Sit and Stay: Puppy Training Basics

Practice your commands inside and outside.

There are several schools of thought on how best to start training your puppy. Some people like to use treats as a reward for good behavior.  Others say that this method can backfire; if there is no treat, your pet may not perform when it counts! I would suggest initially training with treats, being sure to also use praise as a reward.  Once your pet has learned the desired behavior, you can slowly wean them off the treats.  If you choose to use treats, use a low calorie dog treat specifically made for training. DO NOT use human food. This may train your pet to beg, or worse, cause your pet to gain too much weight. I recommend Zuke’s Mini-Naturals, which are only 2 calories a treat. You can purchase them here.

Zuke's Mini Naturals are only 2 calories a peice, so they make great training rewards!

One of the reasons using a yummy snack during training is so effective, is that a puppy will naturally try to position themselves in such a way as to get a taste.  This instinct is exploited in a popular method of teaching a puppy to sit.  When the puppy is in front of you, hold the treat over his nose. As you say the word “sit” bring the food up and over the dogs head. As puppy naturally follows the treat by moving his head up, he will sit down. As soon as the puppy sits, say “good sit” and give him the treat. If the puppy tries to jump up or lifts his front legs, you are holding the treat too high.  Make sure you practice sit in many places, both inside and outside the home. Think about all the places it will be most important for your pet to sit, and practice there. For example, practice sit in front of any doors leading outside, in the kitchen and in the yard.  Another great idea is to practice sit before you feed your pet a meal, only after the pet is sitting should you put the food bowl down.  This will prevent a grown dog from jumping on you in its excitement about dinner! You should also practice this command before your pet gets in and out of the car. This will help prevent your dog from bolting out of the backseat when you drive to the puppy park, the vet, the groomers, or anywhere else!  This is an easy command to practice on walks as well, and can be very useful while you are poopy-scooping!

Big dog or small, all pets need obedience training.

From the sit position, you can begin to teach your puppy the “down” command. Take the treat and, while saying “down”, lower it between your pet’s paws. Most of the time, the puppy will lie down automatically. If this does not work, try pushing or pulling the treat between the paws to get the puppy into the right position. You can also try sitting on the floor and slightly bending one knee. Pull the treat behind your knee as you teach the command, this should cause the puppy to lie down in order to get to the treat from underneath your leg! If you are still not making progress, gently push the puppy until they are lying down, say “good down” and then give the treat.  This command can be particularly challenging for an excited puppy, so patience and consistency is the key.  When your puppy gets a command right, be sure to give lots of praise.

Keep using hand motions, even after you have tapered off treats. Freinds and family will be impressed when you dont even have to say "sit" or "down."

You should train several times a day, for about 10-15 minutes each time. Every time you go someplace new with your puppy, make sure you practice these commands. It is important for your puppy to know that no matter where he is, and how many distractions there are, he needs to listen to you! As your puppy begins to master the commands, only give treats occasionally. Continue to use the hand motions, as eventually your pet can use the motion of our hand as a non-verbal cue to sit or lie down.  Every time your puppy listens to a command, praise them.

After you master the basics, you can move on to more advanced commands, like "stay."