Dr. Larry on the San Diego Living Show Tuesdays 9-10am Fox 6:
WHY THE SIT COMMAND IS IMPORTANT?
It keeps your dog sharp and reinforces the notion that the human members of its pack are dominant. Before you or any family member gives your dog any attention (eye contact, petting, letting it in or out, playing or feeding) make the dog sit first. All social reinforcement is contingent upon a sit.
Also, whenever the dog approaches you in a situation in which it usually starts jumping on you (i.e.: arriving home from work), give it the sit command first, BEFORE IT JUMPS. This trains it to come up to people and sit rather than to come up and jump.
Prelude to Lying Down Command: The sit command gets your dog's body already half-way down and sets the stage for the next step, in teaching the dog the lay down command later on. The sit command also sets the stage for short timed stay commands as well.
Lying Down Command Prelude to Stay Command: After teaching the dog to sit and lie down, then the dog is ready to learn long duration stay commands as well.
Finally, it is much easier to put your dog's collar and leash on and off and groom the dog and check for injuries if the dog is staying still in a sit command versus running all around the house.
