27/10/2026
🐾 MANDING — TEACHING YOUR PUPPY HOW TO ASK
Have you ever seen a puppy come over, sit down and look up at you without being asked?
In Puppy Culture, we encourage this as a form of manding — giving puppies a way to ask for attention or something they would like.
That little sit can mean: “Excuse me, can I please have your attention?” 💛
WHY DO WE TEACH IT?
Puppies naturally try different ways to get us to interact with them. Jumping up often works because it gets a response!
By noticing and rewarding an offered sit, we help them learn another way to get our attention.
Manding helps us to:
• Encourage greetings with paws on the floor, giving puppies an alternative to jumping up on us and our visitors.
• Make asking for attention easier. Puppies learn that sitting in front of a person is a useful way to say, “Please notice me.”
• Build impulse control. Puppies practise pausing and offering a sit when they want attention, rather than immediately jumping up. With practice, this helps them manage their excitement during greetings.
• Encourage initiative. They can offer a behaviour themselves, without always waiting for instructions.
• Build communication and trust. They learn that we notice their attempts to communicate and respond to them.
HOW CAN YOU ENCOURAGE IT AT HOME?
• When your puppy approaches and offers a sit, reward them promptly with attention, a small treat or play.
• Give them a brief moment to offer it themselves before asking them to “sit”.
• Ask visitors to reward that little sit by calmly greeting your puppy. Keep greetings easy and help your puppy if they become too excited.
• Be consistent. If jumping sometimes earns a big fuss while sitting goes unnoticed, jumping is likely to remain part of their greeting!
• Keep practice short and enjoyable. If your puppy is struggling, make the situation easier rather than waiting them out.
Their needs still come first. A puppy who needs the toilet, feels frightened or needs comfort should receive help promptly. They don’t have to earn care by sitting.
At BetterCavs, we begin encouraging manding through our Puppy Culture work and Better Path programme. Continuing it at home helps your puppy learn that a little sit is a lovely way to start a conversation. 🐶
Has your puppy started offering that little “please” sit?
