Begin bringing this visual into play along with the voice cue to SIT, reinforced with lead pressure during training. On the ground, with the dog facing you, move toward him while lifting on the lead and showing him the visual signal with your other hand. In time he will give to the lead pressure and sit.

If you would like your dog to sit on a single whistle blast, now is the time to bring it in too, pretty much in the same way you introduced the voice command. First, with the dog standing beside you, blow the whistle, apply lead pressure and maybe reinforce with the visual signal. After he has mastered this and sits at the whistle, begin moving the dog at heel, then stop, pop the lead, and hit the whistle. Be ready to tap on his rump with the end of your lead or heeling stick.

As you progress, strive for an immediate response to the SIT voice or whistle command. Popping up on the collar and a firm whack on the rump should speed the response, eliminating any confusion of what is expected.

To extend the sit time, with your dog in a sitting position, walk around, move back and forth, even walk around the dog, but keep the lead in hand at first so you can make corrections or force the dog back into position if he moves.

I suggest teaching your gun dog to sit at your side, giving you a leg up when you move to retrieving drills and actually hunting. Teaching the dog to sit straight allows you to line him up in the direction of the hall.

Take your time; this does not happen in one session, and in fact it may take weeks to get to this point. But you can do it. Remember, the benefits of discipline and self-control your dog masters here, and in other basic drills, become the foundation for advanced work.

Another point to consider is that dogs tend to generalize to areas and situations. In other words, just because they obey in your yard doesn’t mean they will in other surroundings. So once things start coming together in the yard, add distractions, move to new areas and increase the SIT time as you and your dog gain confidence.

After the dog sits on command and holds position until released with various distractions and while you move around the area, you’re ready to take the next step. Place the dog under the SIT command and walk away and completely out of view. If he moves, be ready to put him back in position and repeat this drill until he remains stationary with you out of sight.

Now the fun starts for working non-slip retrievers, spaniels, and versatile dogs. We move on to throwing dummies while requiring the dog to sit until sent for the retrieve, and at some point we will add blank shots, birds and so on. Granted, a bunch of other elements of training have to be in place as you move through these later distractions, but the concept is sound and demonstrates a progression of control among distractions toward our objective.

In all cases it is very important to set up artificial situations where you’re in control and able to make corrections. Don’t wait for opening day; if the wheels come off then, it can get ugly. So plan ahead and do your homework. A finished dog doing its job yields rewards beyond measure.