It may be that his sit is "loose". Remember to work on a nice, tight tuck sit at the same time you're working on the kick-back stand. Seems to me if he's in a tight sit he won't be able to move his feet back when asking for the stand.
Another thought: If you're working with his head to a wall, he may be moving his front feet back in order to avoid bumping his head on the wall (or thinking he's going to bump his head on the wall) when he goes into the stand, because his head has to come forward in order to lift his rear into a standing position. Try using a 2x4, broomstick, piece of PVC, etc., placed in front of his front feet, instead of a wall and see if that helps. The box I use is just a "U" made out of PVC.
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Originally Posted by cerulean Wow, is there really a "correct" way to do puppy-pushups ??? We've just been alternating sit and plotz (butt on the floor, belly on the floor, and back up to butt on the floor). |
If you plan to achieve higher levels of obedience....yes...teaching positions is much easier when started correctly to begin with!
At the higher levels, any forward movement of the front feet is frowned upon when changing positions.
You want your dog to kick-back into a stand, tuck tight into a sit, fold back into a down, and push forward into a stand....all without moving those front feet. Puppies can do this easily, if taught using a food lure...so there's no reason not to teach it that way to begin with. That way, there's no "rework" needed later (and no frustration, either
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Pair sit with stand, and stand with down when doing puppy pushups, not sit with down (as this encourages the front feet to come forward when going down - it's just natural). Watch those front feet, and teach your puppy to keep them planted when transitioning from one position to another.
If you have no plans for competition, I suppose it really doesn't matter, as long as the puppy learns the exercise and is obedient....but you never know what might spark your interest in a year or two, so might as well aim for the stars from the get go and teach positions as if you were planning on competing.