A focused sit is an incredibly valuable behavior for a dog to have. A dog that can sit and watch their handler is a dog that isn’t up to nonsense in public. And while teaching a dog to sit will not fix unwanted behaviors on its own, it can give your dog a great reward-based alternative to their default behaviors while you are also working on or maintaining your behavior modification training.

Needless to say, sit is one of the crucial core behaviors in dog training, which is why it is on our list of The Only Commands Your Dog Needs To Know. Knowing how to teach your dog a practiced and focused sit can make a world of difference when bringing home any new dog, and it is usually simple enough to do that even first-time dog owners can dive right in from home.

Many dogs come to their new home with sit pre-installed. They might have learned it from a previous owner, their rescue or shelter, their breeder, or they may just gravitate towards the position from their body mechanics and a high drive to work for food.

If you think you have one of these dogs, you can begin at step 6 and have your dog move through at least five repetitions successfully with the food lure before moving on as usual.

That said, this guide is primarily for dogs that have just started or are still learning the sit command. It will provide a step-by-step solution to teaching the new behavior, from shaping from nothing into the actual sit to transitioning to verbal cues only.

This guide uses food in an exclusively reward-based scenario, because we are teaching a new behavior. It’s best to practice this in a low-distraction environment when first starting out. As you master the command, you can start to practice in different places and under different distractions.

You will need a supply of your dog’s kibble or some training treats. In dogs who are particularly indifferent to food for training, I’d advise a lifestyle switch from free-feeding or meals to hand-feeding only, and having your dog do training sessions for their meals.

If your dog is particularly uninterested in working for food, you can reward with praise, play, toys, or physical affection. Use whatever gets your dog going; motivation is the name of the game.

Sit 1

To start, hold your food reward so that your dog can see and smell. Draw the food over your dog’s head so that they have to reach their neck up to continue sniffing or trying to take it.

During this first step, you are looking for a stretch straight upwards. If you see your dog pushing up on their toes, that is perfect, but you don’t want to go so far as to make your dog jump or rise into a stand/beg position or cause them to back up.

Find the sweet spot where your dog is craning their neck, and keep it still there. Count out two to three seconds and release the food reward, keeping your hand in position. Your dog should eat the reward in the reaching up position.

If your dog drops their head, snatch the reward away and start the repetition over.

At this point in the process, we are rewarding the dog just for reaching their neck straight up. However, your dog may very well sit all the way down, and you can reward for this as well!

When training a new dog to sit, I usually aim for five successful repetitions in a row. When your dog completes five for five, you can move on to the next step.

Sit 2

In step two, do the same pattern you did before, having your dog crane their neck up to reach at a food reward. In this step, however, you are going to look for your dog holding that reach for five seconds.

Keep the reward still and directly over your dog’s head.

During this step, we are rewarding for a five-second hold, but we are also keeping our eyes open for any indication of an early sit. If you see your dog’s rear end move down into a full or even a partial sit, reward early for that behavior.

If you see no bends of the knee or indications of an early sit, pay at five seconds.

You can count either behavior towards your five out of five in a row. When your dog either cranes for five seconds or lowers towards a sit five times in a row, move on to step three.

If your dog is losing interest in the food reward and quits craning, lower the time to three seconds. Do five out of five of craning their head for three seconds, move to four, and finally go back to five.

Sit 3

In step three, repeat the same pattern but hold for ten seconds. In the same way you did in step two, keep your eye open for any bends in the knee or lowering of your dog’s rear end. If you say any of these, reward for that behavior and count it as a successful repetition.

Same as step two, if ten seconds feels too long your your dog (this will look like your dog losing interest in sniffing the food over their head), split the difference and go for 8 seconds or possibly even lower. Do five successful repetitions in a row for the number your dog is successful at, and increase from there.

When your dog can complete five for five at ten second (or a sit/semi sit) you can move on to step four.

Sit 4

This time around, repeat the same pattern, but reward only if your dog lowers their rear slightly, bends the back knee, or goes into a full sit.

Timing is important here. Try to give the food reward and mark as soon as you see the behavior you want, the lowering of the rear or bend in the knee.

If your dog quits at this stage, go back to step three. It is okay to move backwards a little bit at times, especially when we are jumping up to a new reward standard. Learning is not linear, so if your dog is quitting, go ahead and move back to step three or even step two if needed.

Sit 5

In step five, up the reward standard and look for deeper lowering/bends in the knee before releasing the reward. You want a deeper lower than in step four.

Timing is just as important here as it is in step four, so make sure your mark and reward as soon as you see the level of lowering we are looking for.

As usual, reward early for a full sit. It’s very common at this point or even earlier for the dog to start to understand and default into a full sit. Count these in your successful repetitions, but continue to reward for a deep lower or knee bend if that is all you get out of a repetition.

On five out of five successful, push on to step six.

Sit 6

In this step, continue luring but only reward only for a full sit, butt-to-floor. Mark and reward the moment your dog’s rear touches the floor.

If your dog pushes back up, jumps, or goes into a down, take the reward back and start over.

When your dog gets five for five on successful full sits, move on to step seven.

Sit 7

Now that your dog understands the motor pattern we are looking for, put the reward in your free hand and keep it behind your back. You may also keep the food in a treat pouch/bait pouch if you are particularly quick, but for this step it is better to have it in-hand and ready for the best timing, so I recommend keeping it in your hand behind your back.

Do not use a verbal cue for sit at this point. Reposition if your dog tries to sniff at the food behind your back. Stay facing your dog and give the cue.

With your other hand, do the same motion you’ve done in steps one through six, just without the reward in-hand.

As soon as your dog sits, mark and reward immediately from your other hand. Make sure you reward while your dog is still in a sit, so that your dog consumes the food while in the sit position.

After five out of five successful repetitions on sit relying only on the food-free visual cue, move on to step eight.

Sit 8

In this step, continue to have the food in the hand behind your back.

Start saying “sit” at the same time as doing your motion.

You’ll also perform your visual cue luring motion faster. My lure for sit is usually a closed hand or pinched fingers with an upward flick of the wrist, which will look very similar to the motion you have used to practice shaping the sit so far.

When your dog sits, mark and reward immediately. Make sure you keep your dog in a sit while they eat.

On five out of five successful repetitions, you can move on to step nine.

Sit 9

At this point, we will add the verbal marker first before incorporating the visual cue.

Say sit, wait a second or two, and do the motion you’ve used to mean sit. Mark and reward as soon as your dog sits, and make sure they stay in a sit while eating.

During this step, even relying on the visual cue will count as a completed successful repetition.

On five for five successful repetitions, move on to step ten.

Sit 10

Say sit, or your chosen marker word for the command. If your dog sits to the verbal cue, mark and reward immediately.

If your dog does not sit on the verbal command within a few seconds, you can give the motion you’ve conditioned to mean sit. Sits done relying on the hand signal will now no longer count towards successful repetitions.

When your dog sits, praise but do not give a food reward. At this point, reward only during repetitions that are completed cued only verbally.

It is normal for this step to take a little longer. Based on incorporating the verbal cue in the last two steps, your dog may fly into a sit at the sound of the word, or they may still need the visual cue. Go back a step if your dog is struggling.

When your dog has completed five for five on successful sits in a row, congratulations! You have taught your dog the sit command. Now you can move on to practicing in different environments, levels of distraction, and begin learning sit-stays and sits from the down position.