Dog Training Techniques
Dog Training Techniques – Using "Luring" To Train The Sit and Down Commands
Here’s some free dog training techniques for teaching your dog the "sit" and "down" command. Sit and down are two great basic obedience behaviors. They come fairly naturally to dogs (dogs sit and lie down all the time), and they are behaviors you can train indoors, which is an ideal environment for using your dog training techniques due to it’s low distraction levels.
Sit and down are also useful in a lot of different situations. For instance, using these dog training techniques for telling your dog to sit when greeting human visitors is a great behavior to instill in your dog. Telling your dog, "Down" is a way to keep your dog’s mouth away from your kid’s peanut butter and jelly sandwich when she’s eating on the couch. In fact, you can use either of these dog training techniques as an "alternative behavior" any time you want your dog to not do something else.
An easy way to train sit or down is to use the luring dog training technique. With luring, you use a treat to "lure" your dog’s body into the desired position.
The basic procedure for luring is to close a treat in your fist. Your dog will be able to smell it, but not see it or eat it (until you’re ready). Then move your hand in a way that gets your dog to take the position you’re trying to train. When she’s in the right position, say, "Yes" and give her the treat.
For example, when using this dog training technique to train a sit, begin with your dog standing. Holding the treat in your fist, move your hand back over the dog’s head, as if you are petting her. As her nose follows your hand, she’ll drop into a sit. Say, "Yes!" and give her the treat.
Do this four more times. Then take a break for a while. Practicing four or five times, per session, is plenty. In fact, most dogs do better with frequent, short training sessions than with long sessions.
In your next training sessions, you’ll notice your dog catching on: she’ll start sitting faster. She may even sit as soon as she realizes that you have a treat in your hand. When this happens, don’t lure her any more – just give her the treat.
At that point, you can expand on this dog training technique and start to add the sit cue. As you see her begin to sit, say, "Sit." Then give her the treat. Again, repeat this four or five times, per training session.
What you’ll notice next is that saying "sit" triggers the sit behavior. Congratulations! You are now on the way to having your dog’s sit behavior on cue.
Using this dog training technique to teach your dog to lie down uses the same process, only instead of luring your dog into a sit, put your hand all the way down on the floor so that you draw her into the down position.
