Beyond Biscuits: “Sit” and “Down” on a Verbal Cue

Once our puppies have a lot of experience hearing the verbal cues “Sit” and “Down” right before being lured and prompted into position, we are ready to fade the extra hints!

Why It’s Important
The verbal cues to sit and lay down are not only useful everyday skills, the process of going from an assisted behavior (with a food lure and physical prompts) to doing so independently on a verbal cue is an important foundation in the puppies’ journey of “learning to learn.”

In dog training (including guidework!), most skills are first taught using luring and/or physical prompts, with a goal that the dog eventually learns to perform the behavior when they hear the verbal cue without needing extra help. Most animals, dogs included, naturally communicate through body language and physical contact. Starting early to teach puppies that verbal cues have meaning helps puppies learn to pay more attention to a less intuitive language (English words!) and makes the process go more quickly for other skills in the future.

“Sit” on a Verbal Cue

Most puppies will naturally sit when they look up at us (if one end goes up, the other goes down!). We will use this to our advantage!

Warm up by doing a couple sits (saying “Sit” and following with a lure and physical prompt as needed) to prime the puppy’s brain to the game you are about to play. Then, as you’re making eye contact with the pup, say “Sit” in a happy voice without moving your hands. Wait a couple seconds for the puppy to respond. When the puppy sits, celebrate their brilliance with a happy voice and a few pieces of kibble!

Your celebrations probably encouraged the puppy to get back up, so you’re ready to repeat the “Sit” cue again. If the puppy didn’t stand up, you can move away a little bit and encourage them to stand and follow or lure them with a piece of food.

When you are first introducing the verbal cue, don’t worry about duration. Use your Rules of Three to work on building duration after the pup has a good understanding of the basic position!

What if…

• They try other behaviors like jumping up on you or barking at you before they sit? There is no need to scold the puppy for trying other things. They are actively participating but just don’t know the answer you’re looking for! When they’re first learning, don’t be too picky about other things that happen before the puppy sits. Ignore the extra behaviors and reward them as soon as they sit! The extra behaviors should quickly disappear as the puppy gains clarity in what is being rewarded. If you start seeing a pattern of the same thing (e.g. jump up and then sit!), try and reset the pattern by going back to immediately following the “Sit” cue with a lure, or even a fake lure (empty hand, doing the same movement as your lure) a couple times to show the pup they don’t need to add the extra effort before sitting to earn their reward!
• They give up without sitting? Make sure you aren’t competing with the environment for the pup’s attention. Find a quieter area if needed. Go back to following the “Sit” cue with a lure a couple more times and then try again. You can even add a halfway step and use a fake lure (empty hand) a couple times as a little hint to help the puppy think about sitting. If the puppy needs the extra hint for more than one training session, reach out for help with troubleshooting!

“Down” on a Verbal Cue

Getting puppies to lie down on a verbal cue often takes a little longer than sitting. It can help for puppies to already have a grasp of the concept “hear a word, do a behavior.”

Just like before, warm up and prime the puppy’s brain by doing a couple downs with assistance – saying “Down” and following with a lure and physical prompt as needed. Most puppies will need a halfway step with a fake lure (empty hand) as a helpful hint before they are able to respond to just the verbal cue alone. Gradually make your hint smaller and smaller as the puppy starts to guess the correct answer. Don’t forget to celebrate and reward with a happy voice and food after the puppy successfully lies down!

Here’s a Tip!

• Use something comfy! Many puppies are more likely to lie down on a cozy dog bed or blanket than cold, hard floors. When you’re first starting, choose a spot so cozy and tempting the pup just can’t wait to lie down!
• It can help if you start down low (sitting on the ground or in a chair leaning down).
• Keep sessions short! Breaks are incredibly valuable. Learning to offer behavior can take a lot of mental energy. Sometimes pups even come back the next day with more understanding than where you thought you left off!
• Say “Down” in a calm, low voice to encourage a calm settled down behavior.

What if…

• They get “stuck” and can’t lie down without help? You may need to fade your hint more gradually. You may need to go from a real lure (huge hint), to the fake lure (big hint), to pointing at the ground (smaller hint), and then a small gesture or dipping your head (even smaller hint). It can take several weeks of short, focused practice sessions to completely fade the lure for “Down”, so don’t lose hope! Don’t hesitate to reach out for extra tips and help with individual brainstorming, since each puppy might respond to different techniques a little differently.

Once pups have the grasp of responding to “Sit” and/or “Down” at home during training sessions, you can start practicing in other places to help them generalize their skills and practice them with more real-life distractions and holding longer duration.

If a puppy has any difficulty generalizing their understanding of “Sit” or “Down” in new places or for new people, go back to using the smallest hint necessary and work your way back to verbal cue only. Once you have gone through Level 2 of Move This Way! Understanding Collar Cues and taught the collar cues for sit and down, those can be used as hints too!

Here’s a Tip!

• When you get to the point of rewarding the puppy for holding their sit and down longer (duration), adjust your energy level to help set them up for success. You can probably imagine that excited cheering can make it much more difficult! Instead, help them hold their position by using a low, soothing voice and kibble quietly delivered all the way to their mouth.