To sit or not to sit?

[Janneke]

So nice that you have a puppy!! Don't forget to post some pics..!!

About "sit": I learned Tillo to sit, but at the training they know we also show. So with obedience Tillo doesn't have to sit without me telling him to sit when I stand still. I learned Tillo the command 'stand', so he knows I can tell him more things when I stop walking: sit, stand, down etc.. This makes him wait for the command (most of the time :D).
Tillo also has to sit before we leave the house, eat, cross the street etc, but for example when he sits without my command I ask him to stand.. (can you still follow me.. :rolleyes:)

I do think it is important to learn the pup to 'stand' when you go to puppy training. Most of the trainings are very focused on the 'sit' and when you wait to long it can be harder to make them stand. When they see you have a treat, they will sit automatically..

You can also learn 'sit' on one leash and stand on another (show) leash. This is not my choice, because I like to let Tillo sit in the ring when it's not his turn.. otherwise he becomes very impatient…

One other thing with training is you learn the pup to look at you when walking on leash. In the ring it is nice to have a dog that looks strait ahead. I do change leads for this. One leash is look up, show leash is don't look up.. (I don't look at him either)

[renaultf1]

OMG, thank you all so much for the great information! I'm glad I asked!

Thanks especially Tanza, rnasto & Janneke for the detailed responses. Definitely sounds like "stand" is the key! I'll let the trainer know that she will be shown and I'd like to work on "stand" as well.

And Janneke…the part about sitting without the command completely makes sense...and actually is something I'll work on with Ruby and Brando as well. If they sit before I ask, I change it up and ask for something else...but never thought of stand. The look up/not look up part sounds challenging to me :D...and definitely something I hadn't considered.

I think it will all be a challenge but I'm quite excited about it. I'm glad I asked!

[lvoss]

I also teach all my dogs sit. Just like all the others who show said, the key is to put both sit and stand on cue. I use a different collar in the show ring then in their obedience and agility classes.

I will pass on this little tidbit, dogs will learn a "default" position. This is usually the position that they are rewarded for most, so when they are unsure what you want them to do they will revert to this default position. If you work sit, make sure you also work on stand so that you are rewarding both positions just about equally and don't forget down that is often the most difficult position command for sighthounds.

[renaultf1]

@lvoss:

I will pass on this little tidbit, dogs will learn a "default" position. This is usually the position that they are rewarded for most, so when they are unsure what you want them to do they will revert to this default position. If you work sit, make sure you also work on stand so that you are rewarding both positions just about equally and don't forget down that is often the most difficult position command for sighthounds.

Thanks Lisa! Great info about the default…I'll be sure to work on sit & stand equally. I'm so glad I asked about this...there is way more to consider than I had even been thinking about.

[Quercus]

@lvoss:

I also teach all my dogs sit. Just like all the others who show said, the key is to put both sit and stand on cue. I use a different collar in the show ring then in their obedience and agility classes.

I will pass on this little tidbit, dogs will learn a "default" position. This is usually the position that they are rewarded for most, so when they are unsure what you want them to do they will revert to this default position. If you work sit, make sure you also work on stand so that you are rewarding both positions just about equally and don't forget down that is often the most difficult position command for sighthounds.

I absolutely agree. I prefer to have 'sit' as the default position, but when we are in the height of showing a dog, we often reward 'stand' more often, so we accept that as default.

If I am working one behavior and I get the other one (ex. in the ring, I say stand, and get a sit) I just say 'try again'…'stand'...that usually immediately cues the dog that I want the OTHER one.

[renaultf1]

Thanks Andrea…I'm going to keep the "try again" in mind when I get going on all this.

[Nemo]

@renaultf1:

These questions are potentially dumb, but hey, I've never done this before and I'm excited and nervous at the same time.

And not dumb questions, thanks for asking them. I found the answers extremely helpful too as I am about to embark on the same "first-time showing" journey. And we're even starting on the same week. I get my pup the day after you do at 10.5 weeks. :D:D

[tanza]

Just remember to "have fun"…. this is the most important thing that you can do.... and when you go to your first show...yes you will be nervous... but remember to have fun and have fun with your pup

[renaultf1]

Thanks Nemo…I'm glad the answers helped you as well. I've been following your other thread and knew your girl was coming home close to mine. Didn't realize we were a day apart.

I'm sure we'll have plenty to compare notes on and that our questions will be helping each other out.

For me, I'm just glad mine didn't come home this weekend as we got 1.5 feet of snow and are without power and water (I'm in maine and 140,000 are without power til at least Wednesday. Thankfully we have a woodstove.

Pat...yes, my first priority is for my little girl to have fun and to have fun myself. I'm sure I'll be asking plenty of other new'b questions as I get going. I really appreciate all the advice. I've been doing training with ruby and Brando today and working on stand. It has been pretty funny.

[Barklessdog]

Our dog refuses to sit on our tile floor. He has to sit on the rug (floor too cold for his tushy)