Sit on cue
Foundation — prerequisite skills
Psychiatric Service Dog
Mobility Assistance Dog
Guide Dog
Hearing Alert Dog
Medical Alert Dog
Autism Assistance Dog
Allergy Detection Dog
Multi-Task Service Dog
Service Dog In Training
About this task
The dog sits on a verbal or hand signal cue reliably.
How it helps: Foundation skill required for nearly all other service dog tasks.
Required foundation skills
None. This is a starting point.
Training steps
- Lure the dog into a sit position with a treat held above their nose
- Mark the moment their bottom touches the ground with a clicker or marker word
- Reward immediately
- Repeat 10-15 times per session
- Add the verbal cue "sit" just before the lure
- Gradually fade the lure — just use the hand motion
- Gradually fade the hand motion to just the verbal cue
- Practice until dog sits reliably on verbal cue alone
Proofing criteria
Once your dog reliably performs this task at home, proof it in these environments and situations:
- Sit reliably in the living room
- Sit reliably in the backyard
- Sit reliably in the front yard
- Sit with mild distractions (other people nearby)
- Sit with moderate distractions (other dogs nearby)
- Sit in a parking lot
- Sit inside a pet-friendly store
- Sit in a crowded public space
- Sit with handler at distance of 10 feet
- Sit on first cue 9 out of 10 times in any environment