Dog Obedience Training Starts with Learning to Sit
Teaching your dog to sit is the single most important dog obedience training command. It improves his overall obedience and control. Automatic sits are the foundation of advanced obedience work, whether you want a competition dog or a well mannered pet. And most dogs will learn this in five minutes.
At an acquaintance's home, I was met by a frantically barking little dog who jumped all over me the minute the door opened. When I took my shoes off by the front door, he peed on them. (I am not making this up.) His owners tsk tsked and cooed at their naughty little darling. While we sat chatting on the couch, he barked incessantly. In response, his owners constantly fed him treats so he would shut up for just a second. When I picked up a treat and asked him to sit, he leapt even higher and tried to grab it from my hand. "Oh, we've never taught Sparky tricks" the owner shouted over the shrill yapping.
No kidding. "Sit" is not a trick, it is the foundation of good dog manners.
Sitting Is Control
We're not just talking about you being in control of your dog, but your dog having self-control. Why is this important? Consider Sparky, who had never been taught anything. Dogs live very much in the moment. They see food, their natural inclination is to lunge for it. (They are hunters and carnivores at heart.) They see an open door inviting them to run right through it. Squirrels? Bark and chase! Visitors to the home are enthusiastically jumped upon- many dogs are compulsive greeters. If so inclined, they may mark a visitor's shoes. Sparky was not a bad dog, he was just a completely untrained one, weakly bonded to his owners, feeling entitled to blow them off whenever he felt like it.
Much of what we train is teaching a dog to temper their natural instincts. A completely untrained dog will grab food out of your hand, race through doors without regard to what is on the other side, jerk your arm out of the socket charging after squirrels or other dogs and leap all over anyone walking in the door. Clearly, this is not how we want the family dog to behave.
Your dog can do none of these things if he is sitting down. Most dogs turned in to shelters have not been trained. Once they get out of the adorable puppy stage and become unruly adults, those too lazy to start working with the dog often find it more convenient to dump them at the shelter. Dogs love their leaders and naturally follow our direction. Helping your dog learn self control also teaches him to look up to you.
Dog Training Articles, Videos & HowTos
Crate training a dog can be an excellent way to keep a puppy (and your furniture) safe when you are away from the house or cannot monitor your dog.
To raise a happy, well-adjusted dog you need to learn the art of socializing dogs correctly from puppyhood.
Teaching easy dogs tricks to your best friend is a piece of cake, if you master a couple of training techniques that all the pros use. Learn clicker training and shaping, and you can teach your dog everything from "sit" to "bring me a soda from the fridge" with enough patience and perseverance.
So you approached crate training with patience and persistence and it is still not working for you and your dog. Crate training is not for everyone and is definitely not for every dog. This does not mean that you have a "bad dog" or that there is something wrong with your dog.
Many issues arise when people start considering crate training there new puppy. Once the puppy is crate trained it allows for him or her to be left alone safely for hours at a time. Otherwise your new family member must accompany you every where you go until they are old enough to stay home by themselves and not get into harmful things or tear up your house.
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