Let's try this again

It's important to be able to correct your dog when he fails to sit on command.

There's no need for temper tantrums or exasperation. Just collect the dog, march him to the scene of the crime and reinforce the correct behavior.

Let's consider a "steadying" drill.

Your dog has been quartering about at your direction. You give a single, sharp pip to the whistle indicating that he is to stop and sit. Doggie keeps milling about. That's not right.

Get that dog. Grab him by the wattles under his throat and pick him up off his front feet. March him back to where he broke. Sit him. Whistle (one pip) and motion to stay put.

Walk off a bit, and repeat that one pip on your whistle along with your motion for him to stay put.

Joe explains the rationale for this approach. He says that dogs are place sensitive. They learn in one place, and don't necessarily generalize their experiences very easily. When you correct your dog and return him to the point of infraction he understands, "Oh, so this is where I messed up!" Then you can redo the pip/sit and let him know what the correct response is. ("Ok, I got it boss!") Moving the dog from point B back to point A by lifting him off his front feet gives him a feeling of helplessness (he is hardly helpless, he just feels it). This lets the dog know that he done wrong and that he is being corrected.

Once the correction is completed, all is good with the world, and you can proceed to the next exercise. For example, you might say "go on" or "go hunt" to get him hunting again.

MaryAnne marches Chance back to the scene of the crime.