When you have trained your dog to come when called, get into the habit of commanding 'sit'.

To do this, make sure that you have tasty treats ready. Reward your dog for coming when called and then, with the treat, move your hand back over your dog's head, as the dog follows the hand back, he will sit. Make sure you command 'sit' and then reward.

Another method is to gently, and I stress gently, push the dog's bottom down. Make sure the push is over the dog's hips, not higher. Reward as soon as he sits.

Make sure you command as he sits so that he learns quickly, always praise and reward him with treats.

When he is sitting, go for a longer sit. Count to five, then ten, commanding "sit" all the time, then reward and praise. This stops the dog sitting and standing up instantly. It is also the start of the 'sit, stay'.

Once your dog or puppy has learnt to sit, then make him sit every time you put his food on the floor. Sit before the lead is attached, sit before you open the door, sit before you cross the road, and teach him to sit for a short length of time before releasing him.

Sit is a control exercise. It is a position where the dog has to learn to control himself. He has to resist the temptation to move, walk away, sniff the floor, etc. so it is an important exercise that should always be rewarded.

When teaching the sit, always make sure that the dog responds quickly. If you get into the habit of repeating the command, i.e., sit, sit, sit, you are actually teaching him to ignore the first few commands - a bad habit to start. First command, if he ignores then push his bottom down.

Do not start slapping your dog into a sit, it is painful and there is no need for it. With a puppy, you could damage their hips. You could also make him aggressive - with some breeds, they will snap if you hurt them. Keep your hands off your dog as this kind of punishment is very rarely needed when teaching the sit.

• He does not like you around his back end
• He is being dominant and refusing to submit to you as the pack leader.
• He could have an anal gland problem. (These are inside the dog's bottom and
  are glands that can become blocked and a vet's attention is needed).
• Pain when sitting. If there is a health problem, the vet is the person to tell you.

It is better to start training as young as possible then any aggressive tendencies are controlled at a young age, making a well balanced pet for the future!

If you think you have accidentally hurt your dog and that is the reason why he has snapped at your hand, never go daft and apologise, kissing him and loving him as this can cause behaviour problems. You can appear submissive and this could encourage dominance. The dog learns that to snap at you makes you submit - Great.

Some dogs will treat you like a pup and growl because he does not like your face in his face cooing like a lovesick pigeon! He will growl to tell you to go away, just like he would a pup that is pestering him.

If ever you accidentally hurt your dog while training, the best thing to do is to ignore it and carry on as though nothing has happened. This will help the dog to forget very quickly.

Some dogs are grumpy by nature; they very rarely do anything more than moan. Accept that he is a moaner. Do not over react, just say no, but really praise him and reward him for sitting on command, they soon stop moaning and you win in the end!

Some breeds do 'moan' and 'talk' while being trained. The Rottweiler is one example, but there is a big difference in a dog that snaps or bares his teeth in anger. I have had to retrain dogs that have been beaten by owners and trainers for moaning and this has made the dog very aggressive where they cannot handle him or groom him.

These are very sad cases where the true nature has been replaced by a fearful angry creature that distrusts and hates man. These cases are very few and far between; most are destroyed as the damage has already been done. © Janet Wesley