Teaching Your Boston Terrier the ‘Sit Pretty’ Trick


Does your Boston Terrier love to show off? With a few treats and a little bit of patience, you can teach your four-legged friend the “sit pretty” trick.

This trick has your pup sitting on their hind legs with their front paws in the air, giving them an adorable and impressive look. Not only will it be fun for you and your pup, but it’s also a great way to bond.

Sit Pretty

Read on to learn how easy it is to teach your pup this trick!

Teaching Your Boston Terrier The “Sit Pretty” Command

Teaching your Boston Terrier the sit pretty trick is sure to impress your friends and neighbors!

Step By Step How To Sit Pretty

Boy Boston terrier puppy posing like a champion

Step 1: Start on all fours

Before you begin teaching your Boston the sit pretty command, have them stand on all fours. You should give them verbal encouragement while they remain seated and reward them with a treat as soon as they do so. This helps establish the idea that when they are in this position, they receive rewards.

How to teach your Boston Terrier the “stand command”

Here is how to teach your Boston Terrier the Stand Command. Start with your Boston on all fours. When they stay in this position, say “good dog!” and give them a treat. Do this until your Boston Terrier understands that they should stay in this position when you say “good dog.”

See in detail how to teach the stand command here: Stand Command Step by Step.

Boston Terrier

Step 2: Introduce the command

Once your Boston Terrier knows the sit command, start introducing them to the “sit pretty” command by saying those two words each time you ask them to sit down. After repeating this several times, move on to step three.

Step 3: Give them a little boost

Now that your Boston knows what “sit pretty” means, you can give them a gentle boost from behind so that their hind legs naturally rise up into a standing position. As soon as they are in this position, reward them with lots of verbal praise and give them another treat right away.

Most Boston Terriers figure out quickly that if they remain in this position longer than just a few seconds, they get rewarded more often!

Step 4: Practice makes perfect

When teaching any new trick or behavior to your Boston Terrier (or even yourself!), practice is essential! Keep practicing with your pup until they understand exactly what is expected of them when you say “sit pretty.”

Try different techniques such as adding an additional verbal cue like “paws up” or using hand signals instead of verbal cues; whatever works best for both of you! The more practice you both get in, the better results will be achieved over time.

How long will it take my Boston Terrier to learn the “Sit-Pretty” trick?

It is going to take, on average, 4-7 tries before your Boston is going to pick up on this new command. Now it may take a little longer since this is a more complicated trick.

These findings come from a poll conducted on the Boston Terrier Society’s Twitter community. With over 60+ Boston Parents responding, the majority state it takes their Boston 4-7 attempts before they learn a new command.

See the poll here…I may have spelled try funny, but the info is all the same lol (sorry)

Final Thoughts

Tricks like “sit pretty” are great ways for any dog owner to bond with their pet while having fun at the same time! With some patience and plenty of treats, most dogs can learn this trick relatively quickly—so don’t be afraid to give it a try with your own pup today!

Who knows? You could end up having one impressive show-off on your hands! Best of luck teaching Fido his new skill; we know he’ll do great!

If you want to learn more commands and tricks you can teach your Boston Terrier, be sure to visit our article, 49 Commands And Tricks You Can Teach Your Boston!

Donnie Gardner

Donnie Gardner is the owner of the Boston Terrier Society. He has been raising Bella the Boston since 2010. He resides in Kansas with his wife, daughter, and Bella. His favorite activities are hanging out with family, traveling, running (but has bad knees), and reading non-fiction books.

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