Obedience Training

Sitting and Staying - All Part of Effective Obedience Training

If you want to embark on obedience training with your dog then you will want to teach him to basic commands to begin with - sitting and staying.

Sitting is one of the easiest commands that you can teach your dog. However it is unfortunate that this is also the command that is most commonly messed up by dog owners. Before you teach your dog to sit, make sure that you have some treats ready for your dog. You will need a lot of them so make sure they are only snack size or very small.

To begin you will want your dog to be standing in a relaxed position. You should either stand in front of your dog, or sit or kneel in front of him. Once you have your dog standing in front of you, hold a treat up so your dog can see it and slowly move it over your dog's head towards his tail.

Your dog will probably sit down so that he can keep easy reach of that treat. As soon as he does sit down, you need to reward him - click your clicker and reward him or use a bridge word and reward him. You need to be vigilant here - as soon as his rear end touches the ground, you need to immediately click and reward, or you say your bridge word and reward. You need to repeat this so that your dog learns that if he takes this action he will get a treat.

Staying is all important in terms of training your dog to be obedient and responsive. It is very important to be gentle with your dog and to pick strategies that meet their needs.

To start this training you should gather lots of treats, your dogs buckle collar and a leash. While your dog is on the leash, place him in the down position and lure him into the down position. While your dog is in the down position, place the leash on the ground and stand on it. Give your dog plenty of room so you're not choking him. Now give him the "stay" command. Your dog will not have any idea what this means, but he is going to realize that he's down and he is unable to move. You should now click (or bridge word) and treat for every few seconds that your dog remains down and is not struggling to get away.

You should reward your dog by putting the treats right between his front paws or placing them on the ground right underneath his nose. Practice this several times so he begins to become familiar with the pattern.