Master the 'Back Up' Command: Expert Training Tips

Emmett has an extremely solid default sit. Early on, we taught him to sit at the door, sit for his food, sit for a treat, sit, sit, sit. It’s a wonderful default behavior. It’s reliable to the extent that when he’s out doing his therapy work, I can count on him having his butt parked whenever I need it. Especially when he’s hungry:

However.

The solidity of his default means that every time I try to teach him something new, I need to get him past sitting and into the trick or behavior, which adds an extra layer to our training, but it hasn’t been a problem.

Until now.

I want to teach him to back up. I don’t actually have a necessity for him to learn to back up. I just like to add something new every few weeks, I decided it would be back up, and now… he absolutely will not do it.

Luring him with a treat doesn’t work. He sits.

Stepping toward him to guide/shape doesn’t work. He sits.

Even positioning him between the sofa and ottoman doesn’t work. He has no direction to go BUT back. But he still sits.

So I’m throwing this out to you, this fabulous community of dog lovers, experts, trainers. Any troubleshooting tips? How can I teach my dog to back up?

On another note, I dog sat Stanley again yesterday, and I just can’t get over how cute it is to have a little dog wedged in with my big boys!