I have been working with Tibby on 'beg' for a few weeks now. She still keeps falling over. Sit up or beg is part of our homework for the 2nd lesson of ST puppy class.
This is what Silvia said: "you definitely don’t want her to fall! First, make sure she sits correctly before asking her to sit up. For now, also help with something behind her back (a sofa?) that would allow her to lean against if necessary and put your paw target so that she can get some support from it when putting front feet on. Click and reward when you feel she is well balanced. It definitely takes practice to find balance and build muscle to be able to hold this position, that’s why you want to offer some support at first, as you definitely don’t want her to be falling over!"
This is what another classmate Mary said: "Scout, my TT, does “sit pretty” very well, but it took a long time for him to build up the core muscles to be able to hold the position. I found that working against a wall or other stationary object with his back to it helped him a lot in the beginning stages. The wall added support so we could concentrate on getting those front feet off the ground without him falling over. There was a lot of falling over before we came up with this solution."
So TT owners can your dog sit up? Is this a TT thing?
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7 comments:
Kendra just naturally sat up......could be the short, squatty body.
XXXOOO Daisy, Kendra & Bella
Eva still cannot stay up for a long time, only a few split seconds because of her weak legs. We heard it is good for strenghtening the legs too.
I use my legs to hold her hind legs together and of course, make sure she doesn't fall either.
I forgot to add, after watching the video, Tibby isn't sitting properly.
She has to sit with two legs on each side. But she is doing very well.
I obviously don't have a TT, but Riley can do this trick quite well and she has hip problems (hip dysplasia) and it doesn't seem to affect her. It may just be that her muscles aren't strong enough yet...I wouldn't worry too much about a hip problem. I hope you get some good feedback from some other people with TT's! :)
Elyse and Riley
i think you'll get there, it just takes a lot of strength and balance. Besides making sure she's sitting normally to start and using a wall, another tip you can try is supporting her leg. As she goes up put your hand under her paw, but don't grab it so she can come down if she wants to. And I don't know if you're luring or not, but if you want to lure I experiment with two types. The first way is it directly over the dog's head. The 2nd way is under the dog's chin. I start with it right above their nose but as they start to lean back in the beg I quickly put the treat tucked under their chin and towards their chest. Some dogs do better with that method.
Man, that must take some major core strength! I think you just need to get stronger...maybe some crunches and sit ups? ;)
Thanks for all the comments :)
I'm not luring her we started with a hand target and now Tibby knows what I want, so I use a hand cue instead. She normally sits with her legs flopped out, so I might have to try holding her legs together when she sits up.
I've tried getting her to go between my legs and then sit up, so I can support her. But she gets mad if I try to help her! She's like a little kid - I can do it myself!
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