Are you aspiring to teach your Finnish Lapphund to sit? The technique of sitting up is effortlessly taught to compact dogs, however much bigger doggies are a different story. It’s challenging for them to maintain their equilibrium.
Teach Your Finnish Lapphund to Sit: Foundation
Sitting up is one of the first skills that you should teach to your Finnish Lapphund and forms the foundation for a number of other skills. To train a Finnish Lapphund to sit up, put together some treats as a reward, and place the Finnish Lapphund on her butt in a corner, to ensure she won’t be able to fall either backward or sideways and has very little or no space to stumble.
Teach Your Finnish Lapphund to Sit: Acquaint Her With The Command
Keep her from tilting to the front by keeping one hand under her chin and with the other hand hold her snack above the Finnish Lapphund’s nose. Keep repeating clearly and deliberately, “sit.” Don’t force her to sit for too long at any one time, but repeat the training frequently and reward her regularly with loads of praise and treats.
Teach Your Finnish Lapphund to Sit: Help Her Keep Her Balance
During the first lesson your Finnish Lapphund will need a lot of help and support from your hand to prevent her from falling forward, but as she gains more control of the stabilizing muscles and starts to learn what you want her to do, she will rely less and less upon your hand to keep her steady. Then you can gradually give her less support up until you will only have to maintain one hand in position 2 or 3 inches from her neck or chin, to be in position to prevent her falling forward; in the future you will be able to take away the hand completely and merely dangle the treat right over the level of your Finnish Lapphund’s head.
Teach Your Finnish Lapphund To Sit: Remove the Aids Progressively
With regular practice she will stay seated long after you make her. Then she should be set up against the wall, so as to give her support for her back only. Once she has learned this and can hold her place effortlessly, practice with her using chair legs, pillows or other things that offer her less and less aid. Ultimately she will figure out how to keep her equilibrium and sit up in the absence of something to lean on.
Teach Your Finnish Lapphund to Sit: Putting It All Together
During all these lessons the words "sit up" will have been instilled upon her mind by persistent repetition. Lastly here's the final lesson to teach your Finnish Lapphund to sit up right after she hears the words. It's highly likely, if she has been carefully trained, you will simply have to call her out into the room, show to her a treat, hold it up a suitable distance from the ground, say "sit up" and she will do so. Then you'll just give her the treat while still in place.
The only prerequisite for perfection is to practice with her several times daily until she can sit when commanded to and without being shown a reward; give her the treats only once she has followed the order.
Teach Your Finnish Lapphund Other Tricks
You have now the technique for teaching your Finnish Lapphund many other skills. She now can be taught to beg by waving your hand up and down in front of her paws, which she'll move in sync with yours. She can also learn to salute by bringing one paw to the side of her head, or to keep a wooden pipe in her mouth, or to wear a cap on her head or wear other clothing.
When teaching a Finnish Lapphund to accept being clothed, do not try to get her to wear too many garments at once. Try at first with a hat. Only after she gets used to that you can put on a coat and slowly introduce her to the other garments.
Take joy in "teaching your Finnish Lapphund the sit up trick" and most importantly have fun at the same time!
Don't forget to check out these other articles about Finnish Lapphunds
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