Getting Him To Sit

[Guest DragonflyDM]

Anyone ever get their grey to sit? I don’t need to do it…but I have dreams of getting his good citizen.

 

But unlike other dogs.. I can’t get him to even lay.

[JAJ2010]

Rainy just passed her cgc test and she did not have to sit since she's a greyhound

 

She just did the stay part laying down on a blanket

[GeorgeofNE]

Ah, the oft told myth that Greyhounds "can't" sit!

 

I taught George to sit exactly the same way I've taught ever other dog we've ever had to sit--the tried and true "tuck and fold" method to start, then progressing to standing him in a corner and holding the treat up over his head (so he has to look WAY up and the hind end goes down).

 

Trust me. George has no interest in being trained or obeying or even pleasing me. If he can learn it, and hound can! Is it as good as a "regular" dog? No. But it's good enough. And when some misinformed but friendly person says something like, "I heard the use a cattle prod on them at the track to teach them never to sit" and I say, "Sit," and he does, it's way more effective than trying to convince them there is no truth whatsoever to that silly tale!

[JAJ2010]

In Rainy's defense she can sit... For about 10 seconds before she loses her balance and either falls over or sinks into a down. LOL she's such a coordinated one....

[OwnedBySummer]

Sitting is a requirement here -- no treats without one. And her sit is soooo pretty. Here she is with her angel buddy.

 

[Roo]

I can't get Eli to sit for the life of me! I've tried everything I can think of (and every suggestion I've read online and on here). He just will not have any part of it. He'll sit on his own occasionally, so I know he can do it comfortably, he just has no desire to do it for me when I want him to It's definitely possible to teach them, like everyone else has said, just be prepared that not everyone wants to learn. (I can't get him to do a "down" on command, either, even by luring him under my leg with a treat - he just has absolutely no interest in doing more than he wants to).

[Beachbum1]

The only time Taylor sits is when we are outside, and then it's side-saddle as he scratches at his neck and spins his collar around and around.

 

Once in a while, he might get up from sleeping and go into a sitting position for around 5 seconds.

That's accompanied by a look of "Huh?? Where am I?? What am I doing??"

[philospher77]

Katie sits. Then again, she was a "natural" sitter, so I just caught it when clicker training. She's also learned "shake", so now she often sits with one front foot just slightly elevated, which just looks so endearing. She also "sits pretty" (up in a begging position) briefly, and generally on her bed so she has some support when she does it.

[Guest PiagetsMom]

I taught Mirage to sit by capturing it with a clicker and treating, but that hasn't worked for Maya. This site, "Never Say Never Greyhounds" was referenced here recently, and the behaviourist that I'm working with also suggested it to me:

 

http://neversaynevergreyhounds.blogspot.com/

 

You might want to check out the "sit" and "down" as she teaches it.

Edited October 13, 2012 by PiagetsMom

[brianamac]

I taught Mirage to sit by capturing it with a clicker and treating, but that hasn't worked for Maya. This site, "Never Say Never Greyhounds" was referenced here recently, and the behaviourist that I'm working with also suggested it to me:

 

http://neversaynever...s.blogspot.com/

 

You might want to check out the "sit" and "down" as she teaches it.

 

AWESOME site!!! Thank you!!!!

[Guest Giselle]

There are basically two methods: 1) Lure 2) Free shape or "Capture"

 

For breeds where sitting is both a natural and comfortable position, I prefer free-shaping the behavior. (In general, luring is my last resort.) HOWEVER, with dogs who dislike sitting or find it physically uncomfortable (like some greyhounds), you pretty much have to teach them how to physically sit. It looks like Never Say Never uses the classic luring technique where you lure the dog back onto his haunches. Giselle NEVER sat naturally, and I suspect it was not comfortable. So with Giselle, I tried luring her back onto her haunches and the "hug-and-fold" technique to teach her that sitting is physically possible. Neither method worked, and the "hugging" only freaked her out.

 

So, what did I do instead? I lured her UP from a Down position. With the dog in a Down position, slowly bring the treat upwards and lure her head up while her bottom stays on the ground. I'm pretty sure they cover this in Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies. You do have to teach the dog to do a "Down" first, but it's a simple task. Eventually, if you keep rewarding for the Sit position, you can by-pass the initial Down and the dog will learn to plop herself into an immediate Sit. It may not be comfortable, but they can be taught anything and learn to enjoy it through the powers of effective training

[BatterseaBrindl]

Ah, the oft told myth that Greyhounds "can't" sit!

 

I taught George to sit exactly the same way I've taught ever other dog we've ever had to sit--the tried and true "tuck and fold" method to start, then progressing to standing him in a corner and holding the treat up over his head (so he has to look WAY up and the hind end goes down).

 

Trust me. George has no interest in being trained or obeying or even pleasing me. If he can learn it, and hound can! Is it as good as a "regular" dog? No. But it's good enough. And when some misinformed but friendly person says something like, "I heard the use a cattle prod on them at the track to teach them never to sit" and I say, "Sit," and he does, it's way more effective than trying to convince them there is no truth whatsoever to that silly tale!

 

Agreed!

Greyhounds CAN sit.

Some just choose not to do it

 

Nixon was pretty easy to teach.

Stairs were much harder for him

 

Ruby came to us already knowing...she loves to sit!

 

Nigel was the most difficult

Took him about 3 weeks of twice daily practice for him to really 'get it' consistently.

 

 

George's 'tuck and fold their bum under' method worked for both boys, with a treat held way above their head.

 

The secret to getting Nigel to sit was to have his back end VERY close to the edge of a thick dog bed, so that when you tucked his bum under, it was not as much of a drop until his bum was down.

Another issue I had is that Nigel is quite long, and I am rather small, so I had issues with my arms not being long enough to do the tuck and then hold a treat really high over his head.

[a_daerr]

Both of ours sit. The hard part was getting them used to the movement. They never do it on their own, only for treats. You can either scoop them into a sit or lure them up from a down.

[krissy]

Yup. Lots of people will say weird things to me about how greyhounds can't sit. I had a substitute trainer in our first set of obedience classes (level 2). I wasn't a fan of her. Loved our usual trainer but this one looked at my hound and figured he couldn't do a darned thing (he was actually the best in his class). She borrowed a dog to demonstrate each new task. She borrowed Summit for a front and finish. She held a treat and asked him to sit. He just stared at her. She asked him to sit again. He continued to stare at her. So she returned him to me and made a snide remark about needing to work on his sit. I said, "Summit, sit". And boom! Down went his bum. Along with her jaw I think.

 

Now he sits for almost anyone who asks, but back then he only took direction from me.

 

He dislikes sitting for any prolonged period of time, but he will do it when asked. Preferably not on slippery floors!

[TINMANPDX]

I taught Elliott how to sit by sort of scooping his back legs while holding him upright in the front with my other arm. I gave him a treat and told him, "good sit!". His bottom doesn't quite touch the ground, though. it only took a few sessions before he got it. He now sits for his treats, but he also sits whenever he wants me to share things that I am eating.

 

I've tried to teach Lea, but she locks up her legs and skitters around when I try. She sits perfectly in the car when she wants to look out the window, so I have tried to associate that with "good sit" but can't treat her when she does it because she's too far away, and if I tossed a treat, Elliott would probably snatch it.

[Guest KPS915]

Thanks for the luring up from a down suggestion. Lila does a reliable down, but sit has been a big challenge. She does sit, she'll sit pretty in her crate while she's waiting for her meals to be prepaerd. I'll have to give the up from a down a shot.

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

When I first got my grey I saw her sitting in her outside run a couple times, but always facing downhill. Another Greytalker (PrairieProf) gave me some great advice. Teach the dog sit outdoors on a downhill slope. There's less distance between their butt and the ground that way, and it's a bit more comfortable to begin with. I used the tucking method and within three repetitions Jayne was sitting for treats. It took a bit to transfer the trick to indoor setting, and at first she would only do it by walking over and putting her butt on her pillow.

 

Since sit was one of the first things I taught her, it quickly became her way of asking for stuff. Once when she was waiting for my cat to finish his food (she gets to clean the plate), she dropped into a sit as if to ask him to hurry up.

[Guest 2dogs4cats]

They definitely can! I have taught mine both lay and sit. Even when they came to me as seniors, they learned it.

[Guest RMarie]

@DragonflyDM...I'm in your boat. We've only had our boy for just over 6 weeks, but I've never seen him sit, and if "lay" is only in the sphinx position, then I've only ever seen him do that maybe twice, while playing with his toys. 99.9% of the time his butt is on the ground is when he's circled around and gently placed his hips (usually his right hip) down. We've tried the whole backing him into a corner and holding the treat up over his head, but to no avail. And because he almost never lays in the right position to lure him up, I'm not sure that method will work, either. We start obedience traning soon, so if we learn anything different than what people here have offered up, I'll let you know.

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

99.9% of the time his butt is on the ground is when he's circled around and gently placed his hips (usually his right hip) down.

 

Does he stay that way? It could be that this sidesaddle sitting is how he's most comfortable doing it.

 

Jayne sidesaddles sometimes, It's just as good as a regular sit, even if it looks a little nerdy.

[Guest lanielovesgreys]

Great thread! The only time I saw a real-life greyhound sit I was hound sitting and took out the treats and bam, her butt went to the ground. I probably scared the poor puppy with my over the top reaction. I didn't expect that! Needless to say, she got a treat.

[Guest RMarie]

@Jayne (sorry, I haven't figured out how to "quote" or post photos)

HAHAHAHAHAHA! Love the pic! When he sidesaddles, he's completely laying on the ground. I've never seen him in the position displayed in your photo. He's sort of close to it when he scratches. But thus far, he really only has 2 positions: standing and laying down post-circling. But, if we ever do get him to sit, perhaps that's how he'll do it.

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

Yeah, she looks especially dorky in that picture, probably a result of putting the Star Trek shirt on her.

 

By the way, to quote you can copy/paste the text you want, then hit the little button in the toolbar above your reply textbox that looks like a quote bubble (hover your mouse over the icons and text explaining them will come up). Or you can type the coding by hand: [ quote ] insert quoted text here [ /quote ] Just don't use any spaces.