Now that you have "watch" and "yes" down, you can move on to "sit." You may have already noticed that your dog sits when you ask it to "watch." If this is the case, when your dogs does a sit, say "Sit" the instant its butt hits the floor, followed by "That's sit, sit, good sit, sit" and release your dog.
Your release word can be the dogs’ name and any word that you will use only to release your dog. Examples are "Release", "Thank you", "That's all", "Fall out", "We’re done", "Finish", "Move it out", "Relax",etc. So it would be "Fido sit, good sit, Fido, release." When you say your release word, step backwards away from your dog in a bowing position. This entices the dog to follow you. The lower you are to the ground, the more likely your dog is to come to you. In doggie body language, you are doing a play bow.
If your dog doesn't sit, show it a treat in
your hand, allow it to lick the treat and slowly lift the treat above your
dog's head and back a little. Your dog's nose should follow your
hand and that forces him to sit. If your dog
doesn't follow with it's nose, go slower. If your dog jumps up for the
treat, lower the treat to just above its nose. If your dog backs up, put
his bottom up against a wall. Show it the treat again, and slowly
raise your hand above its nose, allowing your dog to nibble on the treat
if necessary. Once the dogs’ bottom hits the floor, say "Yes! Sit!
that's sit, good sit" while giving it a treat, release your dog quickly. Do this 10-15 times, only making the dog
sit for seconds each time and releasing the dog before it gets up on its
own. Always aim for success. If your dog gets up before you
release it, don't say anything and show it how to sit again by moving your
hand above its head. Again, once the bottom hits the floor, "Yes! Sit!
good sit” Once your dog is sitting repeatedly, start to anticipate when your dog will sit and say your cue just prior to your dog sitting. If he sits, excellent, make with your bridge and reward. If your dog doesn't sit, give him a second and very calmly say "Too bad", move away from your dog and re-cue him to sit.
After your initial training, give your dog a break, on your next trial, see if your dog is starting to understand what "sit" means. While your dog is watching you, say your cue
for sit. If your dog sits without any hand jesters, say "YES!" get
all excited, like you just won the Superbowl, and play a game of fetch
or something that your dog really likes, maybe throwing treats all over the
floor. Now remember, this may have been a fluke and your dog guessed at
what you ask it to do. Do not get discouraged if you try it again
and your dog doesn't respond. It takes thousand of repetitions for
our dogs to really understand what we want, and even then, they are still
guessing most of the time.
If your dog doesn't sit when you asked it to, tell him "Too bad" and show him what you meant with a hand signal over his head. All this means is that your dog is not clear on what you asked of him. Eventually your dog will sit with a voice command only, but this is very difficult some dogs.
