Since the Sit is now 80% solid, you want to increase the Sit as THE #1 foundational obedience exercise. Every exercise comes off the Sit, so shaping and forming and practicing the Sit NOW, while the puppy is young and moldable, makes your life 100% easier. It is far easier to shape a 24 lb puppy than shaping a 40 lb or 75 lb, etc., young, powerful and often opinionated dog.
For example, the Sit should be used to teach the puppy NOW that emotional and physical self-control are requirements, not requests. Sit your puppy when you open a door, Sit your puppy when he doorbell rings, Sit your puppy before every meal and if you give a snack. Vary the times you keep your puppy in a Sit position as your puppy needs to learn you are the one who puts the puppy INTO a position, you say for how long, and you say ""Fido, ok", when you release your puppy.
"Place" your puppy on a stool and do a formal Sit. When your puppy is growling or lunging, command "Phooey ", squeeze its muzzle quickly and then immediately command Sit and form puppy into a Sit. When you want to give puppy a toy, form into a Sit and then give toy. When you want the toy time to cease, command puppy "Fido, Come - Here" and form puppy into a Sit in front of you. Command "Give" and take toy. You are laying a foundational mindset, a belief in your puppy's mind that a Sit is not only a command, but a Sit is a prerequisite to good things like going outside, a toy, food, or special praise. You are also teaching the puppy that a Sit is a default position for when the dog is feeling out of control or threatened. So use every opportunity to shape and form and require a good Sit now while it is easy to teach your puppy. Remember...praise for EVERY Sit...even though you helped your puppy. This will pay off in HUGE dividends when you start the formal obedience at 4 months old.
It is time and you should be working now also on the Stand.
Follow the
video showing working on a conformation breed ring called the "Stack- Stand." You may never enter your dog in the show ring, but teaching a puppy the breed ring Stack- Stand greatly strengthens a dog's concept of Stand as the dog gets older. This pays off in good health and proper balance as the puppy develops during that first year. It also pays off when you need to 'Stand' a dog at the vet, at the groomer, or do towel it off when it is muddy or wet.
As you get the puppy into a Stand, support it under the belly with one hand and use your other hand to touch the puppy everywhere you can. You can also support the Stand and have another person handle your puppy as a vet or groomer would do. This is not fondle time, this is a deliberate touching of a puppy so it gets used to being handled on every part of its body. This is a puppy, so you can repeat the command "Stand" and also speak soft words like Yes or Good Dog. DO NOT PUT ANY DOWNWARD pressure on a puppy's hips as that is the cue for a Sit. DO use the Conditioned Relaxation stoking from the top of the head to the shoulders. This will pay off in HUGE dividends when you start the formal obedience at 4 months. Pretend you are at the vet or groomer and your dog needs to remain Standing while being examined or groomed or bathed.
RIGHT NOW, if you have access to the fresh, powdery snow in abundance, do a Stand outside and take handfuls of soft snow and bathe your puppy. One reason is puppy gets used to being 'bathed' while in a Stand position, they learn to relax while being bathed, the snow feels good and this is a great way to cleanse a dog, without getting it wet, in winter. So give snow baths.
Once you are 80% successful with the Stand, we will add the Down #3 as the last foundational obedience exercise, Then, you will practice the Sit, the Stand, and the Down many times in many places and with different levels of distractions over and over and over again. By the time your puppy is 4 months old, you will have an obedience foundation already established.
Have fun,
Roxanne
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