UPSIT SHIFTS WEIGHT FORWARD TOWARDS SOURCE

Many dogs sit by shifting their weight backwards. If their nose was at source before the sit, then they end up sitting at least 1 foot back. If you missed where their nose was before the sit, you’ll have a hard time answering the judge if she asks “where is it”.

If you're happy with your dog's indication then you probably don't need to worry about this. If you'd like to strengthen your sit indication, read on.

For the purpose of scent detection, there are 2 styles of sitting:

1) Rocked back sit The dog shifts his weight backwards. His shoulders and front move back towards his hips. The direction is away from the reward or source. This may be undesirable in scent detection because the dog's nose is no longer at source.

2) Upsit The dog stretches his nose up and forward towards the reward, tucking his rear up towards his front his front end. The direction is up and towards the reward or source so the dog's nose remains at source.

Puppies are especially prone to rock back sits or crooked sits on one hip. They know they have a nose but are unaware they have a rear end with 2 rear paws, which simply follow behind without conscious thought. This makes it unlikely that they will sit up tight and tidy next to a wall with nose pressed to a high hide. Especially with puppies, try training tuck up sits with forward weight shift away from odor, where any mistakes are “inexpensive” and won’t directly impede your scent detection.

One method that tends to work well is to teach the puppy to sit on a platform, in a cardboard box, or make your own pause box by connecting 1 inch PVC pipe into a rectangle just large enough for the dog to fit. Sit with your knees or feet on either side of the box to prevent it from moving and use the food to lure into sit position at first. Once confident, put your hands behind your back to prevent yourself from “helping” and see if the pup can repeat sit on platform alone.

Gradually decrease the size of the platform or box until it is just big enough so the puppy can sit on it.

Generalize by putting the platform different rooms around the house. Also teach sit on the platform when it’s located in different positions relative to your body. If you started in front position (toe to toe), try putting the platform on your left side in heel position, then on your right side.

Be patient. Rear end awareness takes a long time to build!

Learn more on our Blog: https://wp.me/p74GTguW

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