How to get your dog/puppy to sit

1. Get your dog’s attention. Make sure you have some time to spend to teach your dog to sit. Using a room with plenty of free space, coax your dog into the room by luring them with their favorite toy; usually a tennis ball will do the trick nicely.

2. Use the toy to train them. Waving the toy in the air so have your dog’s undivided attention, you can now begin to teach your dog to sit. The dog will naturally follow the toy as you wave it back and forth through the air.
3. Teach the dog what the commands means. Firmly tell your dog, “Sit!” Give them an idea of what this means by forcing them in the sitting position. Now your dog has an association with the command and what it means.

4. Let them get back up. Now distract the animal again by waiving the toy around so they get back up. Here is the trick to get them to sit down again. Using the toy, start by holding it at their eye level but do not let them grab it. Firmly tell them to sit again and keep raising the toy up so their eyes will follow. Eventually they will raise their head up so high that they naturally will sit down.
5. Reinforce the command. It may take several tries to teach your dog to sit. Try forcing them back into the sitting position and keep repeating this process as necessary. Every time they do heed your command give them plenty of praise and attention.

Teaching Dogs Not to Run Out the Door

The best way to persuade your dog not to dash through doors is: do not let your dog make a successful dash through the door. Sounds obvious -- but countless dog people and their guests have accidentally let the dog out the door, giving the dog a taste of freedom that can be exhilarating, but fraught with danger. The dog does not realize this, but he could get hit by a car, get in a fight with another animal, get lost and hurt, knock over children, not to mention alienate your neighbors. Even after dogs who get hurt after an escape fail to remember the connection between door-darting and pain when spotting a new chance to dash out the door.

When a dog is allowed to dash out the door, this act reinforces the undesirable behaviors of ignoring the owner, crossing thresholds ahead of the owner, running out the door and running loose. Since the dog will enjoy the excitement of running loose and the opportunity to chase critters (and sometimes people) outside, the act of running free is instantly self-rewarding.

So do all you can to keep your dog from escaping, including teaching all household members and guests to not let the dog out -- and teaching the dog to sit and stay when near exit doors.

Steps to take:

* Establish a pact with all family members and housemates that everyone will keep the dog from escaping out doors. This means training the people and alerting all visitors to your home.

* Teach the Doggie Doorknob Rule. Explain to everyone living or visiting your home, especially children: do not turn the doorknob until you know where the dog is, and you are sure the dog can't get loose and run out the door.

* Tell visitors when they are preparing to leave your home not to open the door until your dog is secured. Make sure the dog is confined in another room, on a leash by your side, or taught reliably to "stay" or "wait."

* Do daily practice sessions to train the dog that he can never go out the door without your express permission. And/or take basic obedience classes, which will help you learn to keep your dogs attention in an environment of distractions.

* Start by teaching the key commands of "Sit" and "Stay." Remember, you must first teach the dog what the basic command words and hand signals mean before you work on training him not to run out doors. Dogs do not instinctively know what "Sit," "Stay," "Down" mean; their owners need to teach them. Also, your dog needs to have bonded with you before you begin obedience training sessions, or else he will not pay attention. First build your relationship with the dog, learn how to be a leader to your dog, teach him to pay attention to you and that it is rewarding to pay attention to you.

* During training sessions, do not have guests or other distractions until your dog demonstrates understanding and the need to obey the commands.

* Once the dog reliably obeys the basic commands, you can begin introducing distractions so that your dog will learn to listen to you even when there are other people and distractions around. Also, practice the commands in other locations, starting with other exit doors in your house.

* Make sure the puppy or dog gets to relieve himself before you start training sessions for sit and wait by the door. It is not fair to the dog or effective obedience training to practice when he really does have to "go outside."

* If you don't have mental control, you have to have physical control. So if your dog does not reliably obey you yet, he needs to be on lead, crated or baby gated away from exit doors.

* When guests arrive at your home, until your dog is totally, reliably trained, it's a good idea to keep your dog on a leash and by your side. That way, you can more effectively instruct her to "stay," "get back," "off" (which means no jumping). At the same time, this will keep your dog from running out the door.

* If you stop letting a dog escape out the door, and you teach your dog proper behavior, the dog is likely to stop trying to escape through doors. However, we should never let our guard down.

Next: several techniques for keeping your dog from darting through the door. Be sure to read through all of them, because each one contains valuable information.

(1)
Teach Stay with Verbal Command and Hand Signal From canine behavior specialist Kathy Graninger:

* Before you walk to the front door, put your dog in the "Sit" position far back from the door and tell him to "Stay!" Extend your arm in a traffic-cop "Stop" hand-signal. Walk towards the door.

* If she starts moving as you reach for the door knob, put your hand out in a "Stop" signal and firmly say "No...Stay!"

* If she gets up (don't wait until she follows you), take her back to the original spot and place her back in the "Sit" position. Firmly repeat the "Sit-Stay" command, while using the "Stop" hand signal.

* Practice until you can open the door slowly, while watching your dog, without your dog breaking the stay.

Teach the dog it is not acceptable, or rewarding, to try to run to the door. But remember: even if the dog gets the concept after practicing, the excitement of seeing new people will tempt her to break the stay command. Always watch your dogs.

(2a)
Teach Wait at Doors and Gates Using Positive Reinforcement: From "Teach Wait" by September Morn, in the June 2003 Dog Fancy.

"Wait" is a less formal command than "Stay."

* Go to the door with your dog on-leash. Say "wait," then reach for the doorknob.

* If your dog moves forward, remove your hand from the doorknob, pause, then try again. If your dog waits, praise and give treats.

* When you can touch the knob without your dog pushing forward, try opening the door a few inches.

* If your dog waits, praise and give treats. If your dog moves forward, close the door gently, pause, then try again.

* Repeat several times, opening the door wider each time. When your dog waits, praise and treat. If your dog moves forward, close the door, without treats and start over.

* When your dog waits several seconds with the door wide open, tell him, "OK, go ahead," and allow him to go through.

(2b)
Teaching Wait using Collar Correction: If the approach above does not work for a dog not motivated by praise and treats, Karin Anderson offers this alternative approach to training the "Wait" command:

Put a training collar and leash on the dog. Say "Wait" as you open the door. If the dog tries to go out, give him a leash correction say "WAIT!"

This conditions the dog to wait at the door and helps the dog learn to associate the opening of a door with something other than "go outside!" Eventually, with sufficient practice over time, no command will be necessary. This approach can also work if the door is accidentally opened.


Training Your Dog Not to Bolt Through Open Doors

Copyright 2002 by Tracy Doyle. Originally written for use with deaf dogs, this technique can work with hearing dogs as well.

There is nothing scarier than to see your deaf dogs running ahead of you toward a door that was accidentally left or blown open. With just a little bit of work every day you can condition your dog to understand that an open door is *not* an invitation to go through it.

It's this simple:
Every time you (or even just your dog) are going through a door -- any door -- make him sit. Then open the door, but keep him in the sit position. If he stands up, close the door and make him sit again. Then do it again. Do this until he sits calmly at the open door -- then give him an "OKAY" signal to go through with you.

Do this with every door he goes through -- car doors, the door to his crate, etc. Do it every day and every time he has to go through a door.

If your dog charges out of his crate whenever you open it, make him sit before you open the door. If you start opening the door and he starts to bolt, slam the door shut in his face! You won't hurt him, but you will confuse him.

Do this until he doesn't bolt out of his crate until YOU say it's okay. Do the same thing with the car door, both in and out. Do this when you go to your training classes -- at the house door, the car door (in, then out), at the training facility (in and out), back to the car and at the house door. Do this at your backyard gate, too, even if you don't regularly go through it -- your meter reader and delivery people are infamous accomplices in dog escapes!

I can't stress how important it is that your dog automatically sits for the door and waits for you to tell him it's okay to pass through -- all the time, every time. Once he gets the idea, make it tougher on him.

Put him on a long lead (10 foot or more), make him sit for the door, open it, and you walk through, leaving him behind. If he follows you, put him back and start over. If you use correction methods, give him a correction before you put him back. He'll get the message rather quickly.

If you do sit-stays and down-stays in obedience, practice them at home in doorways. Put the dog on a long lead drag line (and be ready to grab it or step on it if he bolts!). Put him in a stay a few feet away from the door and open it. Walk in and out. Walk away from the door behind the dog (close to the line so you can step on it), so the dog is between you and the door. Praise him profusely if he maintains the stay.

Keep up on this routine all the time -- once they have the idea that they can't go out for potty or a walk or training or ball playing unless they sit calmly and wait to be invited through the door, it takes no time at all. Of course, at first you have to make allowances for the time it takes to settle them.

Don't fret if people think you are being a control freak. Be proud of it! Someday your dog *will* encounter an open door that he shouldn't go through and you will be thankful. If you start getting lazy, just picture in your mind turning into your hallway or coming down the stairs with your dog ahead of you -- and the front door is wide open. It happened to me and my dogs stopped dead and sat. Sure beats being stopped dead by a car in the road.

So, why not just let him bolt out of his crate? If you're traveling on the road, it's really great to have your dog sit there quietly in his crate while you put his leash on. What if a stranger decided to release your dog? Or a little child wanted to pet the doggie? What if you had guests over and he's a jumper or a biter? Guests are notorious for accidentally releasing dogs.

Why in and out of the car? Because your dog could easily escape...even be stolen if he jumps into any open car door. Did you ever have your dog jump out of your open car door before you had your hand on his leash? It's much better to know he will wait for you to be ready to take him out of the car.

There are a thousand reasons to train your dogs this way, and you don't have to go out of your way to do it. It can save his life.

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And don't forget...

* If your dog escapes, never scold him when you finally get him. Dogs associate reactions to what they just did in the last few seconds. If you scold a dog when you catch him, you are actually teaching him not to let you catch him.

Teaching the DOWN command

The L- or "magnet" method: All trainers of puppies and some trainers of adult dogs use food rewards for training to train the command Down! Start with your dog sitting. Then pinch a morsel of delicious food between your thumb and forefinger. Show the food treat to your dog to bait his interest and then lower your hand slowly toward the ground. The dog will follow the semi-concealed food item with his nose until your hand touches the ground.

At this point he may have already gone down but, if not, will be hunched over, banana-shaped, with his head and rear-end close to or touching the ground. Now draw the food treat away from the dog so that he follows your fingers as you move the treat progressively further away. With luck, the dog will stretch out toward the disappearing food and will slump to the ground ... in a Down position.

Note that your fingers will have described an L-shape with the horizontal section of the L- pointing away from the dog. Once the dog has adopted the desired position, you release the food and praise the dog lavishly. The word Down! can be added later and the form fine-tuned at leisure. Soon you will be able to have your dog perform the Down even when you don't have food. You just say the word Down! as your hand describes the L-pattern in front of the dog. The hand movement becomes a signal.

Of course, you still reward the dog with praise, petting, or food as appropriate. The hand signal can "morph" into a downward sweep of the hand without you even stooping or bending yourself. At this point, the down is trained – but to have it performed reliably needs more work ... and you need to understand the training strategy.


It is important that your dog perceives you as its strong leader. Training should be fun, fair, and firm (the 3 Fs) and should end on a positive note. Food rewards should be delicious and should be provided on an intermittent schedule to get the most consistent results. Intermittent reinforcement is the most powerful reinforcement schedule – it's the one that keeps gamblers at gaming machines!

Teaching the STAY command

Most people try to physically force their dogs to do a stay command. It is much easier to control what your dog wants.

1. Have your dog do the command sit. Once your dog is in the sit position take a treat and start to place it on the ground.
2. Your dog will move as he watches you place the treat on the ground. As your dog starts to get up simply give your dog a verbal correction and pull the treat away.
3. Have your dog do a sit again and start to place the treat on the ground. Your dog will probably start to get up again and move towards the treat. You will again give a verbal correction and pull the treat away. As you repeat this your dog will start to learn that as they move you pull the treat away.
4. Once your dog does not move and try to get the treat you will quickly pick up the treat and give it to your dog. Now you are rewarding your dog for not moving. You are rewarding your dog for doing the stay command. As your dog starts to learn you can do it for longer and longer periods of time.

Teaching the LEAVE IT command

Starting with a dog that your pet is familiar with. Have a helper and the dog begin on the other side of the road.
Interrupt your dog before he begins pulling or barking. Turn fully around and if your dog follows, click and treat.
If your dog doesn't follow you then it is necessary to try again with the other dog further away.
You can also throw some snacks on the ground next to your dog after the click so that he gets the idea that following you is very rewarding.
When your dog is following you once you have given the command Leave It and not paying attention to the other dog. Have the helper approach you and your dog but this time on the same side of the street.
The goal is for you to be able to maintain complete control over your dog even if the other dog passes within only a few feet.
Practice with other dogs and in new places until your dog is able to focus on you alone in any situation.