I need help teaching Nebo this...

[wolf_Q]

For class this wednesday we are supposed to have our dogs know the command "swing." I'm sure there is another term for it. It's where you have the dog come and sit by your side. We're doing it so we have them do "Come" then "Sit" then "Swing" then "Let's go" and walk off with them...we do little relays with this. He's great at all of it except the swing part.

I've been doing what she showed, and luring the dog around and having them sit. I've been working on it since last week, and he's just not getting it. If you know what command I'm referring to.....any advice to teaching it would be appreciated. Thanks :)

[Dixieland Dancer]

Some dogs catch onto this rather quickly while others need additional coaching. It sounds like you are doing the lure correctly. At this point I would probably forget the lure and just use the leash to direct him to his spot when you give the command. Then when he is in "his spot" reward him and tell him good boy excitedly. If you are clicker training give the click as soon as he is sitting at your side. Don't worry about it being a perfect sit just yet. You just need him to understand your command and him doing the basic. Don't do any other work with him while you are working on this. Just break it down and work on swing. I actually use "Bring it in" so they know to bring themselves into heal position. This is a personal preference and you can use any word you feel comfortable with.

Once he understands, I prefer to use hand signals too with my verbal. Since you take the leash and move it in outward sweeping movement when positioning the dog, this is the hand signal I prefer to use to. From my side I take my hand and give it a quick outward sweeping motion.

It is actually hard to teach this via a post since visual would help but since a post is all we have, I hope this helps.