually looking to please you (which sounds good) but, in reality, it is simply to get treats. Therefore, shifting from treats to rather verbal praise your relationship will be leaping to new levels. Your pup will be more affectionate and will also listen carefully to your commands.

While treats may be the quickest way to teach a puppy, they certainly don’t work for every pup and every command anyway. Even puppies that aren’t motivated by treats can be trained and here’s some basic commands to assist you and to work on your pup’s behaviors.

Here’s some of the proven methods that we use to teach a pup to sit without treats:

One of these tricks is to play with him. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it:

You want to do this in a quiet place where he won’t be distracted, get one of his favorite toys for this training session. As an example, let’s say your pup loves to play ball. Start this training session first by playing with him, fetching his favorite ball. Now Stop when you have the ball in your hands. You will be using the ball to lure him in, now move the ball over his head to get his attention.

Say ‘sit!’ Announce the “sit” command while holding the ball still over his head.

Your puppy won’t always sit the first time you announce the “sit” command —that’s ok. Now slowly move the ball over his head to the back of puppy’s body. You can keep it high over his head. Normally your dog would sit so that he don’t fall over, this will usually happen automatically.

In this scenario you want to associate the ball as a treat. Instead of giving him food treats, reinforce the behavior by giving him the ball. Over time he will associate the reward with the sit command.

Now it’s time to take the toy from him and play fetch again. Repeat the process again, after he fetched the ball, take it again, hold it up again over his head and slowly moving it back so that he must sit again.

Rinse and repeat this method over and over for a few weeks to be effective.

Another way to teach your puppy to “sit” without treats is by giving a command:

It works best by standing in front of your pup, preferably in a quiet and distraction-free area.

Announce ‘sit’ in a gentle and loving manner. Similar to the other method, you can’t always expect your pup to follow through, but give him enough time and also enough repetition to understand what you mean, and it will happen over time.

If your pup do not follow through after a minute, gently assist him. Slowly and softly push down his Botox as you announce the word ‘sit’ again.

Very Important to Praise him after he does sit down, whether it was because you assisted or on his own action. “Good Boy” as a verbal praise announcement would work great! You may also pet him or gently massage his back or ear to show your approval.

Rinse and repeat, continue practicing. Repeat the process to reinforce the new skills, praising him with every step, called positive behavior. More detailed positive training here…. Don’t forget to reward him, give him verbal praise each time he follows through with the command.

Best of luck with the training!