„Sit” is a valuable exercise because it becomes a way for the puppy to say „please”. „Sit” is a natural position for the puppy, it will be relaxed, which makes it easier to get its attention. Above all, when executing the command „sit”, the puppy does not jump on you, your family, or friends.
You should teach the sit both from the front and from the left side. While teaching the puppy to sit in front of you, call it to you, show it a piece of food in your hand, keep it close to its nose/muzzle, and move your hand upwards to tilt its head back. Its bottom should naturally move towards the ground, say „sit”, and reinforce the command with food as soon as its bottom touches the ground.
Repeat this until it sits on your voice command „sit”, and then introduce intermittent reinforcement. You can also use a hand signal, e.g., pointing with your finger.
When the puppy sits in front of you, try to teach it to sit on your left side. This is the basis for performing all obedience exercises.
To practice this – call the puppy and command it to sit in front of you, holding food in your right hand, guiding the puppy with your legs, swapping the food to your left hand. As soon as the puppy comes out from behind your left leg, give the command to sit and tilt its head again towards the food. It should end up sitting close to your left leg, facing the same direction as you. Be careful where you hold your hand with the food, keep it close to your body. If it moves away or tries to sit facing you, practice the exercise against the wall, leaving enough space for the puppy to sit next to you until it learns to sit close to you.
When the puppy learns to come to the left side and sit, this is the so-called „heel” position, then we teach it „stay”, „remain”, „drop it”. The hand signal to move to the „heel” position involves making a wide motion of the right hand around the right thigh.
If the puppy is excited and jumps on you and your friends or family, you can stop it from jumping with the command „sit”. Give the command, and when the puppy jumps, push it down and say „no” in a firm voice and ask it to sit using the command „sit”. Once it sits (this may take a few tries), praise it and encourage friends and family to do the same.
Developed by Piotr Zarębski, behaviorist, in collaboration with the portal zwierzaki.expert.