A pet owner can establish leadership over the dog with obedience training. Having a leader to follow will make a dog an ideal well behaved pet. Dogs are pack animals thus they need to know their rank in the pack otherwise they will be confused and develop unwanted behaviors. One of the reasons why dogs are either abandoned or left in animal shelters is because owners have not taken the trouble to obedience train the dog.

Most dog owners find training the pet a daunting task but having a dog that can do tricks will certainly be a gratifying achievement. Sitting is an inherent skill of dogs thus owners should not find teaching the pet to respond to the sit command a difficult task. The dog owner’s task is to train the dog to sit when the sit command is given

Sitting is a natural action of dogs but unless trained man’s best friends would not know what the word sit means. To familiarize the pet to the word sit, an owner can say the word every time the dog is about to sit. Dogs are noted for their high level of intelligence thus by repeating the word, it will be associated by the dog to the particular action. Because dogs have very short attention spans they get easily distracted. To get the dog focused on the training, sessions must be short and conducted in an area with few distractions. Arm yourself with a bagful of the dog’s favorite treats that will be used as positive reinforcement.

Dogs are noted for their eagerness to please thus playing or bonding with the pet before the training session will make them more receptive. Call the dog’s name in a clear voice to get its attention. Holding a piece of treat, wave your hand to get the dog’s attention. Dogs are food motivated thus you can lead the dog to sit by holding the treat over the dog’s head. However, the treat must not be held too high over the head so as not to make the dog jump. Give the sit command before the dog sat to get the treat. Reward the dog with a treat as soon as it sat down. Because dogs learn by association, the reward will be associated to doing the particular action.

For the training to be successful, the owner has to be patient and has to have a positive attitude. Five to ten minute training sessions conducted two to three times everyday will eventually make the dog obey the command even without seeing a treat.

Sarah’s Dogs provides more information on how to teach a dog to sit as well as dog first aid.