Coming to Side (BlackLabbie)

 You can take a step forward, and he'll likely straighten. Are you trying to do a left finish from a front, or just calling him from wherever or...?

Like, when he's in a formal heel and I stop walking he needs to sit...and he is sitting but his butt is swinging out and he's looking at me not straight.

 Ok, that is pretty not terrible Get your hand, with treat, out in front of his nose. Warn him that you're going to stop by slowing down, and "siiit" as you raise your hand in a straight line OVER his body (so just like when you lure a puppy into sit, but you're doing  it in heel position).

Does that make any sense?

It does, thank you!

I think I'm so used to him auto sitting when we're walking loose leash....and his auto sit is sloppy anyway....I think that has carried over into his formal heel. It's just something we're going to have to work on!

 It doesn't take long. They figure out FAST that they get cookies only for straight sits. Just don't reward the crooked ones, and you'll have pretty sits in no time

Thanks, I hope so!

He's been doing very, very good learning how to focus with high volume distractions and that is my #1 thing I want to accomplish. I want bombs to be able to be going off and have him look at me like, "What do we do, Ma?"

 When you get there, it's the best feeling in the world. Emma was reactive on lead, too. The first time a dog snapped in her face, and she flipped around and looked to me, I cried. It  was amazing. Being in  heel position is nice, but  that flip around is THE BEST!

I can only imagine! I'll probably cry then, too, lol.

He's great at a distance (like across the street) but up close if a dog reacts he's right in there reacting, too. And if some kid has a ball (like the boys down the street playing street hockey) he tries to go after their ball and take it, which is a no no.

We've been using liverwurst to train........but he loves it!

 You've gotten great advice from Jennie, and I don't have much to add on that technique, besides the fact that I love it, and it's what worked for Honor and Nike. 

My only suggestion for a second type of luring would be what I've started to do for Eli.  For some reason, Eli sits mostly straight, but ridiculously far away from me.  I've started to lure him into the right position by luring him into the side of my leg, and then continuing the lure straight out.  I bring him in super-tight to the side of my leg, because that gets him close, and the continuation of the straight-out lure keeps him straight.  Almost like a slow-motion baiting toss for conformation.

Apollo will be a totally bomb-proof dog, I'm sure of it.  I've had a few of those cry-worthy moments of happiness with Honor, where she looked at me instead of what was going on around her.  It's a terrific feeling.

I had a similar thing with Gracie initially - although she was tighter/closer, she wasn't always straight - usually looking for the treat.  So, as she was sitting, I would curl the treat slightly to the left side and above her head, so that her head would turn left and up, as her bum would swing a little more to the right and thus more straight.

Almost like an upside down J.

miranadobe

I would curl the treat slightly to the left side and above her head, so that her head would turn left and up, as her bum would swing a little more to the right and thus more straight.

Almost like an upside down J.