University of the Philippines (U.P.) emotional support dog named “Cotton” knows how to sit

(Many thanks: the U.P. Diliman and the U.P. System administration; and Chancellor Michael Tan, U.P. College of Mass Communication administration, staff, faculty, and students, Vice Chancellor Jerwin Agpaoa, Prof. Khrysta Rara, UP FOCA, OVCCA, UP-MMDA-Vanguard-K9 …

                            and

         DOG BEHAVIORIST

           ONAYD LUMBAO

                          ♣♣♣

      Dog behaviorist Onayd Lumbao belongs to the Positive-Reinforcement-School-of-Thought in dog behaviorism and dog training, and in NOT inflicting any pain, NOT inflicting any form of starvation on the dog before, during, and after training.
     Since sitting is a usual pose that dogs already know how to do, his technique (as i understand it: any mistake is mine alone) …
… is as follows (summarized here)
    1.Be present with and spend time with the dog and observe in what situations or in what instances he/she sits.
    2.Remember these situations and instances. For example, based on observations, Cotton and Chess sit in the following relaxed instances: a.When Cotton and Chess want to eat and they see a human that they like holding food that they like, they will sit like angels; b.When Cotton wants to “summon” a human he likes, he will sit, i.e., when he wants a human he likes to approach him, he will sit; when he sees you are looking at him and he likes you, he will sit; c.When he likes a human who is about to leave and wants to stop them from leaving, he will sit on the pathway of said human.
Each dog is different: the human has to observe in what instances the dog sits.
     2.When you already know those instances: ANTICIPATE, not precipitate: Upon the moment that the dog is about to sit, inches before his/her behind touches the floor, say: “Sit!… Sit!… Sit!”… and then he has already sat, then give profuse positive reinforcement, which may consist of (depending on your dog) praising him/her profusely, cuddling him, and in some dogs, giving treats.
     3.Repeat many times. Many times.
    Dog behaviorist Onayd Lumbao also says: 1.Do not choke the dog with his leash, do not tug the leash hard, do not pull up the leash then push down his tailbone (so he can escape the choke) to make him sit because the only reason he is sitting when this is done is to escape the pain you are inflicting with the choke-leash, i.e., he is saving himself from being strangled by going lower, to the sit position. You are communicating pain to the dog–  do not do this. 2.You want to communicate to the dog that “Sit” is a desirable behavior, so his technique is as described above: Observe, remember, synchronize the verbal command “Sit” with the anticipated behavior of sitting: ANTICIPATE, then, after he sits, give profuse positive reinforcement. Repeat the process. Many times. 3.Never inflict pain, never starve the dog.

   In other words, the dog already knows how to sit — it is the human who is learning how to communicate to the dog that sitting is a desirable behavior.

    The video below is NOT  a tutorial, i.e., it does not show the technique itself as the videographer had not anticipated there would be time to video this and was also holding food and treats in one hand while observing and figuring out for two days (the figuring-out took a long time) — the video is the RESULT or “FINISHED PRODUCT” a day after two days of figuring out and employing the technique.

        Many thanks again. (Cotton also knows how to be recalled thru “Cotton, come here!” — four vids follow after the first) 

 

   

 

    Cotton also knows “Up!” to mean stand up, and “Jump!” for jump up. He also knows how to be recalled thru “Cotton, come here!” — which is important when your dog is running off or in emergencies when you want the dog to return to you. Five months ago, he showed repeatedly that he returned when called back, so we just incorporated “Cotton, come here!” —  four videos below shot five months ago: