Time for a new to-do list!
1. take your dog to a city center, a store that allows dogs (pet store?) and on a train station
2. position yourself next to a high target and now only click for circling all the way to your leg (don't click for steps in between) - name it with heel for one side and something else for the other and have a dog follow your leg when you move in a circle around the target away from the dog - then tell him to come to the other side and have him follow the other leg. Use different targets, try it on a very low one too.
3. build your own cavaletti and walk the dog over it - you can use the drawers or boxes of appropriate size and height, put them in a row and walk the dog through, just as you can see on this video
4. try the other version of 2on2off (some already did that, I see): instead of having them go on an object and off, stop in a position and wait, let's try stepping back into 2on2off this time. Position your dog close to a low object behind his back, cue him "back" and reward for stepping on an object or trying to. Slowly, you can have a dog step on higher&higher objects, this is beginning of a handstand, but with young puppies, don't overdo the height. Instead, you can have them back up stairs for example, to challenge them some more without making it too physically demanding. You need to build balance and straight slowly enough for the dog to never be sore after. You can also teach them a "pee" trick: click when they heave one leg, searching the object - before they find it and name it, it's a fun one.
5. put your paw target on a drawer or doors or simply shape the paw touch to a drawers/doors and then select for stronger&stronger touches/pushes. The goal is to have the dog slam the doors or drawer with power, to teach them that they control the movement under their feet and the sound and that it's FUN - my favourite trick for a great see-saw!
6. don't forget on recalls and playing!!! Also, slowly add duration to a sit up, teach crossing paws with the other paw and fade the target, check if the puppy will stay in 2on2off position until "go" even with distractions (toys and food flying around)
Have fun!
Hi silvia,
My pug crash is not vey interested in play, he is mote food orientation. The only toy he likes to chase and catch is “frisbee” which is actually a plastic lid. 🙂 I taught him to play that by treating him to pick it up, hold it in the mouth, then get it back after I throw it. After he was good at playing the “frisbee”, I stopped treating him every time. So what I’m trying to do right now is to throw it after he does a behavior, but sometimes I still treat him after he gets the lid back. Do u think that I should stop the treating step totally? Only throw it after a behavior?
Thanks!
Angela
Great, that’s exactly what I do with dogs who are more food than toy motivated. The important thing is the dog will still chase the toy, even if it’s mostly to get the treat. You can keep treating him here and there, dogs love surprises 🙂 I only advise to not use food at all to people whose dogs play nicely, but only until they see food -- and then they want food only.
Ok, then i keep doing what i have been doing with Crash. Thanks a lot Silvia!!
So for whatever reason I can’t upload my video this week (can’t get it onto Youtube, not a problem with this site)… so I’m going to have to do a verbal update!
Handstand -- Great, can go all the way up a flat wall with no help, and even occassionally sticks one leg out for good measure. We also inadvertently got a single hind leg lift that I’m working on pairing to “What do boy dogs do?”
Caveletti -- First session was awkward but saw definite improvement throughout the week, all this hind leg work is really making her think, and even when I’m a bad handler she keeps up bars in agility
Circling -- does both directions, on command, on a low object, no complaints!
Slamming cabinets -- Can do doors and drawers! Every now and then she accidentally opens drawers instead of closing them, trying to catch that so she learns open and close
Troubleshooting -- Trying to do the sit-up and hold an object (saw your video challenge)… she has good balance sitting up, and will wrap her paws around the object but has trouble giving it a firm grip (tends to slide to the floor), any thoughts on techniques?
Silvia -- I know this may be a weird question but I wanted to see if there was any way for you to explain how you figure out how to break down difficult tricks. There are a few I want to teach (jumping up onto my feet, jumping rope, etc), that I’ve tried to break down into bits but it never seems quite right. Are you just a genius with this or is there a method for how you try to break the trick down and think of what Step 1 should be? (I’ll take ideas from anyone else here too of course!)
Sounds great! Which technique does she have for a handstand, does she climb or pushes up?
For a hold, select for more&more firm grip -- only click when you feel she is holding more as usually. You can first try to get it in sit position (with one paw), it could be easier that way and it transfers very nicely into the sit up position as well.
Hard to give you any general rule to follow to see small steps… Try to picture a similar behaviour, just easier 🙂 For example, similar to jumping on your feet, but easier (as it could be lower and you could be there to help) would be jumping on another small, shaky object, but first rather low, then higher&higher and once you’re at the same height as your feet would be -- to your feet, with a helper first. I first tried jumping on a small soft chair that was somewhat shaky, then switched to tall bar chairs -- mine were great for that purpose as they were a little shaky. The same with jumping the rope… An easier version of it would be to jump the same way without the rope, as with the “flea” trick -- many dogs will do it naturally when happy, with Bu I shaped it from heaving up front feet only to jump off the ground with all 4 feet. You can also do it over your leg, bouncing over your leg from one direction to another. Once you have jumping up in the air with all 4 feet, you introduce the rope. So basically, you don’t teach the dog to jump over the rope, you teach the dog to jump and then find her rhythm with the rope.
Hope this helps a little!
For starters that helps a ton, I really appreciate the insight and I think we all are very thankful of your willingness to share!
She does sort of climb up the wall (hadn’t had the forethought to start clicking only for hops up), so I’ll have to start jack-potting those, or working her into the wall more straight backwards. (I had been letting her do one foot than the other, although that is how we got the lift just one back leg trick)
I’ve been jackpotting tighter holds, and it’s definitely getting better… just slower going than she normally is with tricks. I figure that’s good though, means it’s something new and it’s opening her eyes to new things!
hi all
I am watching your video clips of your work and I am impressed !!!
you guys are doing so great !!!
just had to say that !! (now going back to work 😉
Evelyn
Hi Silvia and classmates 😀
1. We have been to the mall and the train / bus station.
Unfortunately I had no one to film us 🙁
(The idea was that a colleague was going to film us but it was too busy at work.)
Wednesday I will try again if there is someone who can/will film us.
Jin find it all quite exciting and through playing and (easy) tricks in the crowd , I try to distract her and then she gets much clamer in her busy head 😉
2. We are one step further with the “heel” trick. We name it “heel” on the left side and “close” on the right side.
3. Cavaletti is new for me, (this part in the video is our very first time) I’ve first looked at some other videos who where post. On the internet I can’t find much about it in Dutch but I did found this book in English:
” Jumping from A to Z: Teach Your Dog to Soar”
Is there anyone familiar with it? Or can anyone tell me where to find information?
4. About the “pee” trick…we call it : “What does a male-dog do? ” in Dutch 😀
5. Also our very first time in this video… I see in the other video’s some dogs do it with two paws… we will try that the next time! They really ” slam ” that way! 😀
6. We are still working on “crossing paws” with the other paw. (It’s not in this video)
We saw your video about the “sit up” trick and made a beginning of “hugging” her sheep and picking it up from the ground. But I notice I am doing it differently…. I only clicked for picking it up with her paws and not with her mouth.
And…. we found some really cute little shoes for the “shoe-trick” (who is in the video ” Tricks for a great bond”) for a few euro’s! How cool is that 😉
Ha-ha, what a great shoe-picture! Very cute! Your tricks look great too! Loved the peeing trick! Heel and close are great too, maybe rewarding with right hand for right side would be even better, she curls her head in a little. The last slamming was perfect! Even better for a first try, she definitely doesn’t have a problem with noise 🙂 If you wanted both feet, simply try with such a high drawer she won’t reach it with just one 🙂
Very nice sit up and a hold too! And yes, some dogs try to pick it up directly with their feet and she is definitely doing GREAT, picking it up with just feet. It requires even more coordination and more technique to do it that way! The reason why I wanted muzzle-feet combination was to see if the dogs can make that transition: I need to hold the thing with my paw, but the object is on the floor… What now? -- Maybe I can pick it up (with the muzzle) and get a hold of it. It requires good insight into the problem. But your version was very interesting to see too, thanks for posting it. Maybe you could post it as a comment to my post too, so that everybody can see it?
Anyway, you definitely mastered many tricks in last few weeks! Very smart dog, very good trainer -- a really great team!
Here is our video for lesson 3. We didn’t get a chance to video the cavalleti. Ecko is starting to get a little better heeling on my right side (she prefers my left side). I think she enjoyed slamming cupboard doors haha
Ami & Ecko
Great job! The heeling looks great on both sides now. Also, nice 2on2off, try adding some distractions now to proof her release word. Some of the slams were really nice and strong, so it’s time to stop clicking the most gentle ones -- click it only when you see she is really putting weight on it, pushing it hard.
didn’t link the video correctly! This should work --
Closing cabinets and drawer
Cool! Select for even more power now! One word of caution for those whose dogs tend to have a paw on the up edge of a drawer… Le slammed the drawer once so that her paw got squeezed in between… NOT good when you’re working on confidence! Ever since, we only used drawers that were high enough that she couldn’t put the paw on the edge. Door are better in that respect too.
Proofing stay in 2on2off postion
This is really still lesson 2 for backing up. We had some difficulty with this. He did it in heel postion, but I thought he was very dependent on me. So we started over.
PS We got very frustrated with the backing up and the training last week, so we took the weekend off and just went hiking and running. and today things worked fine. He is definitely a thinker and watcher, and often hesitates to interact, but then again it took him almost 8 months to interact and trust me.
I am very happy with his progress to becoming just a dog. I have to dial back my own expectations and ambitions and do what’s best for him.
Getting there!
Here’s our progress w the handstand …
I was very excited that she did a couple without pushing off the wall! Any other tips for us!?
She seems to do v well when she stops looking at me and looks down
Oh, just realised this song is blocked in Slovenia. I’ll post a ‘mute’ version for you, Silvia 🙂
Camilla,
I love the video and the pictures at the end! She is a very sweet girl.
Eva.
Thanks Eva!!
also blocked in Switzerland 🙁
in Germany too
Looks good! And yes, it’s important the head is down, so I usually sit on the floor for that and then reward from the floor and as close to the wall as possible, so that they are completely vertical. Click&reward when you see she is well balanced.