SIT - How to

SIT

TEACHING

             This is the beginning step of teaching your dog how to sit. There are stages in training and future posts will have information about adding Duration and Time, Distractions and Distance. 

             Your training sessions should be short and sweet. 5 min max at a time. 

There are 4 teaching methods listed below. We know that all dogs are different so find what works for your dog.

             Training equipment: At this stage I recommend using a flat collar or a slip collar of some sort. I do not recommend a harness or head halter of any kind for teaching these commands. It's possible to but I don't recommend it. 

             Make sure to give the command “SIT” before you start to help the dog in any way. When you say “SIT” command it. Don’t yell it and don’t say it in your everyday voice. Add a little bit of emphasis to it like you mean it but it doesn't need to be loud. Say the command once, even if it takes you 5 min or more to get the dog sitting you have only said it once at the beginning. Once you get the dog into the desired position you can calmly pet and reward with food if your dog is food motivated. Release your dog right away. “FREE” is what we use. When you release your dog you are just encouraging him to get up. Do not pull on the leash to get your dog up into “Free”. Just make it fun and exciting. For this beginning step in training you want to “Free” your dog before they have a chance to get up on their own. We will work on time and distance later.

Lure

Over head: Start with your dog in front of you take a treat and put it in front of their nose bring the food up over the dogs head and towards its back. (Slow) As soon as your dog is sitting say “Yes” and feed then say “Free” and encourage them to get up. If your dog loses interest part way following the treat then you need to slow down. If your dog still loses interest you need to move to a higher value treat.

Up toward you: Start with your dog in front of you take a treat and put it in front of their nose bring the treat toward you at a straight line from the dogs nose to your belly button and then in all one motion up your body to your chest. Sometimes it helps if you back up initially when you start this.

Leash Pressure and Physical Help

            Pull the leash gently up and over the dogs back at an angle adding slow gradual pressure straight up and slightly at an angle over the back while adding gentle pressure with your hand or finger tips to the dogs butt near the tail. This is NOT a challenge of how quickly you can force the dogs butt down. Slow is key as soon as the dog starts to finish sitting on their own – You let them and help again if you need to. As soon as they are sitting slow calming pets and praise.

            If the above doesn’t work here is one other option. Pull the leash up at an angle over the dogs back while taking your arm behind your dogs hind knees helping him to bend his legs in to a sit.

            Take your time and listen to your dog. Some dogs work better with the leash pressure at an angle over their back and others work better if you have the leash pressure coming in a straight up position.

Over time I plan to start adding videos to these posts as demonstrations.

Watch for updates.

NEXT will be a post on Duration getting your dog to stay sitting for a length of time. 

PLEASE ask ANY questions you have in relation to these posts. 

Paws In Progress

www.pawsinprogress.com

Discover the Potential in your Paws!

Remote collar / E-collar

Remote Collars can be a great tool when you use the right brand and they are used correctly.
You may have heard them called a "Shock" collar.
They do not harm the dog. Once you train the dog with the collar it is just another form of communication with your dog. It is a lot less force full and actually is kinder on your dog than physical corrections from any other form of collar. It is a gentle reminder of what they are supposed to be doing. Anyone that truly wants their dog to be off leash should invest in an ecollar. It allows me the confidence and safety that no matter what I have control of what my dog is doing. You can train all day every day and there is still a % that your dog can make their own decisions. There are things that we can't train or prepare for. I want to have control of that %.  I am a safe driver but I still wear my seat belt. That's how I think of my ecollar. It's there if I need it but the majority of the time it isn't needed once the dog is trained.
The brands that we recommend are
Einstein / E-collar Technologies and Dogtra.
Mini Educator/Einstein Collar is the ecollar that we carry that is included in training plans. It is considered at "small dog collar" but I have yet to meet a dog that needed anything more.
Both of these collars are great and have a wide range of options.
The lowest level "Small dog collar" is all that is needed on most pet dogs.
Mini Einstein/ Educator + Dogtra 280
Has 100 levels of momentary or continuous. If we decide this is the right tool for your dog I have you feel it 1st. Most people feel it between an 8 - 20. I almost guarantee you your dog will feel it between a 3-7.
It has a boost button for emergencies and has a vibrate option.
There are other good brands out there like Tritronics and Garmin but those tend to work at a higher level than most dogs need and are a little more tricky to work and switch between dogs on a multi dog unit.
We DO NOT recommend most of the E-collars that you can find at your local pet store like Petsafe and Sportdog collars. Most of those collars have a very limited selection of levels like 4 or 5 and the levels jump quite a bit because it has so few options.

Head Halters

Head halters can be a very useful tool for some types of dog training.

Just like harnesses Head halters tend to be a management tool not necessarily a training tool.

When you take the head halter off your dog will not walk as well as when it was on.

But it can be great for people that don't want anything other than to be able to walk their dogs.

If not used properly it can rub and hurt the bridge of the dogs nose.

It can also be a great tool for having control of the mouth. When working with a dog that can be dog reactive   it can be great for doing close dog on dog training and still having control of the mouth if you need it. 

Or dogs that can be people aggressive you still can have control of the mouth when needed. 

The head halters are not a muzzle. They don't do anything to restrict the mouth unless you are pulling up on it. 

When using a head halter we recommend the HALTI collar.

We like the fact that the Halti has a safety strap going from the connection for the leash to the collar.

This halti is not properly fitted on this fake dog head. The neck strap behind the head should be right up directly behind the ears.

There are other variations and types of head halters.
Another one is the Gentle leader. If you use the gentle leader make sure to make your own safety strap because they don't come with one.  They can also be a lot harder to fit properly without the help of a trainer.

Harnesses

A harness is a restraint and for most dogs just tends to teach them to pull.

We don't recommend a harness for teaching loose leash walking.

If you think about it.. police dogs have harnesses, sled dogs have harnesses, mountain dogs that pull carts have harnesses. Harnesses teach dogs to pull. 

So in some instances we use this to our advantage.

Puppies under 16weeks we recommend the use of a harness so that it is just management and they are not learning to pull on their collar. Until they are ready to start basic obedience training.

If a dog already has an existing neck injury and for some small dogs we may use a harness but it is not necessary to use a harness with all small dogs.

We use harnesses to help teach a restrained recall. Some dogs just lope their way on over to their owners when called. To make coming to you sooo much more exciting we teach a restrained recall. 

In the following video the handler is just holding onto the dog but it can be much easier with a harness and just restraining the dog http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yMw3RdrFxQ

There are many different types of harnesses available.

Standard harness that we recommend for use just as management and to restrain should look like this one...

 There are other types of harnesses like this easy walk harness to the left.
For a dog with a soft personality this can work as management for some dogs that can help limit the strain on you when pulling. It does not stop pulling and you will not be able to take it off and the dog still walk nicely.

There are many other harnesses available that are supposed to stop pulling as well. Again all of these are management tools that can help with pulling on a soft personality dog. But will not stop pulling altogether. 

Flat Collar

We recommend that flat collars are only used for tags.
Many MANY dogs are capable of slipping out of a flat collar.
If your dog doesn't need a training collar we always recommend a martingale collar that they cannot slip out of.
There are many different materials that flat collars can be made of nylon, cotton and leather.
The different types are...


Buckle Collar

 Quick Release Collar

Breakaway Collar












Just like all other collars we do not recommend that you just let the dog pull against it.
We also never recommend that any collar is left on any dog unsupervised. In a crate, house, backyard or any other area unsupervised. But PLEASE Microchip your dogs!

Martingale Collar

A Martingale collar is like a normal flat collar but it tightens just enough that the dog can't slip out of it.
I like to use a martingale as a normal collar instead of a flat collar most of the time. Just to ensure the dog can't slip out of it.  We like these collars.
Just like all other collars we do not recommend that you just let the dog pull against it.
We also never recommend that any collar is left on any dog unsupervised. In a crate, house, backyard or any other area unsupervised. But PLEASE Microchip your dogs!

They can come with a chain portion

With a form of quick release

All nylon

Nylon with a quick release

Prong Collar

We HIGHLY recommend you see a trainer to ensure proper fitting and usage of a collar for your dog!
Prong Collars can be seen as a "painful" tool or only for bad dogs.
The type of collar you use for your dog is based on what works best for both you and your dog.
Prong Collars can be a FABULOUS tool when used CORRECTLY!
Prong Collars should fit snug on the neck so that it does not flip around while on the dogs neck.
When putting a prong collar on you disconnect the links and fit it around the dogs neck.
NEVER should it be slid over the dogs head.

When I fit a prong collar I prefer to have the chain portion under the neck. The prong collar should also fit up high on the neck.
One in a million times a prong collar will randomly come undone for no apparent reason. It will be at the worst possible time ever. I HIGHLY advise that you backup the prong collar with a slip collar. I hook the leash up to both rings.
When using a prong collar it should stay LOOSE unless you are making a correction.
A prong collar is NOT to put on a dog to stop pulling by letting the dog pull until it is uncomfortable. There is a proper way to use every collar PLEASE seek out the help of a professional before you put equipment on your dog.
Be VERY careful about what you use your prong collar for. A Prong simulates a bite and if you are trying to correct dog reactivity you definitely don't want to use a prong unless otherwise specified by your trainer.
Some dogs elevate and get more intense with a prong than they would with a different collar on.
The dogs personality also depends on whether a prong should be used.
Technically a prong collar is more "humane" than a slip collar as it distributes the weight evenly around the the neck and doesn't concentrate on any one area.
The prong collar can mean using less pressure to get the desired results instead of harder corrections. Can also be great for people who don't have alot of strength to wrestle with the dog.

 Here is an example of backing up your collar.
This dog has both a prong and a type of slip chain hooked up together.

Here is another way to backup your collar.
Leerburg now makes a special leash specifically for backing up your prong collar. You can also use a double down leash or european leash.







WE DO NOT recommend using this type of prong to the left.
This is made to be fitted as a flat collar. We don't recommend you use a prong like this.





Your traditional prong collar looks like this. Where you take it apart anywhere by unhooking the links and hooking them together around the dogs neck

Some people feel bad about using a prong collar or for a dog with a more sensitive skin around the neck like Boxers, Pit Bulls, some hounds. Adding these can be an option. These are little plastic caps for the tips of the prongs. 

Or if you just want to avoid dealing with others that do not understand the use of the prong collar. There are many different things that you can buy or make to put on your prong collar to make it look like a normal collar. I often just suggest to put a bandanna on on top if you are worried at all. 

The prongs can stick and can be difficult to pinch to get out and back in. Or some people don't have alot of strength in their hands and may want to look into a different option in design in putting the prong collar on. 

The prong collar with the quick release collar can be found at most petsmart locations. This can be MUCH easier to use than trying to undo the normal prongs and putting them back together.

They also make a quick release normal prong. I advise against this one as I have found that it tends to come apart ALOT more and winds up being more trouble than it is worth. 

 There is a plastic style prong collar available.
THis collar doesn't come apart as easily as the traditional prong collar
We also don't feel that this collar is as effective as the normal prong collar.

You can always purchase extra links if the collar you buy doesn't have enough 

I generally advise the smaller prong collar and just to buy more links. The 2.25mm.

They make one even smaller but normally it needs to be ordered online it is called a micro mini prong - works well for smaller breeds.





Just like all other collars we do not recommend that you just let the dog pull against it.
We also never recommend that any collar is left on any dog unsupervised. In a crate, house, backyard or any other area unsupervised. But PLEASE Microchip your dogs!