The first step in instilling some discipline in your puppy is to make her sit on command. The verbal command 'sit' is very simple and can be taught to a pup of any breed within a few weeks. Of course, much depends upon your persistence and patience. Why the 'sit' command is one of the easiest commands to teach is because of the natural construction of a dog's neck and spine which makes it physically impossible for them to look upwards when standing. In order for a dog to look up at something high it must assume the sitting position. This fact is made use of while training a puppy to sit.

Training your puppy to sit

Let us follow the simple steps in training a puppy to respond to the 'sit' command:

Stand in front of your puppy, holding a treat above her nose but just a little beyond her reach. This is important. If you hold it too high, she will tend to jump for it and if you hold it too low, well, you'll find yourself without a treat!

Now, move the treat from above her nose towards her the back of her head and continue to trace this path backwards towards her tail. While doing so, keep calling your puppy's name, followed by the 'sit' command in a clear and firm tone. For example, "Rover, sit!" This will help to associate the word with the action.

Most often than not, you will find that your puppy, in trying to maintain eye contact with the treat, is forced to sit down on her own. If you find your dog keeps backing up instead of sitting down, train her against a wall, which will prevent her from going in reverse indefinitely - she'll have no choice but to sit after she backs into the wall.

When she ultimately sits, praise her immediately by calling out 'good sit!' or 'yes!', and then offer her the treat.

In case your puppy just refuses to give in and does everything but sit, hold the treat at the nose level and apply a slight pressure on her rear end, pushing her gently down into sitting position. At the same time, give a slight pull at her collar. This will help her get the message of getting into a sitting position. Praise as soon as her bottom hits the floor.

In all these attempts, if your puppy manages to acquire a posture that even vaguely resembles a sitting position, praise her abundantly and give her a treat. This will motivate her to do better the next time. Dogs, like people, respond much better to praise than punishment.

Don't let your puppy remain sitting forever. Without your release command she will not know when to get up. And in the absence of such a command, she may get confused. So, give her a command like 'release' or 'okay' or 'thank you', to let her know that she no longer has to stay in the sitting position.

Gradually, increase the duration of 'sit' commands and reduce the frequency of treats. Once your puppy begins to sit on your command for minutes at a time without a treat, she has mastered the 'sit' command.

Training your dog to obey commands requires patience, motivation and encouragement, not to mention a ready supply of treats! The training sessions should be short but frequent and should be repeated at regular intervals throughout the day. If you persevere, you will find that the day is not far when your darling puppy grows up into a 'responsible adult' and is praised by all for her immaculate manners!