Usually, the first thing puppies learn to do is to “sit” on command. It’s very important that this be taught as it is fundamental to teaching all other commands. “Stay” is a natural extension of sit in which puppy is told to stay where he is, thus controlling puppy’s movements. So let’s look at how these two commands are taught most effectively.
Before you begin training, make sure that you’re ready for it. You and your training area need to be prepped for the session. Make sure that you are calm and relaxed and that the area you’re going to work in is as quiet as possible with as few distractions as possible. Your training sessions will be short, since puppy’s attention span is short.
Grab a small handful of treats, but keep them out of puppy’s reach and do not give them every time puppy behaves well, but randomly on good behavior with praise and pets for all good behavior. Giving a treat every time puppy performs well is teaching puppy to only perform when treats are guaranteed.
Start your training session with a review of what was covered in the last one, going over each command and expecting results. Before you end the session, make sure it ends with a successful performance, so when you’re ready to stop, wait until puppy has successfully followed a command and end it there. If you’re having a rough time or feeling frustrated, so is puppy, so it’s a good idea to take a break and reschedule the training session for later in the day when you’re both relaxed again.
Now that training is set up and you’re ready to go, let’s look at how best to teach the “sit” command. Give the command a name (“sit” is obviously most common). Commands should be in short, monosyllabic, and easily understood words or phrases. The longer the command phrase, the less likely puppy will learn it. It’s hard enough learning the behavior without having to learn complicated phraseology to go with it. Likewise, praise phrases should also be short and easy to understand: “Good boy!” “Good” “Good dog!” and “Yes” are all good praise phrases.
Leaning over puppy, as he stands, hold a treat over his nose, but don’t let him have it yet. Raise it up so that he has to raise his head to look at it, but not high enough that he will rear up onto his hind legs for it. Then move it back towards his tail and he’ll naturally sit down to keep his eye on it. Just before he begins to do it, say “sit” (or your chosen command). As soon as his butt hits the floor, praise him and give him the treat. He might stand right back up, but that’s irrelevant. You’re rewarding the actual sitting, not the staying sat down.
Repeat that a few times and puppy will soon understand what you’re after. After two or three repeats, try saying “sit” without moving the treat and see if puppy sits. If not, repeat the procedure, testing his learning of the word between each repeat. It won’t take long.
Incidentally, teaching “lie down” is done in nearly the same way, with the treat being moved to the floor rather than over puppy’s head. But that’s a lesson for another time.
Now to ad the term “stay” to the mix. Give the “sit” command and, upon compliance, wait a second before rewarding it. Repeat this, giving a longer pause before reward. If puppy stands up before the reward, repeat the “sit” command. After you have gotten the pause to last four or five seconds, say “stay” before rewarding.
Repeat this over time, saying “stay” right after “sit” (“sit, stay”) and pausing. Eventually, you can ad walking away, around a corner, and other aspects to reinforce the idea of “stay, no matter what.” Within a few months, your puppy can be sitting and staying for a few minutes at a time and by adulthood can sit and stay almost indefinitely (in a dog’s mind, anyway).
Training is all about rewarding good behavior and lots of praise. Keep that in mind and it will always go well in the end!
