Are you aiming to teach your Old English Sheepdog to sit? The talent of sitting up is regularly taught to small dogs, but much bigger pet dogs are a different story. It is problematic for them to sustain their equilibrium.
Teach Your Old English Sheepdog to Sit: Preparing
Sitting is one of the fundamental skills that should be taught to your Old English Sheepdog and is the foundation for various other skills. To train a Old English Sheepdog to sit up, put together some treats as a reward, and put the Old English Sheepdog on her backside in the corner, to make sure that she won’t fall either backward or sideways and has very little or no room to lose balance.
Teach Your Old English Sheepdog to Sit: Acquaint Her With The Phrase
Protect her from tilting to the front by holding one hand on her chin and using your other hand dangle the reward above her face. Keep saying distinctly and deliberately, “sit up.” Don’t force her to sit too long at one time, however repeat the lesson often and reward her frequently with loads of appreciation and treats.
Teach Your Old English Sheepdog to Sit: Help Her Keep Her Balance
Throughout the 1st lesson she will need considerable assistance from your hand to keep her from pitching forward, but as she gains control of her stabilizing muscles and starts to learn what you want her to do, she will depend less on your hand to hold her in position. Then you can gradually give your Old English Sheepdog less assistance til you will simply have to leave one hand in position two or three inches from her chin or neck, to be waiting to prevent her falling forward; eventually you can easily withdraw this hand entirely and just suspend the snack just above the level of her face.
Teach Your Old English Sheepdog To Sit: Remove the Assistance Eventually
After regular training she will stay seated for a long time after you make her. The next step is she should be set against your wall, so as to provide her assistance for her back only. When she has figured out this and can hold her position effortlessly, rehearse with her against chair legs, pillows or other things that offer her less and less help. Ultimately she will be able to sustain her stability and sit without having anything to lean against.
Teach Your Old English Sheepdog to Sit: Putting It All Together
During the course of all these lessons the phrase "sit up" will have been impressed upon her subconscious by regular repetition. Last comes the final training to teach your Old English Sheepdog to sit up whenever she hears the phrase. There's a great chance, if she has been diligently trained, you will just have to summon her out into the room, show a snack, hold it up a suitable distance from the floor, say "sit up" and she will obey. Then give her the snack while still in position.
The only necessity for perfection is to train with her multiple times a day until she sits up on command and without being shown a reward; give her the snacks only after she has complied with the order.
Teach Your Old English Sheepdog Other Tricks
You have now the basis for teaching your Old English Sheepdog many other tricks. She can now be taught to beg by waving your hand up and down in front of her paws, which she'll move in coordination with yours. She can also learn to salute by moving one paw up to the side of her head, or to keep an object in her mouth, or to wear a hat on her head or wear other articles of clothing.
When instructing a Old English Sheepdog to accept being dressed up, don't try to get her to wear too many clothes at once. Try her at first with just a cap. Once she gets used to that you could put on a coat and eventually introduce her to more clothing.
Get a kick out of "teaching your Old English Sheepdog the sit up trick" and most importantly have fun in the process!
Don't forget to check out these other articles about Old English Sheepdogs
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