The Simplest of All Training Commands

The holy grail of all training commands for dogs?

Sit.

How easy was that?

Sit has been the top ranked training command for what seems like centuries, probably more, as I don't have the exact data for it. When I first learned how to teach it, I thought it was so simple that it must have been a shortcut. Boy, was I wrong! It's the easiest of all things to teach your pet, so there's no excuse for Fido - and you - not knowing it.

How to Train Your Dog to Sit:

1. You will have to have a treat of some kind for this to work. Simple praises and pats on the head will do nothing but make your dog's tail wag.
2. Stand straight in front of your dog with a treat held between your index finger, middle finger and thumb of your right - or left - hand, palm facing your dog.
3. Hold the treat - biscuit, small chewable bone, cheese puff - close to your dog's nose.
4. Say the command. "Sit."
5. Move the treat up and toward the back of your dog's head. Over his head.
6. As your dog's nose follows the treat, his head will move up and back and his hips will move down.
7. Your dog sits.
8. Give the treat immediately and praise, praise, praise.

So that is how you train your dog to Sit.

Warnings for training your dog to sit will include your dog jumping up for the treat instead of sitting. You may be holding the treat too high or moving your hand around, causing him to leap up in an attempt to follow the goodie. Because of this, make sure to keep the treat close to your dog's nose even when you are moving the treat up and toward the back of his head in Step Five.

Do this about twenty-five times on Day One. Go through motions everyday until your dog is slowly weaned off the treats and you feel comfortable with just using praise.

Once your dog will reliably Sit with or without treats, have him sit in different locations around you and the room you are training in. Command your dog to sit when he is on your right, your left, behind you and across the room from you. Do this until you and your dog can Sit with your eyes closed.

Until next time, keep training your dogs!

The Key to Training Your Dog

I say this to everyone who asks the best way to train your dog: Training your dog is easy when you use positive training methods. You can’t just punish, punish, punish or else your dog will always expect punishment, and what reason would he have for being good?

Training your dog with positive reinforcement:

When your dog is being tranquil and quiet, maybe lying at your feet while you read the newspaper, give him a treat. When your dog is playing with another dog nicely and not jumping up onto someone? Give him a treat. Walking by your side instead of dragging you? Treat.

Don’t just reward him after “Sit” and “Lay down”. Not only will he expect treats only then, thereby giving him more opportunity to do a little digging in the flowerbed, but he will never get treats for just being a “good dog” in day-to-day activities.

Your dog will come to realize that maybe digging in the trash isn’t worthwhile, especially as he gets a treat for sitting calmly by your side. This is what you want.

This training method is very simple, easy, and is probably the quickest method to seeing results for a calmer, easier to be around pet.

The basics for positive reinforcement:

• When your dog performs an action and is rewarded, whether with pats on the head or pieces of cheese, he will perform that action again.

Give the command “Sit” and your dog sits, you then praise him for this with a treat. Over time with practice, when your dog hears the Sit command, he will sit so you will praise and reward him again.

Train yourself this way, and expect your dog to follow.

You can even use this method for when your dog is behaving inappropriately. Take for example my dog, Diesel. He had the infamous habit of jumping on anyone who walked through the front door. As Diesel was a 90-lbs. Labrador Retriever with paws the size of trashcan lids, this wasn’t exactly a welcome thing.

How to train your dog with positive reinforcement when acting badly:

Give a command that causes your dog to stop what he is doing (the ‘bad dog’ thing), such as the Sit or Lay Down command. You can also ignore your dog by simply turning your back on him, but as you can’t always ignore a 90-lbs. dog attached to your hip, this wasn’t always an option for me.

Since Diesel couldn’t Sit and jump on me at the same time, he was forced to the ground. I used the always handy “Who’s a good dog? You are!” method to reward him whenever I didn’t have a treat available.

If your dog is in the act of doing something you don’t want him to do, train yourself to give him a command that prevents him from continuing instead of yelling “No!” or “Stop!” While loud noises may also be helpful, this is the most useful tool.

When your dog stops the bad behavior, give him a treat.

In a situation where your dog is over-excited and not listening to any commands at all? Take him out of that situation, pronto, and put him either in another room or his crate. Removing your dog from the situation instead of giving him a command allows your dog to settle down in his crate and keeps him and others safe and, ultimately, happier.

In total, positive reinforcement in dog training is a very simple, easy way to get your dog to be a calm, happier dog. There are no difficult instructions; just love your dog when he is being a good dog too, instead of always reacting to his bad side.

If you take this easy, relaxed approach to training your dog, expect the fastest of results.

Train Your Dog

Welcome to Train Your Dog Easy. This site will provide tips and tricks for those of you having problems with the infamous 'bad dog' and will help you become the envy of the neighborhood with the perfect man's best-friend at your side. Training your dog can be fun and easy if you let it be, and I will help you get it that way. If you have any questions not covered in Train Your Dog Easy or would like me to address a certain subject, send an email to jesshandler@gmail.com.