Teaching a dog to sit using a treat or a biscuit may be the easiest behavior that one could teach to a young puppy or a dog. Training with treats is a very popular reward based training style that has become increasingly more popular over the past ten years. I don’t think anyone would argue that some dogs learn faster when the training method is centered on food.

I belong to a number of trade associations, one of which is known as the International Association of Canine Professionals (www.dogpro.org). One of the benefits to belonging to such a group is that I have the opportunity to get feed back from other dog trainers from around the world on specific training issues. One of the recent discussions that took place on their internet bulletin board was: should a dog be forced to sit even if he doesn’t want to? Do humans have a right to force their will upon an animal?

To some the question may seem ridiculous while to others the question triggers serious ethical issues that require deep contemplation. The responses to the question varied tremendously. Before you can consider such a deep philosophical question, you must first answer the question, “What does sit mean?” Does sit mean sit or does it mean something else. A dog may sit when being bribed with a morsel of food and seem to be brain dead in the absence of food. Does this dog really know what sit means?

There is a dog trainer named Gary Wilkes who developed clicker training with dogs long before clicker training became popular. Gary uses food based training almost exclusively when training house pets. At a recent conference Gary made the statement that “without exception, there is not one dog that has excelled at obedience competition that has not learned proficiency without discipline.” A man that understands the nature of competition made that statement.

You may be thinking that your dog is not in a competitive situation and it’s not that important if he sits or not. Have you ever considered how many dogs and killed or seriously injured every year because they didn’t want to listen to their owner? Have you ever considered how many children are seriously bitten by aggressive, noncompliant dogs? Sit means sit whether you have a treat in your hand or not. Sit means sit regardless of what distractions may be present. If a dog won’t sit because of some distraction, the dog doesn’t know what sit means. All right, so sit really does mean sit.

Should a dog be forced to sit even if he doesn’t want to? Some might apply our cultures unspoken philosophy that everyone should be permitted to do what is right in their own eyes and apply that philosophy to their dog as well. I think they call that, tolerance. There is no need to require any serious compliance and I shouldn’t force a dog to do something that it doesn’t want. My dog ought to be able to do what he wants because he is a living being.

Another perspective is that man has dominion over animals. With that dominion comes a responsibility as well as a stewardship. This relationship between man and animals goes back to the Garden of Eden. Certainly, two vastly different perspectives that seem to clash with one another. I’m sure that there are numerous variations of these different philosophies. In the end analysis the ultimate question is, “does your dog know ‘sit’? with or without distractions?

Sit happens using food based rewards exclusively while compliance to sit requires correction. How much correction? That’s a subject for another time.

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Tom Beitz is the owner of the Academy for Puppies and Dogs and is an authorized dealer for Pet STOP Hidden Dog Fences. Tom can be reached at (716) 628-0651 to answer your questions or he can be found on the web at www.smartdogtrainer.com . E-Mail: Tom@Smartdogtrainer.com

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