Teach Your Dog to Sit When You Stop

Use this once your dog is walking reliably beside you and you want a consistent stopping behavior.

1Start with your dog on your left, food in your left hand, leash in your right.
2Give your "let's go" cue and walk off with your left foot.
3After several steps, say "sit" and place your food hand in front of your dog's nose while you stop moving.
4Mark and reward as soon as your dog's rear touches the ground.
5Cue "let's go" again and continue walking; repeat several times.
6Transition from a hand-assisted sit to a verbal-only cue.
7Eventually drop the verbal cue and rely on simply stopping --- mark and reward if your dog sits automatically.
8Reinforce with periodic stops during regular loose leash walking practice.

Begin with a familiar cue or hand signal, then fade those prompts until your stop becomes the cue.