Hi Lindsey,
Great to hear you and Doc are doing well! My first recommendation would be to watch on The Academy, The Secret to Inside Flanks Figure 8’s are a fantastic way to get dogs on their sides as long as yours is not too flanky naturally and you dont do it in excess.
In the early stages we actually weave around the cones as seen here, Figure 8’s
As our dogs advance, we do the exercise with 3 cones, 2 for the figure 8’s themselves, and a 3rd cone for us to stand, about 10 yards away (such that our dog is working in front of us).
We extend that distance we stand away from our dog incrementally and when our dogs are fully trained we do the figure 8’s at 200-300 yards away. Here’s a super short clip of figure 8’s with Nite w me standing at 200 yards away.https://youtu.be/YR8f6lqWV2s
For a young dog the progression is first we walk backwards around the cones, then we stand still in the center then we stand away approx 10 yards away from the cones for the 8’s, then we stand 15 yards away, etc.so you can adjust it for you and Doc. The Circle-A versatile and excellent driving exercise is also great for flanks, be sure to use verbal when you’re getting your dog on his sides.
If you’d like a Course, Starting Dogs details how we teach we flanks with 9 dogs (we get our dogs 90% or greater on their sides before we start driving in earnest) and The Drive discusses when and how we start driving with 7 dogs.