Have you ever thought to yourself; why does my dog have to sit before thresholds, before greetings and/or before getting food or does my dog have to sit before eating, greeting, and/or going through doorways? Does it look better when our dog sits before doing something? Is it considered good manners? Or we want to believe that our dog is calmer just because he/she is sitting. Then we further must observe and continue to be baffled that many dogs are still excited after being asked to sit. Our dog is still excited before doing something, even though the dog is in a ‘sit' because we only taught them to sit before doing something instead of teaching them that calmness will get them what they need/want.
Do we have you thinking now? We hope so! It is time to break down this myth and determine how we can collaborate with our companions to better understand calmness – this will lead to our next PAWS Talk – kicking into drive!
Let us look at it from the association viewpoint – the first command we typically train our dog is sit. One of the ways we teach our dogs to sit, before doing something ( putting the leash on, giving them food, going outside, thresholds … ). Therefore, when seeking engagement/reward with you within seconds of wanting something in this situation (food, leash, the good that is about to happen) many dogs will default into what has given the most reward in the past – through chaining – a SIT. Let’s now see this through our emotional side - YES we can associate ‘sit' with calmness or relaxation, when our dog sits before doing something, often it is easier for us to observe the dog's body language and posture to determine if the dog is calm and then go on with our mission. Taking this time to see past just the sit – determine the commitment and purpose of calmness in your situation. Is your dog truly sitting because they are fully calm or are they sitting out of default?
As a trainer – I then further question and challenge you – why sit?
Sit is obedience. Calmness is well, calmness. It is the act of teaching impulse and overall state of mind within a situation. This leads to a clear mind and good emotions and a dog that will in turn make good choices. The sit has nothing truly to do with it. I would rather know my dog can hold neutral choices in every situation without the worry of any obedience command having to be “defaulted” into them. Whether it be a down, stand, sit, let us honor their state of mind; before we put sits first. So next time you are grabbing that leash, stepping out that door, looking to cross that crosswalk – take a second to pause and reward just the pause; the good choice, the moment or moments that your dog has chosen to simply exist in time calmly with you whether that be standing, sitting, or laying down. You may be surprised that this is far better than always asking for an obedience driven behavior and this behavior was always there.
We get it; sit happens. Let us make calmness and good choices happen more.
Co-written by Jon S. & Lora B.