# So you think you dog knows "sit"....



## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

Along the lines of the Green Eggs and Ham challenge... here's my favorite:

When you do this, you'll reward every correct response.

Do you think your dog knows the command SIT? Are you sure? Are you really sure?

PROVE IT!

Ask him to sit in front of you.

Stand behind him and ask him to sit.

Ask him to sit while you're kneeling down.

Ask him to sit while you're covering your eyes with your hands.

Ask him to sit while you're standing in a chair.

Ask him to sit while you're lying flat on the floor on your back.

Ask him to sit while you're jogging around the coffee table.

Ask him to sit while you flap your arms wildly like a crazy bird.

Ask him to sit while you're doing a handstand.

Ask him to sit in a whisper of a voice. (A dog's hearing is better than ours...he'll hear you, but will he understand?)

Ask him to sit while you're jumping up and down.

You get the idea. We think the dog knows the command by itslef, the word SIT, but so often, he's paying attention to EVERYTHING we're doing at the time SIT comes out of out mouth. If we change that up, the entire picture shifts for the dog.

Most dogs have fairly good success on this experiment with SIT b/c it's such a heavily reinforced behavior in their day to day lives -- they're quite practiced at SIT. Try some of your other behaviors, like tricks, too!

Report back!

-Stephanie


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

WAY true, Stephanie! We make a "game" out of teaching sit in my Puppy Kindergarten class and have them do commands with all sorts of things going on around them, and with the handlers doing lots of different activities. Handstands not so much...


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## TheHooch (May 9, 2007)

I tried it and couldn;t get Mrs Hooch to do a dam* thing.


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## SamIAm's Mom (Dec 24, 2007)

I have already noticed that my Sam pays more attention to my posture than the command itself. If I'm standing looking directly at him and give the command he will obey, but sitting or in any other position he won't. 

Now, what's the best way to teach obedience to the command even when your posture changes?


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## SamIAm's Mom (Dec 24, 2007)

TheHooch said:


> I tried it and couldn;t get Mrs Hooch to do a dam* thing.


 
ROFL! You are too much.


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## moverking (Feb 26, 2007)

Just to prove to my partner that the girls DON'T have a solid sit, down, or stay (she puts them through the exact same routine "Sit-Down-up high-down-spin, instead of breaking/changing it up.....I simply stood on the couch and gave them a down command....nada, nothing. 
So...I'm trying, not very successfully so far, with 'sit' from up the steps, or on a stool, or behind them. They try to re-position themselves to be directly in front of me before they'll do it. Any tips, Steph?


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## Augie's Mom (Sep 28, 2007)

TheHooch said:


> I tried it and couldn;t get Mrs Hooch to do a dam* thing.


 
I think someone is gonna be in trouble, and it ain't Mrs. Hooch. :


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

My husband got mad at me at training one night. He was working with Tucker and He yelled, "He doesn't know "sit!" You and those darn hand commands!!! When we got home I sat in a chair as he was doing during one of the exercises. I made Tucker go to my right side, didn't look at him, didn't move, and said, "Sit!" He "sat!"


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

Maggie and Abbie didint do bad..... they did all but 3 out of the 11..... The boys well there a whole other story.....They never do as well as the girls.....


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## dannyra (Aug 5, 2008)

Ask him to sit in front of you. GOOD

Stand behind him and ask him to sit.GOOD, but she turned around to face me and then sat.

Ask him to sit while you're kneeling down.GOOD

Ask him to sit while you're covering your eyes with your hands.GOOD

Ask him to sit while you're standing in a chair.GOOD

Ask him to sit while you're lying flat on the floor on your back.GOOD, but then laid down on top of me.

Ask him to sit while you're jogging around the coffee table. No dice

Ask him to sit while you flap your arms wildly like a crazy bird. GOOD

Ask him to sit while you're doing a handstand. I doubt she would have, but no way I can do a handstand.

Ask him to sit in a whisper of a voice. (A dog's hearing is better than ours...he'll hear you, but will he understand?) No dice

Ask him to sit while you're jumping up and down. GOOD, but it wasn't immediate.


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## TheHooch (May 9, 2007)

Augie's Mom said:


> I think someone is gonna be in trouble, and it ain't Mrs. Hooch. :


She is too busy snoring.


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## 3459 (Dec 27, 2007)

TheHooch said:


> She is too busy snoring.


Now I KNOW you're in trouble!


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

Here's a hard one... bend at the waist, so you're leaning over the dog and ask him to sit. Most dogs will lie down due to the heavy influence of your body language, which tends to over power the sit in that context.


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## Wilson's REAL Mom (Nov 10, 2006)

I'm pretty excited about this one! Wilson really did well with these.



Ask him to sit in front of you. yes

Stand behind him and ask him to sit. yes

Ask him to sit while you're kneeling down. yes

Ask him to sit while you're covering your eyes with your hands. yes (but Shelby did it faster...I peeked)

Ask him to sit while you're standing in a chair. yes

Ask him to sit while you're lying flat on the floor on your back. no...he insisted on laying down beside me

Ask him to sit while you're jogging around the coffee table. well...first he ran to his bed, then sat down. I think he thought I was starting to lose it.

Ask him to sit while you flap your arms wildly like a crazy bird. yes

Ask him to sit while you're doing a handstand. uh...we're not even going there!

Ask him to sit in a whisper of a voice. (A dog's hearing is better than ours...he'll hear you, but will he understand?) yes

Ask him to sit while you're jumping up and down. yes

Pretty cool! Now's he's all wound up, wondering what comes next.


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## Wilson's REAL Mom (Nov 10, 2006)

FlyingQuizini said:


> Here's a hard one... bend at the waist, so you're leaning over the dog and ask him to sit. Most dogs will lie down due to the heavy influence of your body language, which tends to over power the sit in that context.


Wow! You're right. He went straight into a down.


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## Lisa_and_Willow. (Dec 18, 2007)

FlyingQuizini said:


> Here's a hard one... bend at the waist, so you're leaning over the dog and ask him to sit. Most dogs will lie down due to the heavy influence of your body language, which tends to over power the sit in that context.


I tried this with both of mine. Willow sat and licked my face. When I bend over Diesel my head nearly touches his and he sat too.

I will try the others later. Very interesting!


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## dannyra (Aug 5, 2008)

Lisa_and_Willow. said:


> I tried this with both of mine. Willow sat and licked my face. When I bend over Diesel my head nearly touches his and he sat too.
> 
> I will try the others later. Very interesting!


Kylee sat and licked my face too.


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## tintallie (May 31, 2006)

Ask him to sit in front of you. Done

Stand behind him and ask him to sit. Done

Ask him to sit while you're kneeling down. Done

Ask him to sit while you're covering your eyes with your hands. Done

Ask him to sit while you're standing in a chair. Done

Ask him to sit while you're lying flat on the floor on your back. Done, but he actually lied down first then sat up

Ask him to sit while you're jogging around the coffee table. Done, did it around the kitchen island

Ask him to sit while you flap your arms wildly like a crazy bird. Done, I'm sure the neighbours thought I was crazy if they saw me in the kitchen

Ask him to sit while you're doing a handstand. I don't do handstands

Ask him to sit in a whisper of a voice. (A dog's hearing is better than ours...he'll hear you, but will he understand?) Done

Ask him to sit while you're jumping up and down.Done


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## SylviaB (Jul 5, 2008)

Okay, so Tundra won't win any awards any time soon. We've only had him about 8 weeks and I'm not as consistent as I should be (no obedience classes till Oct). But yesterday we were practicing in the backyard and a butterfly flew by and there he went....:doh:


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## LibbysMom (Jan 15, 2008)

Ok so DH just tried this with Libby and unfotunatley she was sitting before he even said anything because she knew he had treats. Once you give her one treat, she expects more and she knows that she has to sit for them. DH even tried distracting her and she would just plop down on the floor and sit perfectly. LOL oh well. We tried.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

LibbysMom said:


> Ok so DH just tried this with Libby and unfotunatley she was sitting before he even said anything because she knew he had treats. Once you give her one treat, she expects more and she knows that she has to sit for them. DH even tried distracting her and she would just plop down on the floor and sit perfectly. LOL oh well. We tried.


You can substitute any behavior that you think your dog knows. Make up your own variations of giving the cue, too. The list I posted came off the top of my head. Doens't matter *what* you're doing... just so long as you're doing something different to help determine what the dog is actually paying attention to.


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## stan and ollie (Apr 20, 2008)

The worst one was trying to get behind Ollie and ask him to sit we went around in circles for a time but he finally sat. He sat quickly for the rest(not handstands) but bending over him did not work. He laid down each time,and sort of looked at me like "what?" It was fun seeing what he would do.


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