Hi All,
Coralyn, if I haven't put this question in the right place, please delete it and let me know how to properly do things going forward.
My dog has Radius Curve Syndrome, so her front legs are significantly shorter than they should be. Her sits are enthusiastic and attentive, but it's impossible for them to be attractive. Even when she drives right into my legs and I lure her up for a tight tuck sit, she backs away naturally as she tries to gain her footing. I've thought a lot about it, and I think this backing up is related to comfort and habit, but of course it could be that I haven't yet brainstormed the right technique. I'd like to change my criteria for rewarding sits to only rewarding tuck sits, but I don't think I've found the right avenue yet. I've tried platform training, and training with back support, but that's not applicable here, is it? Or maybe it could be a nice bridge? Thanks for listening!
This is the perfect place to post! I also have the power to move threads, so don't worry about that.
When she rocks back to sit, can you still reach her head? That is the criteria for front position, which I get into in Level 2.
I definitely would not want her to sit in a way that is painful. But I think it's hard to say if that's what's going on at this point, because even some "normally built" dogs just develop a strong habit of rocking back to sit and don't necessarily know that there's another way to do it.
Things you can play with to see if she's physically capable:
The "front introduction" exercise coming up in Level 2. (Definitely show me video of this.)
Sit with front feet stationed on a (pretty flat) front foot target. They can still kind of rock back while keeping their front in the same place, but not as dramatically. (I think!? Prove me wrong, Calla. 😂) I would cue the dog to get on the target, and then try to lure the sit.
Sit while maintaining a chin rest. (This one I know they have to really tuck into to pull off.) I'm practicing this a lot with Cupid currently because I realized he isn't completely tucking on the target sometimes, and I'm just building muscle memory at this point as he goes through all his wonky growth spurts.
Show me video! No doubt she will think you're super weird for not being happy with just her regular sit, so be prepared for that. Don't let it get into upset-land for either of you.
You don't need a tuck sit to move on to the next level, though.