Sherry Woodard: Teaching Your Dog Basic Cues

Teaching your dog to respond to basic cues such as “sit” and “down” is easy, fun and gives fast results. When training, make sure you have yummy treats, broken into pea-sized pieces, and use a “marker” of some sort. A marker is a signal (either a clicker or a word such as “yes”) that marks a desired behavior the moment it occurs. It is your way to communicate with the dog to tell him that he did a good job and is getting a treat.

Here’s how to train your dog to respond to several useful cues.