Your Dog Doesn't Actually Know 'Sit' - Here's Why

You ask your dog to sit, and before you can even reach for a treat, they're already sitting, then lying down, offering a paw, rolling over, and spinning in a circle. Sound familiar? Imagine an enthusiastic border collie who has this routine down to a science. The moment their owner pulls out treats for a training session, they launch into their entire repertoire - sit, down, paw, shake, rollover, spin - all in rapid succession, barely pausing for breath. There's no waiting for the next cue, no pause to see what you're actually asking for. They're just running through the whole show, one behavior after another, hoping that something in the sequence will earn them that treat. It's pretty adorable, honestly - like the dog is showing off their "party tricks" and saying "I know stuff! Look at all the things I can do!" But when your dog cycles through behaviors like this, there's actually a lot going on under the surface. To understand what's happening and how to work with it, we need to talk about a few key concepts: stimulus control, cues, and behavior chains. Let's break down what each of these means and why they matter for your training.

What Is Stimulus Control?

Stimulus control is a fancy way of saying that a behavior happens when you ask for it, and only when you ask for it. A behavior is under good stimulus control when your dog responds reliably to your cue - but also when they don't perform that behavior in the absence of the cue.

Here's what that looks like in practice: If you ask your dog to sit and they sit, great! But good stimulus control also means that when you ask for "down," your dog doesn't sit. And when you're just standing there chatting with a friend, not giving any cues at all, your dog doesn't randomly plop into a sit hoping for a treat. The behavior happens when cued, and doesn't happen when it's not cued. That's stimulus control.

Now, some behaviors are more important to have under stimulus control than others. It's not really a big deal if your dog sits when you didn't cue it - in fact, for many people, that's a good thing! But if you taught your dog to "speak" on cue, stimulus control suddenly becomes pretty important (unless you enjoy living with a canine commentator who shares their opinions all day long). Or if you're doing bite sports, stimulus control isn't just important - it's essential. For the most part, it's harmless if your dog runs through their chain of behaviors. But if it's important for your dog to perform the specific behavior you asked for when you cue it, stimulus control is a must.

Building Stimulus Control: A Simple Exercise

Here's a straightforward way to build stimulus control: Start with your dog standing. Feed them treats for standing and remaining standing - essentially rewarding them for not moving until a cue is given. Then give your sit cue. When your dog sits, reward them. Now here's the key part: go back to rewarding them at intervals for remaining sitting. You're helping your dog understand that they shouldn't try another behavior just yet - they need to wait for the cue. While your dog is happily sitting, give another cue like "touch" or "down" and reward. The goal is to reward your dog for responding to the correct cue, and also to reward them for not anticipating a cue and just remaining in the last given position until the cue is presented. This teaches your dog that cues matter - which brings us to an important question: what exactly is a cue?

What Is A Cue?

So what exactly is a cue? A cue is a signal, a green light if you will, that tells the dog reinforcement might be available for a specific behavior. Now, let's talk about what it's not. You might hear the old-fashioned word "command" - that's a word that means "do this thing or punishment is happening," an "I command you" approach. A cue is different.

A cue can take many forms. It can be a visual signal like a hand gesture or a light. A cue can be a word - this is what most people associate with cues, words like sit, down, stay, and so on. But a cue can also be something in the environment: a sound, a smell, a person, or even a combination of these things.

Here are some less traditional cues you might not even realize you've taught your dog: Your hand reaching for a door knob is a cue to wait. Grabbing the leash is a cue to come to the door and sit. The doorbell ringing is a cue to run to the door and bark. Your alarm going off in the morning might be a cue for your dog to jump on the bed. The sound of the treat jar opening is a cue to come running to the kitchen. Some cues exist entirely in the environment, even without you around: The sound of a squirrel scratching on the roof might be a cue to bark. The mail slot opening could be a cue to grab whatever comes through. The neighbor's car pulling into their driveway might be a cue to run to the window. The cat jumping onto the counter could be a cue to investigate. Your dog has learned dozens of these environmental cues, often without you intentionally teaching them.

The dinner bowl—its sight and smell—is this dog's cue for down-stay.

It's important to make sure your dog clearly understands their cues first, and then you can work on building stimulus control. Often, the cue we think the dog is responding to isn't actually the one they're responding to. A trainer can help you sort out cueing issues with your dog, as it can get quite complicated to clearly see and understand what your dog is actually responding to.

Test It Out: Does Your Dog Really Know "Sit"?

Here's a test called "Your Dog Doesn't Know Sit!" (Say it out loud if you need to.) The goal is to test out how strong your sit cue and stimulus control already are. Start by standing in front of your dog and cue sit in a traditional way from a standing position. They will likely sit and you can reward them. Now watch - do they then move into a down on their own or try to wave at you with their paw? If so, they need work on stimulus control.

Next, turn your back to your dog and cue sit. Did they sit? Stand on a chair and cue sit - did they sit? Put a blanket over your head and cue sit. Whisper the sit cue. Say it from a prone position on the couch. How well did your dog do? Do they clearly understand the sit cue, or do they need more help understanding it fully?

Behavior Chains: The Good, The Bad, and The Accidental

A behavior chain is exactly what it sounds like - a chain of behaviors, each one reinforcing the next like links in a chain. When one behavior is completed, it cues the next behavior in the sequence, all leading to a final primary reinforcer at the end.

Let's look at an obedience example: a dog being sent to retrieve an item and bring it back to hand. This might look like one smooth behavior, but it's actually made up of many behaviors chained together: sit, stay, run to an object, pick up an object, hold an object, carry an object to the person and sit with the object in their mouth while holding it, release the object when the handler grabs for it, return to heel position. You can see the retrieve is actually a dozen behaviors chained together on purpose.

Now, remember our border collie example from the beginning? That's also an example of a behavior chain - one the owner likely reinforced by accident. Sit, down, rollover, spin equals cookie. All the pieces of the chain take place, reinforcing the next, until they reach the cookie reward at the end.

Here's an example of a behavior chain we don't like as much: Run to the visitor, jump on them, human cues sit, dog sits and gets attention. All pieces of the chain are reinforcing the next, meaning the dog is learning to run and jump on people and then sit - the sitting doesn't cancel out the jumping, it's just the final link in the chain that gets rewarded with attention.

Behavior chains can be great for things like obedience retrieves, but they can cause problems if you don't understand them in other contexts. How about the dog who has learned to run to the fence to bark and then be called back in the house for a treat? That's a behavior chain too - and probably not one you want to keep reinforcing.

Where Do You Go From Here?

If your dog is cycling through their entire repertoire of behaviors every time you pull out the treats, understanding these concepts - stimulus control, cues, and behavior chains - is the first step. But here's the thing: understanding the concepts is one thing, putting them into action is another entirely. Each dog's situation is going to be a bit different, and figuring out exactly what's happening with your specific dog can get complicated fast. The best thing you can do is work with a trainer who can help you sort out what cues your dog is actually responding to, whether you need to work on stimulus control, and if you've accidentally built a behavior chain you didn't intend. Armed with this knowledge, you and a good trainer can help your dog learn to wait for the cue instead of throwing every trick they know at you and hoping something sticks.

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