Teaching a better "sit"

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Teaching a better "sit"

Posted : 8/15/2013 3:46:20 PM

Hi there! I haven't posted here in a long time. I have 2 whippets, one of which is a year old conformation Ch. who recently came to live with me. I am teaching her basic obedience, and I would like to try to get rally titles on both of my dogs. Something I noticed with my older whippet is that when we do sits while heeling, she backs up to do the sit. She moves her butt down and walks her front legs backwards to sit.

Frequently, this puts her out of position for heeling. I noticed when I taught my new whippet sits, she does them the same way. Is there a good way to teach them to move their butts underneath them to sit, instead of walking their front legs back?

Thanks!

Kelsi
River (2 y/o whippet)
Palley (15 mo/o whippet)

griffinej5

Posted : 8/15/2013 5:46:01 PM

Is this maybe something about whippets? I wouldn't really know, I just wonder because they both do it. If its not because of something being uncomfortable for them, you could teach them a new sit by luring them into position the way you want and clicker training the new sit. I'd teach it with a new command while I was at it since sit means the other way to them.

oranges81

Posted : 8/18/2013 11:36:48 AM

Also work them on a platform so they learn to know where their feet are. My Kelpie does this when we're playing around but when I ask for a formal sit, he does a tuck sit instead of a rock back sit.

There are a lot of good youtube videos about platform training