Are you struggling to teach your Miniature Australian Shepherd to sit? The technique of sitting up is regularly taught to very small dogs, yet much bigger dogs are another story. It’s difficult for them to maintain their balance.
Teach Your Miniature Australian Shepherd to Sit: Readiness
Sitting up is one of the most basic skills that you should teach to your Miniature Australian Shepherd and is the foundation for a number of other tricks. To train a Miniature Australian Shepherd to sit up, prepare some treats as a reward, and put your Miniature Australian Shepherd on her rump in a corner, to make sure that she is not able to fall either aft or sideways and has very little or no space to stumble.
Teach Your Miniature Australian Shepherd to Sit: Acquaint Her With The Command
Protect her from falling forward by holding one hand beneath her chin and with your second hand dangle the reward above your Miniature Australian Shepherd’s face. Keep saying deliberately and clearly, “sit.” Don’t make her sit for too long at any one time, but repeat the training regularly and reward her frequently with plenty of cheers and treats.
Teach Your Miniature Australian Shepherd to Sit: Help Her Balance
During her very first lesson your Miniature Australian Shepherd will call for a lot of support from your hand to stop her from tumbling forward, but as she gets control of her muscles and starts to learn what you want, she will count less upon your hand to hold her in position. Gradually, you can give your Miniature Australian Shepherd less help and support til you’ll simply have to leave one hand in position two or three inches from her neck or chin, to be in position to stop her from falling forward; eventually you might withdraw your hand entirely and just simply hold the reward right over the level of her face.
Teach Your Miniature Australian Shepherd To Sit: Remove the Help Gradually Over Time
With regular practice your Miniature Australian Shepherd will stay seated for a long time after you tell her to. Then she should be set up against a wall, so as to offer her assistance for her back only. Soon after she has gotten the hang of this and can hold her place effortlessly, practice with her using chair legs, cushions or other things that offer her less and less help. Subsequently she will get the hang of how to keep her balance and sit up without something to lean against.
Teach Your Miniature Australian Shepherd to Sit: Putting It All Together
Throughout all this training the phrase "sit up" will have been instilled upon her mind with the assistance of constant repetition. Now is the final training to teach your Miniature Australian Shepherd to sit up right after she hears the phrase. There's a good chance, if she has been properly trained, you will simply have to summon her out into the room, show a treat, hold it up a suitable distance from the ground, say "sit" and she will do so. Then you give her the snack while still in position.
The only requirement for perfection is to rehearse with your Miniature Australian Shepherd multiple times a day until she sits on command and without being shown a treat; give her the treats only once she has followed the command.
Teach Your Miniature Australian Shepherd Other Tricks
You have now the fundamentals for teaching your Miniature Australian Shepherd many other tricks. She can now learn how to beg by moving your hand up and down in front of her paws, which she will move in coordination with yours. She also can be taught 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 cap on her head or wear other clothing.
When instructing a Miniature Australian Shepherd to accept being clothed, do not try to get her to wear too many things simultaneously. Try her at first with a hat. Only after she becomes adjusted to that you could put on a coat and gradually introduce her to the other clothing.
Take joy in "teaching your Miniature Australian Shepherd the sit up trick" and most importantly have fun while you're doing it!
Don't forget to check out these other articles about Miniature Australian Shepherds
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