That's not what "Sit" is supposed to mean

[Horse Chestnut]

(Sigh) After 8 weeks of obedience class, I thought that Ida was getting "Sit" down pretty well. But Ida has turned the Sit into a submissive posture. In other words; Ida used to roll over and show her belly when I walked up to her, say to attach a leash or pet her. I would gently pick her up and put her in the sit or stand position when she did that. Now, when I approach her, she sits. But when she is walking with me and I give the command "Sit", she ignores it. I really don't know what to make of this. It's like she equates sitting with the fear response. She sits and won't make eye contact, and lowers her head. It's making me rethink taking her on to another training class, because instead of it being something she might have enjoyed, it's become something she had to endure. I wish I knew what was going on in that little grey head!

 

[Calliesmom]

were all the "obedience games" fun? like real games? depending on how the obedience class is taught it might not be fun...

also it seems that a lot of people teach sit when their dog is directly in front of them. when people later have the dog at their side and say sit- it doesn't necessarily translate to put bum on ground no matter where the person is when dog is asked to sit.

I screwed up one of my dogs- he's mostly at my side but when I first clicked his sit, he was at a little bit of an angle and not straight at my side so now that is where he thinks he should be all the time. we're working on it but that may always be how he thinks it should be

 

[Horse Chestnut]

It was your standard beginning obedience class. For many dogs the interaction can be fun, but Ida has a lot of issues. Sometimes her behavior around people, even me, borders on feral. I think she liked seeing the dogs, but the training at times became overwhelming and she would start to shut down. I may just continue her obedience training on my own, and find other outlets for socialization. We'll consider whether future classes are possible in 6 months. ETA - Sit command is always taught in the heel position at the training club.