Sit, Down and Stand Training for Puppies

So, you have finished the basics of Attention Training. Getting your puppy or dog to focus on you in any situation can be a bit of a challenge. Fortunately, teaching your pup to sit, down and stand is somewhat easier.

Remember, whenever you read MTP in any of my training articles, I am referring to Mark, Treat & Praise.

Once again, grab your dog, a bowl full of highly tasty dog treats and go to a quiet room in your house where your puppy has been many times before and she will pay more attention to you than the other things in the room.

As with most obedience training, you don’t want your dog to get the idea that you have to physically touch her to trigger the desired behavior. So, start out correctly by NOT TOUCHING HER when you are training her.

With your pup standing, teach her to ‘sit’.

Ready? Place a tasty treat in your hand, position your hand in such a way that she can very easily see the treat and slowly bring your hand up close to, and parallel to, her nose. But don’t touch it. Let her see the treat. When she does, lift your hand slowly up and over her nose and head. Keep going up until the treat is just over her head. As you do this, she will have to look up high. She will eventually lower her backside to release the strain on her neck as she looks higher and higher. That’s what you want. What she is doing is following the treat. When her butt makes contact with the floor, MTP. Do this 10-15 times, 2-3 times every day for a few days. It should only take about 5-10 minutes per day. You are letting her know that you want her to put her butt on the floor. And when she does, good things happen.

The next step in teaching a ‘sit’ is to add a command ‘cue’. Most people will use the obvious command ‘SIT’. As do I. So, repeat the last step but, as you lift your hand up and over her head, say your command cue. When her butt makes contact with the floor, MTP. Do this 10-15 times, 2-3 times every day for a few days. It should only take about 5-10 minutes per day.

Now, repeat this exact same process but, position your hand so that you are holding your hand open and flat, with your palm facing up and the treat resting in your palm. Slowly bring your hand close to, and just below her nose. When you are sure she sees the treat, say your command cue ‘SIT’ and slowly raise your hand straight up towards the ceiling (not over her head). To help her follow the treat, you may have to bend your wrist a little. As you raise your hand, she will follow the treat by lifting her head up and lowering her butt to the floor. When her butt makes contact with the floor, MTP. Do this 10-15 times, 2-3 times every day for a few days. It should only take about 5-10 minutes per day. Once again, you are letting her know that you want her to put her butt on the floor but, the major difference here is that you are using the formal obedience hand signal. That’s right; the ‘rising hand with the palm open facing up’ is the formal hand signal to ‘sit your dog’ in obedience.

Once you have had success for a few weeks start making her sit for longer periods of time. A good goal for the initial sit duration is 1-3 minutes. In NOVICE level obedience trials, she will be required to perform a sit/stay for 1 minute.

With your pup sitting, teach her to ‘stand’.

Ready? Place a tasty treat in your hand, position your hand in such a way that she can very easily see the treat and slowly bring your hand up close to, and parallel to, her nose. But don’t touch it. Let her see the treat. When she does, move your hand slowly away from her. Move it parallel to the floor. As you do this, she will have to move forward to get the treat. She will eventually lift her backside to reach the treat. That’s what you want. Again, she is following the treat. When she stands up, MTP. Do this 10-15 times, 2-3 times every day for a few days. It should only take about 5-10 minutes per day.

The next step in teaching a ‘stand’ is to add a command ‘cue’. Some people might use the obvious command ‘STAND’ but, some dogs get this confused with ‘SIT’ due to the sound of the ‘S’. Other people will use the command ‘UP’ if they find their dog gets SIT and STAND confused. I will use ‘UP’ for this exorcise. Now, repeat the last step but, as you move your hand away from her, say your command cue to stand. When she stands up, MTP. Do this 10-15 times, 2-3 times every day for a few days. It should only take about 5-10 minutes per day.

Once you have had success for a few weeks start making her stand for longer periods of time. A good goal for the initial stand duration is 1-3 minutes. In NOVICE level obedience trials, she will be required to perform a ‘stand for examination’ which is typically about 30-45 seconds.

With your pup sitting, teach her to ‘down’.

Place a tasty treat in your hand, position your hand in such a way that she can very easily see the treat and slowly bring your hand up close to, and parallel to, her nose. But don’t touch it. Let her see the treat. When she does, lower your hand slowly to the floor and away from her nose. As you do this, she will have to look down to follow the treat. She will eventually lower her head to reach for the treat. Don’t let her have it. Make her reach further for it. As you move away from her nose, she will want to move forward to get closer to the treat. Keep the treat close to the floor and continue to move it away from her nose. She eventually put her front legs down on the floor. That’s what you want. What she is doing is following the treat with her nose. When her front legs make contact with the floor, MTP. Do this 10-15 times, 2-3 times every day for a few days. It should only take about 5-10 minutes per day. You are letting her know that you want her to lie on the floor. And when she does, good things happen.

The next step in teaching a down is to add a command ‘cue’. Most people will use the obvious command ‘DOWN’. As do I. So, repeat the last step but as you lower your hand, say your command cue ‘DOWN’. When she does as you ask, MTP. Do this 10-15 times, 2-3 times every day for a few days. It should only take about 5-10 minutes per day.

Now, repeat this exact same process but, position your hand so that you are holding your hand open and flat, with your palm facing down and the treat between a few fingers. Slowly bring your hand close to, and just above her eye level. When you are sure she sees the treat, say your command cue ‘DOWN’ and slowly lower your hand towards the floor and away from her nose just as you did before. When she does what you asked, MTP. Do this 10-15 times, 2-3 times every day for a few days. It should only take about 5-10 minutes per day. Once again, you are letting her know that you want her to lie on the floor but, the major difference this time, is that you are using the formal obedience hand signal. That’s right; the ‘lowering hand with the palm open facing down’ is the formal hand signal to ‘down your dog’ in obedience.

After you have had success for a week or so, start making her ‘down’ for longer periods of time. A good goal for the initial ‘down’ duration is 3-5 minutes. In NOVICE level obedience trials, she will be required to perform a down/stay for 3 minutes.

Don’t forget to take her out to the backyard and dog friendly park to practice, and add distance and many distractions.


Happy tails….