Oh, My dog already knows "Sit"

The title of this blog is one of the things I hear most in my obedience classes - "My dog already knows Sit"

Do they now? What does "Sit" really mean to you, or to your dog? Most dogs when given a Sit command when close to their owners will Sit in front of their owner.

Since the most common place dogs are rewarded is in front of their handler, it's very often the dog will orientate himself to the front, even if the command was given when the dog was beside the owner.

This is where context and reinforcement come into play. Often the dog is only reinforced while sitting in front of their owner, this is the position they automatically assume when the command "Sit" is given. So already our definition for most dogs knowing Sit has changed from "Sit" to "go in front of my owner and Sit".

If you reinforce the Sit from other positions, this will start to fade away and its likely you dog will start to sit on command rather than re-orientating himself then sitting. You can do this by simply moving yourself beside your dog and delivering the reward. The key is that the dog sees a reward can come from you even if your directly beside him. This is a critical thing to train when starting to learn heeling, since often when stopping and asking the dog to sit, he will start to creep in front of you. It's important he know its OK and also reinforcing to sit BESIDE you.

Distance is another big throw off for dogs. Again, since the reward comes from you, naturally the dog assumes he needs to be close to you when the command is given. More importantly, the dog may not understand the command if he isn't beside you. Training your dog to respond, at a distance, to a simple Sit is a very challenging thing to train. It's almost impossible without the use of a marker word or clicker since you need to reinforce at a distance.

Doing this exercise is a great way to show people that dogs are not 'stubborn' or 'dominate' when they refuse to listen. I can hold a ton of treats in my hand in an empty room with my dog, block her off from getting to me, and ask for a "Sit" and it's ignored.

Why? Clearly she wants the treats I have, clearly there's nothing else better to do in the room, so why not listen to me and get the reward?

Many owners would assume she knows Sit, since she will often Sit when asked - but because I'm standing far away from her, the context has changed, and thus she needs to be TRAINED to understand that Sit, still means Sit from a distance.

What about distractions? Is your dog being stubborn or dominant or disobedient when it ignores a command while playing with other dogs or walking in the park? Unless you have done training in those areas, its likely you'll be ignored too. While the reinforcement of playing with dogs may be greater than what your offering, if you have practiced this enough times under gradually increasing distractions, chances are they will listen - specially if they know they can resume playing or sniffing after!

What about releasing the dog? When does "Sit" actually end? Many dogs know to Sit on command, but the duration which they hold it, and the communication on that from the handler is usually lacking. Some trainers teach that Sit also means Stay, so a simple Sit actually means "Sit until I tell you something different" which can be another command or a release word. Owners will often get mad at their dog if they break a Sit that the owner is hoping they will hold (perhaps you told your dog to sit expecting them to remain that way while another dog passed by) but rarely will people teach this.

In summary - just because you THINK your teaching your dog something, doesn't mean your teaching the exact thing you hope your dog will understand when you give that command! Remember to practice variations, distance, distractions and duration!