Hi all, my 18 month old Giant Schnauzer bitch is constantly sitting crooked! She knows to "square" herself on command, however the additional commands will cost us points! She's so enthusiastic that she wants to be almost facing me ready for the next exercise! It's the same on most exercises, whether we're heeling and stopping, or doing the finish! Suggestions??
Thanks, Tammy.

Does she just sit crooked (swing out when she sits) or does she end up that way because she's forged?

Not knowing or being able to watch, here's a few to think about.

You can practice hard left turns just before stopping for the sit, or left turn into backing up before the halt.

Don't concentrate on hard right turns and don't bait her around in front of you, both can encourage the forged crooked sit.

Make sure she understands she has to slow down when you turn into her, and speed up when she's on the outside.

Make sure your footwork is clean and you're not cueing her to swing/forge.

Play "find heel" games with her and don't tell her it's correct until she's in heel position without forging. I'm thinking about the halt-1(or 2) step-halt games, or continuous 1-step motion (w/o the halt) games. Be sure you are moving backwards sometimes!

Heel with sits and halts against a wall so she can't swing out.

Use a long dowel or acrylic rod to tap the outside of her butt and keep her "swung in" w/o the wall.

If you carry bait in front of you and she's moving to keep an "eye" on the bait, make her refocus where you want or she can't have the bait.

Depending on the size of the dog, and how flexible/long her neck is, she may be forging or swinging on the sit to keep focus in the same place as when she's moving (if you move forward while looking at her, but face forward when you come to a halt -- your face moves forward, so she swings to keep the front of it in view). Or she may not shift focus to your face until you halt, and has to swing/forge to see your face from the sit.

You may have to gently teach her how to bend her neck up and around while in the sit.

You could also be creating the crooked sit if your turning your head/shoulders, just as the dog sits, to see if the dog is straight. Keep your shoulders square to the front.

If you trained the dog to come/front from a heel position, that could be causing it to anticipate. Also try heeling along a wall or fence. Ignore the crooked sit and reward the straight sit.

when I first started training I had a lot of problems with this. I did so much work in front of me I had problems with the heel. I have found that if I teach the position of heel first before I start walking that it helped alot. I also started doing downs and stands from the heel position. I do love a dog that trys and it sounds like yours is really trying for you! I have also found that a dog that fixes itself on command has figured out it gets additional treats for additional motion. My cattle dog was really good at working me for food I fell for it for a long time until I had a friend watch us work. Boy did I feel dumb!!!!!!!!!!!

Tammy,If you are worried about a correct straight sit..the concentrate..only on this..Do nothing else in the exercise.Your dog obviously..leans and sits on its left hip...in order to look at you. Pick a straight wall of a building..going forward on your heel side. Do this a few times..without requesting a sit.Walk with the dog as close as possible to the building..in a straight line.When the dog feels comfortable with this..then ask for a sit.The wall will correct the sit.Once this is done..and it becomes natural for the dog.The next step would be to pick a focal point..like a tree. And do a heel to the left..counterclockwise. Start at a big circle..then build to a very small circle. Do Not do this..in one training session.Require correct sits..as you wind down to the tree.The objective in "Finish"..once trained...is to start the big circle with many correct sits..and many as you grow closer to the tree. Once there...Give a down comand..and much praise. Candace

This is how I am correcting my dog's crooked sits and swing out heeling. First, get a 6' leash and loop it around your dog's waist, so that you have control of the dog's hindquarters. Put it on and take it off several times, keep it positive. If this is a boy dog, watch out of the genital area. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Then, once the dog is comfortable with the feel of the leash around it's waist, you can use it to 'correct' the dog into position. Not too hard! Immediatly reward when the dog is in position.

Make sure the dog does not see your hand move, otherwise you will have problems with anticipation. Hold the end of the leash behind your back, and correct position from there.

i have heard this works quite well, I am seeing good results using this method with my dog.

Hope this helps! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Melissa's method works quite well. I saw Bernhard Flinks do it at his latest seminar, only the handler didn't hold the long line he did. The handler would heel then stop for a sit and Bernhard would give a pop on the leash to get the dog to sit straight. So having a second person to help with the exercise is useful. Heeling next to fences, walls, etc. works too. I also saw Bernhard use a 3 foot stick and he would simply poke the dog in the flank if it sat crooked and this worked as well. Or the handler can hold the stick just behind the dog in their left hand and tap the dog as the dog is going into a sit to get straighter sit.