Installation Guide

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ANOTHER POSITIONAL COMMAND: SIT
The next command to teach is “Sit.” With this command, you tell your dog to sit and remain seated until it receives
another command. The leash applies pressure to the underside of the dog’s neck when you are training it to sit. You
are now working on a diff erent pressure point. Pull straight up on the lead with your right hand and push down on
your dog’s butt with your left hand until its bottom hits the ground. Add a verbal “Sit” and release the pressure on the
leash. Pressure from the leash can be omitted when your dog is consistently sitting on verbal commands. Later you
will get into corrections and the steps you should follow to make things clear for your dog. Repeat the “Sit” drill until
your dog is happily driving nails with its rear.
Have you ever seen a dog sit sideways? It fl ops down and comes to rest on one hip. This is a common occurrence for lazy
dogs and needs to be corrected. Pull up on the leash until your dog sits in a proper fashion. It may become necessary to
step forward if your dog will not align itself properly at fi rst. Fight for the proper sit position now and you won’t have to
address this in the future when you are asking it to sit in the face of overwhelming distractions.
Now your dog has learned to come to you, walk comfortably beside you, and sit on command. It must concentrate and
use its brain as it learns these skills. Pay close attention to your dog’s focus, making sure that the training sessions are
not too long. Even though your dog’s brain is a sponge at this point, it can become oversaturated and unable to receive
anymore constructive information.
A FOLLOW-UP TO “SIT”: STAY
When you give your dog the “Sit” command, you’ve told it to sit and remain seated until it receives another command.
Many obedience programs no longer use the “Stay” command, believing it is redundant and not necessary. However,
it would be good for you to know how to condition for this command if your dog struggles with remaining seated. To
reinforce sitting, apply a light amount of upward leash pressure to its collar and command “Stay” as you start to move
away and toward the end of the leash. Your dog will likely get up and try to move with you. If this occurs, stop it with “No,”
reseat the dog with “Sit,” and repeat “Stay” with another upward tug on the leash. It should not take too many corrections
before your dog fi gures this puzzle out. Should it continually refuse to stay, add increasing amounts of leash pressure
and stronger “No” commands until it obeys. You may need to be more patient here than any other place. You have already
conditioned your dog to move with you at heel as you move away and many dogs think this is what you want now instead
of remaining seated. Correction for mistakes, rewards for positive responses, and repetition will quickly condition your
dog to this command.