Okay, so I suck at training, and I don't want to screw up my dog.

Conan sits before he eats, before he goes in and out of doors, and before he's allowed to make his first move at stock.

Today, at the end of our walk, he didn't sit when he got to the door. So I said, "Conan, sit." He just looked at me. "No, sit." Still just looking at me. So I did a leash correction, "Conan, SIT," and he just sort of cowered, but still didn't sit.

I got really frustrated so I stood there for a minute to cool off, and then told him "Conan, sit!" again and he finally did. But why did it take so long? He occasionally won't sit when we get to the door, but it doesn't ever take more than two commands (one, then correction, then command - and this is like maybe once in a blue moon) to get him to sit. He's VERY handler soft. Maybe I just need to tone it down a bit. But when he still doesn't comply, then what?

My main concern though is correcting him. Are my physical corrections too hard when he doesn't respond? He was looking at me like I beat him or something. I felt really bad, but I was also really frustrated because he knows better. He's been sitting to get in and out of the house forever.

He was taught to sit in puppy kindergarten classes, and I recently (the last 6 months to about a year ago, I don't remember exactly) started reinforcing sits with markers. I phased out the markers a few months ago (except occassionally). Should I reintroduce them to coming in and out of doors?

Edited by Katie Finlay (02/27/2010 08:17 PM)
Edit reason: I used the wrong "too" in the title, lol.

He may just be a drama King but try taking the training back a step and act as if he doesn't know the command for a few days. If you're working in different locations, he may not. Remember dogs don't generalize very well so it's necessary to start from step one (learning phase) where you guide him into the behavior but don't correct. Still, only give the command once and if he just looks at you, lure or guide him into position, mark the behavior and reward. You can also mark behaviors you like any time you see him doing them on his own. For example, he goes into a sit on his own. Just as his butt's hitting the floor/ground, you click (or whatever your mark is) and say something like "good sit," in a soft happy voice (before he gets up again).

Thanks Elaine! It was so weird because he normally auto sits when we get to the door (inside or out). Maybe he just had an off day. I'll start luring and marking again instead of correcting. I did make a really big deal when he finally sat, and that got him all excited so at least he's not scarred for life haha.