You definitely look ready for the next to-do list! I'll be answering your questions and comment videos till Friday 29th. Then I'm leaving for EO and have the camp after that, so we'll be on break till 15th August so that everybody can catch up - or you can just master the old tricks some more 🙂 I like those breaks as they take some pressure off and I can always see a huge progress after the break! The second week of this lesson will be from 15-21st August, with no video commenting in between.
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 
4. try the other version of 2on2off: 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 (maybe just a folded blanket or a low pillow first!), 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 strength 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 a 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) - we'll need that for next lesson!
Have fun!
2on2off progression into handstand:
Woo Hoo!! Echo just slammed doors for the first time. I took a bit of time off from it because I think *I* was stressing over it. Now we went back to it (after working on the wobble board some for a couple of weeks). She reared up on her hind legs, stood in the air that way for a moment then slammed both her front paws into a closed door. Then we opened it a crack -- success! She slammed it closed that 1-2 cm without fear! I’m so proud of my puppy. Thank you Silvia for this really important exercise.
Wow, what a good puppy! Fears are not easy to deal with, so I’m really happy she is feeling more confident about it now!
Hooray for Echo!!! That little moment alone was worth the entire class! 🙂
Thank you both. I’m still grinning ear to ear. Patience and not pushing… amazing what it can do for our dogs…
Or maybe that should be “pushing at the right moments and in the right little increments…”
Yay for you !!
Tegan is one of those “noise fear” Border Collies (the Thunder Shirt works miracles) so I will need to start work on that too.
I know she is not going to like the bang at first so I will put something there to dull the noise untill she is familiar and then slowly remove cloth…….watch this space for Video……
I look forward to seeing Tegan’s success!
Hi again :o)
Cavaletti: I’ve spread the drawers further apart. What is the next step?
Stepping back into 2on2off: All of a sudden she managed two pillows :o) Three pillows were too much at this point.
Pee: It’s difficult for me to see when she is lifting one of her hind legs. When I watched the recording, I saw that she lifted her hind leg without me seeing it.
Closing door: She is slamming the doors a little harder now.
Mia & Lara
The cavaletti, she is still hopping some… Lower might be better. Or maybe take some speed away so that she really uses one leg by one. For backing up, try to put the pillows upside down, so that they don’t create an angle and don’t allow her to climb them: you want her to push up with both legs. For door closing, select for even more power.