problem with cocker sitting when out

[Miff]

The returning towards you , as someone else said, is simply lack of confidence. Keep distances short and always take her back (calmly and not angry!). Sit her again and you return to her. Praise her. do it again and return to her, praise, once she does get it right. Another good thing to do is to sit her up, recall a little way, blow stop whistle and as you do this throw out dummy to one side of her. Keep her sitting for a short time (insist on the proper sit) then direct her to the dummy. She will begin to realise that stop whistle and sit properly leads to something nice/good. I do insist on a proper sit I'm afraid. i think when they are young if they get away with a lowering of bum then this is what they will always do and it can lead to a run in. I have just come back from a very muddy training session. MM very sensitive about her rear end but she did sit - because I insist.

[Naj]

No need to apologise but I'm sure everyone has seen dogs run-in from standing, down & sit positions. Consequently, I don't believe the 'position' a dog is in has any correlation with whether it is steady or not. The barriers to effective 'Steadiness' are mental, rather than physical.

Naj