Home » Pets & Animals » Dogs » Dog Training

AJ's Advice for Dogs:The Sit Command

Ranked #11,232 in Pets & Animals, #291,264 overall

How to Train Your Dog to Sit

There are different ways to teach your puppy the sit command. This is a very easy, gentle method, that generally works for almost all dogs. Never push down on your pup's or dog's hips to teach the sit command. You could hurt him. This method works great with puppies, and also works with adult dogs.

This is one of my dogs, Oscar. He is now about 90 lbs, and is part rottweiler, part golden retriever and part pit bull. He's a gentle boy who loves everyone. His brother, Nemo, is a full rottweiler, about 130 lbs, and he is pictured on one of the other lenses so far. Nemo wasn't well socialized as a puppy, and so he is slower to get used to new people -- but he is not aggressive. He's a baby who is very loving.

Preparation for teaching your dog to sit

There are just a few tiny but important things you'll need!

Find a quiet place to work. Later, you'll want to practice around distractions but you'll need a quiet, distraction-free area for learning.

Choose some very delicious training treats. Training treats are tiny, easy-to-chew treats meant to reward the behavior this instant. You don't want the dog to lie down during your session to chew on its treat. So make it a very small, melt-in-your-mouth texture. Chicken hot dogs, in small bites, make excellent treats for training. Keep a package of chicken hot dogs already cut up, in a plastic container in the fridge. Other good ideas for treats are freeze-dried liver, packaged training treats, or tiny squares of cheese. Whatever you choose, it must be something your dog really wants.

From left: Traditional training treats and even more traditional training freeze dried liver. Then Fruitables, which are healthy, no fillers, and HIGHLY recommended by customers. And last, a treat bag to carry treats -- it sounds like fluff, but actually is amazingly helpful when training a dog. (I couldn't resist this one in Hibiscus, but don't worry -- they come in other patterns/colors, and even black on black swirl.

Teach ANY dog to SIT

1. Pick up one treat, and hold it in your fingers, but keep your fingers closed, so the puppy cannot get the treat. Hold your hand with the treat in it, close to the pup's nose, and then move your hand up and back, over the puppy's head. As the puppy lifts his head to follow your hand with the treat, he will naturally fall into a sit position.
Adorable photo -- but don't teach sit this way!

Sit- - - Stay - - - Poster print
Sit- - - Stay - - - Poster by buffaloworks
Poster printing by zazzle.com

Use a leash if you're training a wiggly pup to SIT

2. Make sure you say the word sit, only ONCE, at the right time. You should say sit, just as the pup is starting to sit. Timing is critical with all dog training. The puppy will connect the word sit with whatever is happening at the moment she hears you say sit. So you have to make sure you say sit just as she is starting to sit.

If your pup is wandering or wiggling too much, use a leash. Here are a few fancy ones to try:


From the left: Leash made of recycled bicycle tube. People LOVE this soft rope leash. Next, soft hemp with fleece for your hand. Cute puppy print in pink or blue.

If you use a leash when training your dog to SIT, you'll need a collar!

3. Repeat this exercise several times during each lesson. It should not take many times before your puppy starts to connect the word sit to the action of sitting. At first, make a very strong connection between the delicious treat and sitting, by giving a treat every time. After a while, when the puppy is sitting when you say sit, without hesitation or confusion, you can start to tell her to sit at various times throughout the day, without offering any treat, just pet her and tell her good sit. But keep giving the treats at other times, so she will continue to hope for a treat and never know when she will get one. The random treating is what keeps the strongest connection and the strongest response to the command sit, once the behavior is learned.
And if you use the leash, you'll need a collar:
Here are collars to match the "fancy" leashes. You don't want to use a "choke" collar for teaching the sit command.

Tips for teaching your dog the SIT command

Dog Sit Command Rottweiler** Let the puppy follow your hand with the treat in it, til he is sitting and give the treat just as you say sit.
** Don't make it feel like you are teasing the puppy with the treat. It should be a smooth, quick action.
** Once your dog definitely has the idea, and is consistently sitting on command in quiet settings, begin to add more and more distractions (on leash at first), until the dog sits on command no matter where you are or what is going on.

Emily came from a rural shelter as an emergency. She went into labor on the way from the shelter, which was three states away from our rescue.
Emily is the best dog -- gentle, obedient and loving. She is the epitome of a Rottweiler. After considerable medical care, she was adopted by wonderful people who live in the country. Her puppy was also adopted by a great family.

Rescuing at risk dogs and cats in Southern California since 1992.  In 1998 we opened our strictly no-kill, cage-less Sanctuary located in the high desert of Northern Los Angeles County.

Let's Talk!

What do you think of my lens, or dogs, or training dogs to sit?

  • OhMe Dec 4, 2011 @ 3:58 pm | delete
    Great instructions for how to teach a dog to sit. Our Bruno learned a few commands at PetSmart Puppy School and then we learned how to use these commands for discipline when we were in Alpha-Dog Training.
  • jseven Sep 24, 2011 @ 12:56 am | delete
    You have great, clear instructions here to teach a dog to sit. My dog sits good, but will not always come to me, mostly at bath time, but she is getting better. :)
  • AJTyne Sep 24, 2011 @ 1:02 am | delete
    THanks! Joey, The "come" command lens is coming soon! I have a unique technique that I think you'll like.
  • renstar Aug 16, 2011 @ 9:00 am | delete
    Love your Lens and its a great tip on getting your dog to sit, I wish all domestic dogs had a little training like sit, stay, down, drop and the most important leave!
  • HSSchulte Jul 31, 2011 @ 10:29 pm | delete
    I actually think I could do this after reading this. You make it sound so easy.
  • sukkran Jul 26, 2011 @ 12:38 pm | delete
    thanks for the useful tips on dogs training.
  • JoshK47 Jul 18, 2011 @ 9:14 am | delete
    Great work here! :)
  • DogsRule Jul 16, 2011 @ 10:07 pm | delete
    Excellent tips for teaching the sit command! Easy to read and follow, thanks for the info!
  • gottaloveit Jul 15, 2011 @ 11:13 am | delete
    Excellent advice and a great lens. All of my dogs were trained with this method. Now, can you please help me figure out how to get my Australian Shepherd to stop charging the front door and yelling his lungs out when a visitor approaches??
  • AJTyne Jul 15, 2011 @ 2:28 pm | delete
    Thanks for stopping by, Lori! Send me a pm and describe the problem with as many details as possible, and I'll write about your problem. Thanks!
  • Load More
Show All

How to Teach a Dog to Sit - Demonstration Video

If you have a tasty training treat, you probably can do this training session at any time, whether the dog is ready for its meal or not -- but that is a good tip if you happen to have that rare dog that isn't always up for a treat.

The important part of this video: Notice that when the dog backs up instead of sitting, she gently touches and guides the dog's rump into a sit -- she does NOT push down on the dog's rump (even though her written instructions state that you should). Never push down on a dog's rump! What she does in the video is more akin to blocking the dog so that it doesn't continue to back up.
How to Teach Your Dog to Sit
by Howcast | video info

189 ratings | 101,652 views
curated content from YouTube
Feeling creative? Create a Lens!

Explore related pages

Related Tags