Teaching your collie the “sit” command could be one of the most useful commands you ever teach him. A poorly trained collie is a direct reflection on you the pet owner and how much care about your collie. In fact an untrained collie can become a nuisance to its owner therefore the collie and owner become unhappy. Whether it’s a puppy or a fully grown collie you can teach them to sit with a little effort on your part.

Have you been putting it off because you think your collie will never be able to learn a new ‘trick’? Don’t put it off any longer. Start teaching your collie how to sit today.

Use some of these tips to teach your collie to sit:

You are going to need some treats; unfortunately this is always the best way to get any dog to do something you want! You can use anything you know your collie enjoys: biscuits, chewy treats or household items.  Always try training your collie first without treats just to see how much he responds to you.  Many collie dogs love their owner so much, they need no other motivation than your happiness.

The main goal is to get your collie to sit when you use the word. One way you can gradually get your collie used to the word is by saying the word when the collie is sitting anyway. Collie sits down – you say “sit” and praise them.

You will also need to practice this every day by doing the following:

- Call your collie and offer them the treat. Let them sniff the treat and get excited first!

- Slowly move the treat until it’s over the collies head. The collie will naturally move into the sitting position.

- It’s important that the collie associates the activity of sitting with the treat, the praise and the action of sitting. Try to get your timing right.

- Keep bribing the collie and gradually decrease the size of the treat. Keep enthusiastically praising the collie.

- Repeat this exercise a few times a day. Don’t overdo it – you want your pet to think of it as fun.

- Try to practice around mealtimes when your collie is hungry; this will make him keener for the treats.

- Have the treats easily accessible, don’t fumble around – the treat needs to happen as the collie is sitting.

- Don’t push your collie’s bottom down; this won’t work because your pet will associate the action of sitting with having you push his bottom to the ground. If this really isn’t working you might want to consider obedience classes with other collies.

- End each training session on a positive note.

Teaching your collie to sit using these positive reinforcement techniques will strengthen the bond between you. Consider it time well spent.

Once you have mastered the basic command ‘sit’ it should be quite easy to train your collie the other basic commands. “Sit-stay”, “down” ‘heel’ and ‘come are some of the most useful commands. Use the treats in a similar way. Training your collie is an ongoing process. You want to keep praising your collie regularly and never associate anger with the collie?s reaction to your command.

Make use of every new situation to train or put your training into practice. The most important part about learning how to sit – is that the collie sits under a variety of conditions. Sitting in new environments, around other dogs, around new people, when the doorbell rings etc.

Training your collie well is one of the most important things you can do for your collie. Besides having a well behaved collie you will also have an obedient collie. collies function as part of a pack – and you are the leader. Your collie will be better adjusted and happier if they know their place in the pack. Your collie is by nature keen to please you. Be a great pack leader and start teaching your future Lassie to sit today!

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Author:

Steve Allison is a third generation of professional dog breeders along with his brother Gary. It all started with his grandparents in 1970 with the Boston Terriers and has expanded to Maltese, Yorkshire Terriers, Pugs, Shih Tzu?s and Pomeranians. He is also actively involved with dog rescue and has a website that showcases the puppies they occasionally has for sale at All My Puppies Online Steve is also the co-author of two consumer guides, Carpet Secrets and Moving Secrets Guide

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