I just learned that my dog doesn’t know how to sit.

Of course she CAN sit. She does sit on cue too, but today I learned that her idea of the “sit� cue and mine are somewhat different.

I came home from a training session this morning with a few extra treats in my bag. My son, Hayden, was excited to give my whippet, Payton, some treats. I had him ask her to sit and I also told her to do so, since I really didn’t expect her to listen to him (and she didn’t).

But - surprise - she didn’t listen to me either.

This shouldn't have been a huge shocker because occasionally Payton just stares at me as if I’ve grown a second head. I HAVE noticed in competitions that her sits are weaker than many of the more complicated agility or rally obedience moves.

So I asked her to sit again…and then I did it. I barely noticed as I moved my hands up higher on my stomach, almost as if I was holding something in them. I also stepped forward a bit.

And she sat. Quickly.

When I released her from her sit I made sure I held my hands firmly at my side and asked her to sit again. Nothing.

Damn.

Somehow in the process of teaching her to sit I incorporated some superstitious behaviors which she has interpreted as part of the sit cue. Now I need to wean her off these extra cues so that she can perform reliably every time she’s asked to do so.

Dogs are so much more attuned to body language than to verbal cues that this confusion happens more than you think. If you have a dog that’s trained to sit, or down, or do a trick, check and see if your dog really understand the verbal cue that you are using. Ask your dog to perform while keeping your hands at your sides. Try it with your back to your dog, with you sitting in a chair, with you lying on the floor, and so on. If your dog can’t do all those things, don’t get upset if she sometimes doesn’t do what you tell her to do. She’s just waiting for the rest of your cues.