Clicker Training - Sit Command

There are two methods that you can use to clicker train your dog to sit. One is a passive wait and watch technique and the other is a more active approach.

Passive Approach

In the passive approach you are going to wait for your dog to perform the behaviour without any prompting from you. Get a bag of treats and your clicker and sit down somewhere near where your dog is playing, or doing whatever. The moment you see the dog sit. Click and reward. You want to make sure that you get the timing of the click exactly right, this is very important. You want the click to sound just as the dog sits.

Once you have clicked you can then reward. If you want you can put the food a few inches away from the dog so he has to get up to get it. Once again, go back to watching. The moment he goes to sit. Click and reward. You are going to have to do this a number of times before the dog will begin to associate the sit with the click.

Once the dog is sitting and looking at you to see if you will give him a treat add the word, sit. Practice this behaviour until you are sure that the dog has a reasonable understanding. Now ask a little more from your dog. Do not click unless you ask your dog to sit. If he sits before you ask, do nothing. Move back away from the dog if he follows you and ask for the sit. If he does sit, click as soon as he sits. It is the timing of the click that is important and not the reward. Nevertheless, at this point you should still reward your dog for every successful sit and click.

Finally, once your dog is responding well to the verbal sit command you can eliminate the click altogether. You may also want to start to vary when the dog gets a reward. Try only rewarding every third or fourth time. Keep the dog guessing. If at any time you sense confusion, or there is a lack of response, you can always go back a training step and then work your way up again.

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Active Approach

If you do not have the patience to wait for your the dog to sit of his own accord, try motivating him to sit. This is done by holding a food treat in your hand. Make sure you show the dog the reward but do not give it to him. Slowly move the treat over the dogs head. Do not hold it so high that your pet will try to jump at it. You want it just slightly above his head. Most dogs will try to follow the object by tipping their head back; as they do this, their butts will go down. The moment that their butt is almost on the floor click and reward. You are going to have to repeat this process a number of times before your pet will understand what it is he is being asked.

As with the passive approach, be sure that you get the timing of the click right. You want to be clicking just as he sits and not after he is in the sitting position. Once he is doing this regularly, you can add the verbal command and you can stop using the food as a lure to get the dog to sit. Once successful, follow the same remaining steps as the passive approach. Add the verbal command and slowly eliminate both the clicker and the food reward altogether.

Your final objective with all desired behaviours is to have your dog perform an action every time and without the use of any kind of motivation. You want them to do the behaviour and the reward being simple praise.

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