SIT, STAND, & DOWN

SIT
**Preferred option for teaching the SIT**
Hold a treat in your hand and bring it up and back over your puppie's head, he will naturally follow the hand with the treat and go into a sit. While you are doing this you can also have the treat hand held with palm facing "up" which will be the hand signal for sit. The second his butt hits the floor give him the YES and treat him. For those using the clicker, timing is extremely important! You don't want to click until the butt is on the floor and you don't want to wait a second AFTER it hits the floor. Click/treat the moment he sits. Remember DO NOT USE THE WORD "SIT" right now. Dogs do not understand English, they learn faster with "sound."
**Option B for teaching SIT**
Kneel down with the puppy on your LEFT side. With your right hand in the dogs collar, take your left hand and starting at the dogs neck, run your hand down his back and gently "tuck" him into a sit position. Then immediately Click/treat or say YES. Don't expect him to stay there for any length of time at first.
When you start seeing the puppy doing the SIT 90% of the time then start adding the WORD "SIT" to the exercise. As you lure the puppy with the treat say "doggie SIT." (Remember you are using YOUR dog's name where it says doggie) Once he's doing the sit reliably, try having him SIT without luring him. Give him time to think on his own and do not repeat the command.
As a word of CAUTION: NEVER EVER press down on the dogs sides and squeeze while teaching him to sit. This is the kidney area and you can cause damage or make the dog uncomfortable. All exercises are done "gently" and without force.

STAND
**Preferred method of teaching the STAND**
While the puppy is in a SIT position, hold a treat in front of him and lure him into a stand. The instant he is up you will give the YES. Again, practice this a lot "without" the word STAND until he is doing it a lot on his own. To incorporate the "hand signal" for stand while you are training, have the treat in your left hand and palm down and thrust your arm forward at the level of his nose while giving the stand command.
**Option B for teaching the STAND**
Kneel down with your dog on your left side. Get him in a SIT position. Once he is sitting, use the command "DOGGIE STAND" and place your right hand in the collar and gently pull him to a stand position. While he is going into the stand position, place your left hand directly in front of the dogs right rear leg and slightly up towards his body. This is just to steady him not to move forward. Do not press upward into his body. Once he is in the stand position, PRAISE him. Alternate between the sit and stand for practice. As he progresses and is doing the stand, start rubbing your left hand down his back and pressing down gently every so often. This will keep him steady on the stand. If he goes to move, give the command "NO", and reposition again using the "DOGGIE STAND" and then praise.

DOWN
**Preferred method for teaching the DOWN**
You can teach your dog the down from either the sit OR the stand position. The reason a lot of trainers prefer teaching it from the stand position is it makes it easier to teach the "down on recall" for CDX work. (advanced obedience)
While your dog is in the STANDING position, hold a treat with palm facing down, and move it between the dog's front legs and backwards. This will cause the dog to look down and slide back into the down. While teaching this exercise, some dogs may have to have it broken into "pieces" of the exercise if they don't automatically go down. So don't be discouraged. It is far better to break an exercise down into steps rather than to rush it and not have them understand what you are trying to teach them. So if you have a dog that hesitates, don't worry, simply use the YES or click/treat when he "looks down." The next time he may start sliding down a bit, this is fine...YES or click/treat for that. You get the idea...break the exercise down into pieces and treat for each time the dog progresses.
**Option B for teaching the DOWN**
Start with your dog in the sit position beside you. Slide him into the down position. Say YES or click/treat. To do this your left arm goes over the dogs shoulders to hold his left front leg and your right arm will slide his right front leg. Once he is in the down position it's a YES or click/treat. You may have to use your left elbow to steady him into the down and this would be placed on his shoulders. For those with large dogs, rather than your left arm going over the dogs shoulders, you will place your left arm on the dogs shoulders and with your right arm, reach under and grab the dogs left front leg and slide forward. By doing this, your arm will be moving his other leg also. Once he is going down pretty good then you add the WORD "down" to the exercise.
Please Note: This is one of the hardest excercises to teach a dog. They are in a vulnerable position. Make them feel comfortable and never, ever force this excercise...take your time.
Once you know the dog knows what DOWN means, try getting him to go down without any hand signals. Once you give the command DOWN and you are not using a hand signal or the treat to lure, you may find the puppy looks confused. DON'T repeat the word DOWN, simply give him some time to "think" on his own. You may be surprised how he may hesite then all of a sudden go down! I've seen this with my own dog and it's amazing how you can actually see them thinking on their own. By having them do this "thinking" they are actually learning much faster as you are teaching them to think on their own.