Are you working to teach your English Mastiff to sit? The talent of sitting up is easily taught to petite dogs, however bigger pooches are another story. It’s tricky for them to sustain their balance.
Teach Your English Mastiff to Sit: Preparing
Sitting is one of the 1st tricks that you should teach to a English Mastiff and provides the groundwork for quite a few other skills. To train a English Mastiff to sit up, prepare some treats as a perk, and put the English Mastiff on her butt in a corner, to ensure she won’t be able to fall either aft or sideways and has very little or no space to lose balance.
Teach Your English Mastiff to Sit: Acquaint Her With The Words
Keep her from pitching towards you by keeping your hand underneath her chin and using your second hand dangle her treat above the English Mastiff’s nose. Keep saying intelligibly and distinctly, “sit.” Do not make her sit up too long at one time, but do repeat the lesson often and reward her often with plenty of recognition and snacks.
Teach Your English Mastiff to Sit: Help Her Keep Her Balance
Throughout her 1st lesson your English Mastiff will call for significant help and support from you to keep her from pitching forward, but as she gains better control of her muscles and sees what you want, she’ll rely less upon your hand to keep her steady. Then you can gradually give your English Mastiff less help till you will simply have to keep one hand in position 2 or 3 inches from her chin or neck, to be in place to stop her falling forward; later on you can remove this hand entirely and merely suspend the treat right above the level of your English Mastiff’s face.
Teach Your English Mastiff To Sit: Remove the Assistance Slowly
With steady practice your English Mastiff will sit up for a good while after you set her up. Afterward she should be set up against the wall, so as to give her support for her back only. Only after she has learned this and can maintain her place easily, practice with her against chair legs, pillows or other things that offer her less and less support. At some point she will learn to maintain her balance and sit up without anything to rest on.
Teach Your English Mastiff to Sit: Putting It All Together
During all these lessons the phrase "sit up" will have been ingrained upon her subconscious by means of frequent repetition. Last is the final lesson to teach your English Mastiff to sit up right after she hears the words. There's a good chance, if she has been properly instructed, you will merely have to summon her out in the room, reveal a snack, hold it up a reasonable distance from the floor, say "sit up" and she'll do so. Then just give her the snack while still in place.
The only condition for perfection is to rehearse with your English Mastiff multiple times a day until she will sit on command and without being shown a snack; give her the treats only once she has complied with the order.
Teach Your English Mastiff Other Tricks
You have now the groundwork for teaching your English Mastiff many other skills. She can now learn to beg by waving your hand up and down just in front of her paws, which she will move in sync with yours. She also can learn to salute by bringing one paw up to the side of her head, or to hold something in her mouth, or to wear a hat on her head or wear other clothes.
In training a English Mastiff to submit to being clothed, do not try to make her wear too many things at the same time. Try her at first with just a cap. Only after she becomes adjusted to that you could put on a jacket and slowly and gradually introduce her to more clothes.
Get a kick out of "teaching your English Mastiff the sit up trick" and most importantly have fun at the same time!
Don't forget to check out these other articles about English Mastiffs
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