Are you working to teach your American Water Spaniel to sit? The talent of sitting up is easily taught to smaller dogs, though much larger pet dogs are another story. It’s tricky for them to keep their balance.
Teach Your American Water Spaniel to Sit: Prep work
Sitting up is one of the most basic tricks that you should teach to a American Water Spaniel and lays the groundwork for many other skills. In order to train a American Water Spaniel to sit up, prep some treats as a reward, and set the American Water Spaniel on her haunches in a corner, so that she can’t fall either aft or sideways and has very little or no space to stumble.
Teach Your American Water Spaniel to Sit: Acquaint Her With The Phrase
Protect her from tilting towards you by keeping 1 hand on her chin and with your second hand hold her snack above her face. Keep repeating clearly and intelligibly, “sit up.” Don’t make her sit too long at any one time, but repeat the instruction often and reward her often with loads of praise and treats.
Teach Your American Water Spaniel to Sit: Help Her Stay Balanced
During the first lesson she will call for a lot of help and support from you to prevent her from pitching forward, but as she gains better control of her balancing muscles and knows what you want, she will depend less and less on your hand to hold her steady. Gradually, you can give her less help and support up until you will basically have to maintain one hand in position 2 or 3 inches from her chin or neck, to be set to prevent her from falling forward; later you might take away your hand and merely suspend the snack right above the height of your American Water Spaniel’s face.
Teach Your American Water Spaniel To Sit: Remove the Help Slowly And Gradually
With regular practice she will sit up well after you get her to sit. Next she should be set up against a wall, so as to give her assistance for her back. Immediately after she has gotten the knack of this and can hold her posture effortlessly, rehearse with her against chair legs, cushions or other items that provide her less and less support. In the end she will learn how to keep her stability and sit up without relying on something to rest on.
Teach Your American Water Spaniel to Sit: Putting It All Together
During the course of all this training the command "sit up" will have been ingrained upon her mind through regular repetition. Now is the final lesson to teach your American Water Spaniel to sit up whenever she hears the phrase. Most likely, if she has been properly instructed, you will merely have to call her out into the room, reveal a reward, hold it up a suitable distance from the ground, say "sit up" and she'll obey. Then just give her the snack while still in position.
The only requirement for excellence is to practice with your American Water Spaniel several times a day until she can sit on command and without being shown a snack; give her the snacks only after she has obeyed the direction.
Teach Your American Water Spaniel Other Tricks
You have now the basis for teaching your American Water Spaniel many other skills. She can now learn to beg by moving your hand up and down just in front of her paws, which she will move in conjunction with yours. She can also learn to salute by bringing one paw to the side of her head, or to keep something in her mouth, or to wear a hat on her head or wear other articles of clothing.
When teaching a American Water Spaniel to tolerate being clothed, don't try to make her wear too many garments at once. Try her at first with a cap. Once she gets adjusted to that you could put on a jacket and gradually introduce her to the other garments.
Delight in "teaching your American Water Spaniel the sit up trick" and most importantly have fun in the process!
Don't forget to check out these other articles about American Water Spaniels
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