Little Dog - Teach to Sit

Can you imagine how threatening it is to your little dog when you loom over them? It can be a very threatening posture. When dogs feel threatened they are far less inclined to learn so it's far more important that you get down on your little dog's level when you're training with them. Either lift them up on something nice and soft or get down on the floor with them. You're going to start with a treat between your thumb and index finger… You're going to hold your treat at your dogs nose. You're going put your other hand on your dog's shoulders and without pushing them down you're going to in slow motion bring your hand up and back over their head and ask them to sit. As soon as they sit, tell them "yes!" and give them the treat, "very good" The more difficult part about teaching the sit is having your dog understand they may not get up until released. So as soon as they've sat and you've given them the treat, encourage them to get up "Okay Scrubbie get up, Good girl, very good. You're going to increase the time between asking your dog to sit "Scrubs, sit…yes!" and releasing them "ok Scrubs good!". This is good preparation for the stay command. So when your pint size dog will sit at this angle, you can stand up and ask for a sit from your giant position. "Yes". Remember if your dog's on the floor you want to bend down to give them the treat and not loom over them to give them the treat. For WebMD's, Pint Size One Minute Trainer, I'm Kate Jackson.