I have a three year old previously untrained Boston terrier that I adopted about 4 months ago. He has some dominance issues and slight fear-based aggression (I do mean slight-- you have to really stress him out to get him to snap), so one of the many things I've done with him is started teaching him commands right away. He has done great with "stay" and "come" but "sit" is a huge issue. I make him sit before he eats and or goes on a walk. He will lock up his legs and i have to use all of my strength to push his butt down and he will break the command almost immediately. It takes a good 5 minutes to get him to hold the sit position, and he just fights me all the way! I have used treats also, and held them above his nose. I still have to force his butt down.
Any tips for me with my stubborn pup?
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Don't force him into a sit! When a dog sits it is a sign to other animals that they are comfortable and are not a threat in any way. Dogs that have trouble sitting usually show other signs of fear... as you have stated that he has. He is simply not comfortable enough in the environment to sit at this point. It isn't about aggression or dominance it has to do with the fact he is too on edge right now to be able to do this. He was probably attacked at some point in his past.
Keep trying, making it a fun thing and making it a game. Doing anything by force with an animal will always blow up in your face.
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Any tips for me with my stubborn pup?
What You Need to Know About Dog Training
Recommended Answer:
Don't force him into a sit! When a dog sits it is a sign to other animals that they are comfortable and are not a threat in any way. Dogs that have trouble sitting usually show other signs of fear... as you have stated that he has. He is simply not comfortable enough in the environment to sit at this point. It isn't about aggression or dominance it has to do with the fact he is too on edge right now to be able to do this. He was probably attacked at some point in his past.
Keep trying, making it a fun thing and making it a game. Doing anything by force with an animal will always blow up in your face.
Learn the Secrets to Service Dogs Training & Get Immediate Results
- Few things in life are prettier than watching a well-trained dog and one of the basic commands is the sit command. There are several methods of teaching your dog to sit. Two of the most popular are the Click and the Compulsory methods. The Click method is based again on purely positive reinforcement while the Compulsory method uses both positive and negative reinforcements. Let's begin our discussion with the easier of the two, The Click Method.
The Click Method of training a dog to sit is based upon rewarding the animal for the desired behavior. It gets its name from the idea that some audible queue is used to alert the animal of a pending reward with many trainers using a device called a clicker for this purpose. Whenever the audible queue is given, the reward follows immediately. To train a dog to sit by this method requires little effort on the trainers' part. One begins by lavishing the dog with several treats, one right after the other while giving the audible queue.
Then abruptly stop the shower of treats and wait for the animal to direct its attention to you. Now display a treat and give the audible queue as you give the treat to the pet. Now hold another treat at chest level so that the dog must look up to see the treat. After a few minutes, your pet will likely sit down on its haunches because this position makes it much easier to watch the treat. Immediately, when this happens, give the audible queue and reward the pet. Repeat this lesson several times.
After a while you will notice your pet sitting in anticipation of the click and the reward so it is now time to add your verbal command to the routine. When the dog begins to sit, say "sit". This will gradually teach the dog that the command precedes the action and they will learn the meaning of the command in this way. After some practice and a bit of patience, your dog should begin to sit without having to see a reward being offered.
Now let's discuss the more traditional method of training. The Compulsory Method. This is the method grand dad used on his dogs. Tell the puppy to sit while enforcing it. Saying the verbal command "sit" and pushing down on the puppy's tail section to make it contact the floor accomplish the lesson. With some dogs you might have to hold their chin up during this process or they will go ahead and lie down. The object behind the lesson is to teach the pup when you say "sit" that there is no other choice but to sit and so eventually the animal will respond on its own rather than having to be coaxed into position.
Some owners use a tool called a choke collar for this training method. They will leash the dog with the choke collar in place and upon the sit command push the dog down. At the same time they will hold the choke collar down by way of the leash allowing only enough slack for the dog to sit but not stand up. If the dog tries to stand the choke collar tightens around the animals' neck producing extreme discomfort.
The author does not recommend this method as it can produce a nervous and fearful animal, which can become quite aggressive when it feels threatened. Such training also makes leash training much more difficult as it teaches the animal to fear the leash because of the pain inflicted by it. This also tends to lessen the bond between master and dog because the dog comes to associate the master with the pain and discomfort as well and may lash out at the owner or others if the treatment continues.
In whichever method you choose for training your pet, one thing remains constant. Always be consistent. Also be sure to pour lavish affection upon your pet for good behaviors and responses as this improves their bond to you and makes them desire to please you more fully. With a moderate amount of time and patience, your dog will be rivaling any animal presented at the local dog competitions for his well-trained style and mannerisms. - You do not simply push the dogs but down and say sit, they dog 99% of the time will refuse. To make your dog sit, simply put your hand one the ground with the treat showing, and then lift it straight up over his head. Immediately say sit, and only say it once. It is in the dogs instincts to sit when the food is brought over their head. This will make it much easier to teach him. Pushing his butt down will only make the situation worse.
- http://www.seefido.com/html/how_to_train… check this website out, hope it helps. If not try Cesar Milan or Victoria Stillwell's websites, both are very good
- You are forcing your dog because you don't understand how to make the dog's natural reflexes work for you. He already knows how to sit down, you don't need to show him. You just need to condition a reflex. Any time you have something for the dog -- even his food bowl -- let him know you have something for him, make eye contact, and simply stand there. The dog will wiggle around at first, wagging his tail, etc. but he will eventually sit down waiting. The instant his rear hits the floor, you say "sit" and give the reward. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
- A trait we share with dogs is the opposition reflex. If I gave you a shove to your right shoulder, what would happen? Your left leg would stiffen up to resist my effort to push you over. That's the opposition reflex. When you push hard on his rear, the reflex is strongly stimulated, PLUS you have the dog's own will involved. I'd suggest using high value treats to lure him into the sit. If you move it over his head and backward eventually his rear will go down. If you need to add a little compusion to it you can scoop your hand under his hind legs and push behind his knees to sit him that way. But with his dominance and slight fear aggression, I'd use the treat method if at all possible.
