Puppy and Sit

    • Bronze

    Puppy and Sit

    I have a 7 month old puppy. I have had her for about 5 months and have tried diligently to teach her sit and she will only bow. Her proportions are totally bizarre and when she sits she looks depressed and hunched over so I don't know if it is painful and that is why she is bowing or what. I am going to enroll her in puppy school after the new year, but for now, any suggestions?
    • Moderators
    • Gold Top Dog

    Does she sit on her own naturally, without being asked?  Is that when you see her hunched over?  Do her hips hang out, or one leg, to one side? 

    What has the vet said about it?  That would be the first place to start, is having the vet take a look at her movement and checking her hips/legs and all the joints to be sure she has correct range of motion and isn't painful.  I'd do that before enrolling her in a puppy class, so you can let the instructor know if there is a conformation problem that may make certain positions uncomfortable for her.

    • Bronze
    yeah, I see her sit when she does it on her own which is not often. The vet did look at her, he said she is fine and she will learn but it is just so weird. When I say sit she automatically bows.
    • Gold Top Dog

     She doesn't sit often? I would be going back to the vet. Also, I have a corgi, who probably has the worst proportions ever. Long and low, with a big chest, so when she sits, its not  pretty. Does your dog seem to be in any pain while sitting?

    • Gold Top Dog

    How have you been teaching her to sit?   Can you describe how you go about it?

    Edited to add that my dog Belle is reluctant to sit.  She has a strange gait and I was convinced she had an orthopedic problem.  I had her hips and spine xrayed when I first adopted her and it all looked good.  I had a different vet do another set of xrays and range of motion tests and all is ok.  I am still convinced that sitting is uncomfortable for her and I don't ask her to sit often, she willingly does down instead.  

    • Bronze

     So, how are you teaching her to sit?  She may have misinterpreted your wishes and is giving you a bow because you trained her to.  Use a different cue and a different method for the sit and see what happens.

     

    I gave up teaching my neice's dog to sit.  I used the clicker with luring, pushing, tucking.  I finally asked, have you ever seen Honey sit?  No, they hadn't.  Honey is a puppy mill product and structurally unsound.  Sitting is painful for her.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Maura
    So, how are you teaching her to sit?  She may have misinterpreted your wishes and is giving you a bow because you trained her to.

     

    This was my thought too.... you can "accidentally" train all kinds of things, and the smarter the dog, the easier it is to do!!

    • Gold Top Dog

     For the longest time, we couldn't teach down to Ari. This from a dog who learned sit, touch, shake etc with lighting speed. Until one day, the SO figured out that we inadvertedly taught her to do something instead of what we were asking. She's a very smart dog, and also very "literal" and specific. She thought down meant to follow our finger with her eyes! Once we modified our approach, she picked it up within 5 minutes lol.

    I would also go back to the vet and make sure everything is ok. Ari sits funny for the most part, but then again she prefers to contort her body in weird ways - she's checked out fine and her gait is normal - she's just quirky.

    • Gold Top Dog

     Might help to clicker train her through this one lol, so that when the butt hits the ground *click*

    just a suggestion, worked great on my donks! LOL ( give the feet, not sit LOL)