Lesson #2: "Sit"
“Sit” means put your body in the sitting position.
“Stand” means stand still on all four legs.
“Down” means lie down on the ground.
Food Lure; No Cue
Sit
You will use a food lure to move your dog into the sitting position. While your dog is standing, hold the lure just above his head and between his eyes. Move it backwards slightly. The position of your hand is important. If it's too high, your dog might jump. If it's too low, your dog might lie down. Keep the lure close to your dog's face and keep your hand still. Think of sitting as an attempt to get the dog's head up rather than getting the rear end down. Mark when he sits (click or say "Yes!") and then give your dog the treat. Do NOT say "Sit" yet. Just lure, mark and treat.
Stand
Stand has practical use, such as for wiping your dog's feet or vet exams. It is also useful for teaching the sit and down. It provides a third position to mix things up during training, so we know the dog is really paying attention. If we only teach sit and down, the dog will easily anticipate what is next and not look to us for cues.
You will use a food lure to move your dog from a sit into the standing position. Hold the lure directly in front of his nose and move it forward very slowly. Keep the lure right at nose height. Mark the correct behavior (standing), and then give your dog the treat. Do NOT say "Stand" yet.
Down
Practice the down from both a sitting and a standing position. Use your food lure and keep your hand motion slow and steady. When your dog is in a sitting position, move the food straight down between his feet, then slightly forward along the ground. Mark and treat when his elbows are on the ground. When your dog is in a standing position, move the food lure back towards his chest, just under his chin. He should fold backwards like an accordion. Mark and treat when your dog lies down. Do NOT say "Down" yet.
If your dog is having trouble, try sitting on the floor with a treat and bend one of your knees so your leg makes a tunnel. Lure your dog through the tunnel with the treat. He will have to lie down to do this. As soon as he is in the down position, mark and treat.
Fade Food Lure & Introduce Physical Prompt
This step helps ensure that you don't end up with a dog that only works for food!
The goal is to fade the food lure and use only your hand motion to get your dog to sit, stand and lie down. The food will become the reinforcement only. Pretend that the food is still in your hand and your dog is very likely to follow the signal. Click or say "Yes!" when your dog moves into position, and pull a treat from your pocket. Randomly mix hand signal trials with food lure trials. Keep him guessing!
Don't say the cue yet!
Add Verbal Cue
When your dog follows the physical prompt into position 90% of the time without food, you are ready to name the behavior. Add the cue "Sit", "Stand" or "Down" right before you prompt your dog into position, then mark and treat. Say each verbal cue ONLY ONCE so your dog doesn't learn to ignore the cue. Say the cue before the prompt, not simultaneously.
Your dog will soon learn that the verbal cue always precedes the physical prompt. Initially, the prompt will be the same motion used to lure the dog into position. You can also switch to more formal obedience hand signals. Whatever hand signals you decide to use, be sure to be consistent.
Variable Reinforcement
When your dog is responding well to the sit, down and stand using a verbal cue, you can start to practice variable reinforcement. The best way to maintain a learned behavior is to give the reward intermittently and unpredictably. Start by doing 2fers and 3fers. Ask for 2 or 3 behaviors between each mark and treat. Reward only the best responses to improve overall quality.
Move to longer chains of behaviors between reinforcement if your dog is doing well. Occasionally reward your dog with a jackpot, an extra special reward, to keep his interest. Here are some examples of random behavior chains:
- Sit, Stand, Down
- Stand, Down, Sit, Stand, Down
- Down, Stand, Down, Sit
Build Duration
Your focus in this step is to increase the time that your dog will hold each position. Increase the time by a few seconds before you mark and treat. If your dog does well, continue to increase your time expectations. If your dog breaks the position before the mark, lower the duration to make sure your dog can be successful. Turn away, move to a slightly different location and start again. Be random, in your requirements for time. Don't always make it harder.
Fade Physical Prompt
Now it is time to find out if your dog really understands the verbal cue! Stand very still and say the cue without giving a physical prompt or hand signal. Often we think the dog understands the verbal cue, only to find out that he was really responding to a physical prompt. If he doesn't respond, go back to step 3 and work on the verbal cue.
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Now that your dog is sitting on cue, follow Buddy to the next lesson.
