basic commands

[vandeman17]

I have a question for you guys. I am teaching my three month old black lab the basic commands of sit, stay and come but I am having a few issues. The first issue that I am having is that she contantly follows me wherever I go so it is hard to teach her the "come" command because she is already within a few feet of me. My second issue is the sit command. Whenever I push down on her rump at all to try and get her to sit, she just spins around and/or lays down on her side as if she wants to play. She sits all the time on her own but when I try to get her to do it on command, I can't get her to do the sit motion so that she can learn what it means...   

[runamuk]

Try lifting her into a sit.....using a a leash lift up and walk into her until she sits...could show you way easier than trying to explain it.  Another method is hold a treat above her nose a little bit and walk into her until her butt hits the floor...still not good at trying to explain...what she is doing is really common when you push on a dogs butt to make them sit....

[Curly]

Dog Training : How to Train Your Dog to Sit


As far as teaching her to come, maybe you'll have to teach her to stay first.......

[10Key]

For sure, sit and stay before come can be instilled. What worked for me was a leash and treats, using the leash to tug the dog's head up at the same time, using a firm hand to squat the butt down. What you are doing will work, just be patient and dilligent, the dog is still young. What I have fond is that the technique tontrain your dog to donsomething is not as important as patience and dilligence (repitition).

[Mr56Jeep]

3 months is very young.  The only thing I would add to the above posts would be...

1.) to make sure to keep it very short and
2.) make sure it is still fun
3.) quite on a good note

If that means you get one good "Sit", give praise and do it again in a 1/2 hour.

Thats my 

[CMG]

As Mr jeep said 3 mo. is still fairly young, but at the right age for training.

  As others have said - Sit first, Lots of praise with excitement in your voice (Overexagerate). I don't use treats, just over exagerated praise.
  Once the sit command is instilled - teach stay, keep it within a few feet at first and really short intervals, 1-2 seconds. Then gradually work up using the "Come" command. Praise, Praise and more Praise when the pup does it right.
  Use props for what you are going to use the dog for, Example: Use a pheasant feather to play with and get the pup to enjoy playing with the feather, make it fun. Then use it to train as above.

It only takes about an hour or less each day to perform these tasks, but being consistent with your tactics is key. I used to take 1/2 hour right when I got home from work to train. This way the pup is already excited to see you and most wanting of your praise.

[vandeman17]

Thanks for all the input guys and gals. I know three months in still young and that is why I am trying to slowly go about this. I am pretty spoiled because our chocolate lab is so well trained that its hard to not have a well trained dog. With that being said, I am trying to keep my training short and sweet and fun for her. I can already tell she is really smart and I have a feeling she will pick up on the basic commands quickly.