Sitting for food

It is a comparatively simple matter to sit the dog by making use of its orientation toward food. The handler lets the dog smell a very small piece of food in his hand, and then lifts the hand up and over the animal’s head toward its rear, at the same time commanding the dog to “Sit!” The dog will strive for the food, jumping up at it and perhaps pawing or barking. The handler ignores all undesired behaviors (remember, the dog must have free choice in the teaching phase of obedience!) and waits, signaling with his hand and occasionally repeating the “Sit!” command. Eventually–out of puzzlement if for no other reason–the animal will sit and the handler immediately feeds it, at the same time praising and petting it.

It is a relatively simple matter to teach the stay by feeding the dog several times in succession, pausing a moment or two between each reward. Once the animal is sitting the handler commands “Stay!” He holds the food high over the dog’s head to provide a focus for the animal and keep it still. Then, after perhaps three or four seconds, he bends down, feeds the dog and again commands it to “Stay!” The handler performs several of these brief stays and then releases the dog with the command “OK!” and praises it.

As training progresses we can easily prolong the stay to thirty seconds or a minute by waiting a little longer each time before feeding the animal.