Maisie is a 4 year old Golden Retriever that never learned to sit.
There is nothing wrong with her physically to prevent her from sitting. And it isn’t for lack of trying – her owner enrolled her in beginning obedience classes 3 separate times, thinking maybe it was the trainer’s methods or the other dogs distracting her that caused her to fail at this most basic of commands.
So Maisie’s owner did not hire me to train Maisie – she had given up and was sure that Maisie was too old to learn anything now – but to work with the new puppy she recently brought into her home to keep Maisie company.
Rather than put Maisie in another room while I trained the puppy, we did a “2 for the price of 1” session. Let’s face it – I love a challenge! I was determined to surprise and delight her owner by getting Maisie to finally sit on command.
And she did.
Here are all the elements we put into place to make SIT happen:
1. Teaching Maisie’s new little brother to sit was easy – hold a treat over his head and wait. Once he realized that jumping for the treat did nothing, he sat down to consider his options. Bingo! Praise and treat. Repeat. And repeat. And repeat. And repeat for good measure.
2. Maisie watched this process, getting more and more frustrated that her brother was getting treats and she wasn’t.
3. We placed Maisie into a corner of the kitchen so that she couldn’t back away or jump very far for a treat.
4. We upped the ante by selecting a higher “value” treat, one that is primarily chicken liver. It met my Triple S criteria for training treats: Small, Soft and Smelly.
And happily, the combination of these 4 factors got her to Sit.
Boy, did we make a fuss when she did! Wild praise, extravagant treating, repeat and repeat and repeat.
Here is what we did NOT do:
1. We did NOT say the word “Sit.” She had heard the word many, many times before and had never connected it with putting her butt on the floor. Once she actually sat, we could say “Good Sit!” because it meant something.
2. We did NOT push her tush. Using physical force to make her sit is guaranteed to meet resistance, and possibly, fear of a hand coming towards her.
Maisie’s owner promised to reinforce both of her dogs’ new skill by having them sit for everything they wanted: treats, of course, but also meals, toys, games, petting, greeting people, having a leash put on and taken off. Pretty soon, sit becomes an automatic reflex, like teaching kids to say “please!” (we wish).
Think your dog can’t learn to sit? Stay? Come? Lie down? Call an in-home dog trainer, and don't give up!
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