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:
Hi Dondi, I have a personal question regarding poodles -- would you be kind enough to respond privately? stelk1@bigpond.com -- Lyn
Biz , 5 month old BC . Video of the 2o2o into a handstand . " rel="nofollow ugc">
Cool! Just make sure you reward low (on the floor) and as close to an object as possible as that gives you a better position for a free handstand. I wouldn’t go into that at that age just yet, it’s just to promote the right style for future work.
Very nice distance and great coordination! At this point, it gets easier to reward with a toy as it’s easier to throw it far and it will give you even more distance.
Thanks . He offers this trick a lot and I do often use a frisbee to reward .
Hi Sivia! If I can word them right I have a few questions. I have both my dogs crossing paw one way. I can leave the target on the floor next to the leg and they cross over. How do I introduce the other way without losing this way? I still have not got my older dog to pivot in the second direction and it is driving me crazy! He steps a few in that direction and I click and treat with head away and he seems to take a few the other way so we don’t make much progress. I tried the wall but he keeps jumping off the bowl! Any suggestions? How do I go from using my hand as a target for Heidi’s sit up to not using my hand as a target? Last one what is the best way to get the jumping with both feet instead of stepping with one first for 2 on 2 off! Thank you so much! How I wish you weren’t so far away! Stacey
I usually name and fade the target for one paw crossing and once done, take a target again, only click the other paw (you can first do it in another position, like sit, to make it easier to get the other one) and then go from there. Some steps in another direction is a good start, I would just keep working from there: stop clicking for two steps in that direction at one point and only click for 3, then 4 etc. For a sit up, try clicking as she is going up with front feet, before she touches your hand, to teach her it’s about lifting front feet, not really touching your hand. Later on, you can try moving it away before she can touch it and jackpot for any kind of duration. To get both feet at once for handstand, you need to progress to the height that doesn’t allow her to reach it with one leg only and requires the other leg off the ground some too in order to reach the object. Jackpot and keep making an object higher gradually, they learn at one point that pushing both legs up makes things easier as trying to reach it with one leg.
I am one of auditors and am having difficult time shaping/ isolating rear leg movement. Does anyone has suggestions what might benefit/ We are doing perch work and in the middle of the process and moderately backing , and just started on backing up 2o2o on a object. Still it seems there little awareness I am asking about hind leg. Part of the problem they always orient toward food source/ me so hind leg always the furthest one…
Hind legs are hard for them to understand yes… I’m afraid I have no other suggestion as to keep working on the tricks you listed, together with cavaletti and 4in (always clicking as hid feet are going in). Once they get hind feet, it gets easy.
Hello Silvia and everybody !
it took some time before I made my video this time. Going to town and such stuff, we did without problems. Revi is very curious and not afraid, luckily ! The cavaletti is not yet on video…
The rest of the tricks we taped, we still need progressing with some as you will see…. 🙂
thanks !
Rebekka
Love watching you and your adorable pup! Stacey & Heidi
Very cool! Peeing is too cute! Can she do it with the other leg too? It’s important to always do both sides. A little unsure about that slamming, maybe try with something that makes less noise first? Or put something on it so that it doesn’t slam too much and she is more comfortable with it? Too funny with the sit up, La also does this “head in treat direction” pose. Great duration and balance!
Pivoting looks great, just make sure you stand somewhat further ahead, so that her paws are where your heels are (not where your toes are) -- and reward with head higher up -- more vertical! Also, for future handstand, you need to reward closer to the object, so that she is more vertical.
And hey, I’m still finding your arrows in the woods! Bi likes them a lot 🙂
thanks for this feedback, Silvia !
No, the peeing she can not do yet with the other leg. I will work on this. There is always that favorite site and the “hard” one… 🙂
Yes, for some reason, she doesn’t like this “slam-trick” at all. As you know, she’s not a scared puppy, but this frightenes her. Very strange and so I avoid doing this too much. It is also like that with the see-saw. We did it a few times with her running until the end and holding the see-saw ourselves to let it slowly (and then more quickly) down. She looooves it ! She is totally not afraid. But then we tried here also the “slam-trick” from a few centimeters from the ground and then she didn’t want to go up the see-saw any more ! Before she ran so hard that she almost ran into the air ! So….she doesn’t like such things as “slamming”, because the see-saw didn’t make any noise from those centimeters from the ground…. I don’t know…
Very funny about the arrows 🙂 so we were right to trust this kind of “navigating” : it stays for long time 🙂 🙂 !!!
I would still work on slamming some, but not on a real see-saw as you don’t want her to connect it with anything bad, but maybe get a small plank (20x30cm is enough), put it on carpet to avoid too much noise and put something soft in the middle (a dog toy maybe) so that it moves some if she touches it and first work on that. Then move it to different floor to get her used to different sounds and only then go to doors and drawers again, you definitely don’t want her to stress about it.
What a great job your doing with your puppy. I LOVE the sit up — so cute. I always enjoy watching your videos.
Hi, everyone, we are back from some great weekends with dogdance and Agility. So we didnt’ go on so far, but we trained with lots of distruction and in very diffrent places with lots of dogs and spectators. So I think Ayoka learned much more than the tricks in this time.
We had one Problem with ‘closing the door’ She always looked at me and was not standing in front of the door. She touched the door by lifting her foot to the side and so she has no force for closing the door. I need to correct her position, looking at the door, and then it works.
One more question: Don’t you think that teaching the handstand with this high target, as it is shown in some videos before, is to early for such young dogs? Isn’t it bad for the health of the dogs? In our rules fo dogdance it is not alowed to do any backing tricks and tricks on two feets under the age of 15 month. What are your experiences?
looking forward to your answer Sandra & Ayoka
Great to see Ayoka back, she is too cute and sure doesn’t seem to mind any distraction 🙂 Very cool puppy!
Slamming of the doors is getting really good now, BUT you can’t click twice for one action!!! Click once and then jackpot the best ones with more treats -- if you click again, you’re clicking for eating the first treat, not slamming the doors 🙂 For pivoting, try to not help with a hand so much as it’s hard to get rid of it. Very cute paw crossing! Great backing up the object. I have no problem doing lots of backing up with puppies, I think it’s good for them. I also do standing on side legs pretty early, it’s great for their balance. I don’t start with handstand without the support until they’re at least one year, but I will do some backing up on high object here and there with a puppy already. I think it’s good for them if you don’t do tons of it every day -- any repetitive action can be a problem for a young puppy, but anything is moderation is good, it provides them with an important info on how to use their body.
Hi Silvia! Thanks a lot. Oh what a fool am I! I mixed up ‘clicking for duration’ with ‘giving jackpot’!
It is hard for me not to help with the hand, because that’s the way I learned it to Roxy, but I try do do better.
It is good to hear that the backing Tricks have no bad effect as far as you know. We had some cases with hips and ellbow deseases here and that’s why they made this rules. But I am not sure if the tricks are really the reason for it or if this would appear nevertheless at this dogs …
I am sure that with your training they will get a really goood bodyfeeling and it’s fun , too! We love to learn all the tricks!
I never had a problem with any of my dogs, neither of them was ever injured or limping in their life, so I think backing up can’t be a reason for problems 🙂
Hi
I have trained the beginnings of the handstand with my 5 month old BC , he has probably worked on this trick less than 10 sessions . I do think we need to be careful with our young dogs but they learn best at a young age . I think we need to approach everything in moderation . For instance today we went swimming , Heat my 5 year old BC swam for 25 minutes , the puppy swam for 5 minutes , he spent most of the time on the boat , another wonderful experience for him .
Michelle & Biz
I agree. Too much of anything can be a problem for a growing puppy, but a little bit everything is great for them as it gives them an experience on how to use their bodies etc. and that’s definitely a very important lesson that enables them to use it correctly, move more efficiently and avoid injuries. I’ve seen young dogs who were mostly kept in crates as puppies in order to avoid injuries… -- and they moved terribly, it looked like they will fall apart any time.
yea, a middle way seams always the best.
Yay, our 1st submission for Lesson 3! Grit’s overall confidence level during this session seemed low….lower than, say, yesterday’s. It’s possible that she was tired, as we had traveled 9 hours home, but I figured I would get more help if I submitted less than perfect video! 🙂
Cavalettis: She LOVED these the 1st time we did them. A bit less enthusiasm today, so I added her favorite toy at the end…she seemed to like that!
Drawers/Doors: Again, a lot less confidence with this at home than in the hotel last night. Could have been my other dogs…we will work more on this one!
Backing Up: I like how this one is coming along. The verbal is pretty new!
Heel/Side: Remains one of her very favorites…and she’s VERY good at it! I think she’s ready for a lower and then faded target.
2o2o: Again, lower confidence tonight. This was looking pretty snappy yesterday, so I thought she was understanding, but not sure.
Crossing Paws (opposite direction): So I guess I start to name it now? And then maybe alternate which cross I ask for for a session or two, and then start to ask for both in one session?
Yeap, heel and side looks great, definitely ready to fade the target! One thing to be careful about though: she sometimes seems to lean on you more as ideal. You want her as close as possible, but not leaning on you as you can’t walk normally then. You usually get leaning if you reward with head too much out -- head in causes rear end out problem, head out causes leaning problem, so it’s important to reward with straight, vertical head. Keep working on slamming to get more power. Getting there with 2on2off, great understanding of the position, still some more work for understanding the stay until the release -- you can as well practice that with her sits and downs. Try to adjust your proofing challenges so that she is mostly successful -- those in the videos were maybe somewhat too much for now, add them very gradually. She also seems ready for backing up into 2on2off. Sounds like a good plan for paw crossing. Nice cavalettis and backing up!
Hello everyone
I am making a combined post for lessons 2+3. I have been away a lot because of my work so we have not done as much as I would like for this class (I’m noticing that many of you are lucky enough to have lots of time!). In the video I included the in-the-box status, target touching, backing up, and 2on/off with stays (ahem -- well, a second for my dog she considers a stay at the moment!). Sitting up we are also doing ok with but it is not on the video. For some reason she found that hard at first -- maybe lack of muscle? For my other dog this was a very easy trick.
Backing up was also hard for her to get, but now it is ok. We have done lots of backing over rolled mats, jump bars and things, as I am yet to find some suitable stairs (most are way to big for her). She has quite a nice handstand too but does it the wrong way by getting on the object first and then dropping into position -- I have started it again now she knows how to back up.
We are working on the stays with her lying in her bed -- this seems to be helping more than other positions and it is starting to improve -- being still in any form she does not like!
Heeling i did not include an update (it has not moved much from our last video -- she is at the stage of learning the words for each leg touch). This will be a priority exercise for us this week. We are working only with the anticlockwise spins (“heel” side) at the moment as this is the much much weaker side for her.
Closing things we have done and it was on an earlier video. Cavaletti -- well, we are doing a good job of this backwards, but when it is forwards she wants to proceed over it at full speed -- and this I don’t really want to stop!
Socialisation is also a priority at the moment as Sen has developed a snappy attitude (I suppose thats what you get when you are operated on 4 times in 6 months -- she thinks everyone is out to cause some pain 🙁 ). She goes everywhere possible, and to one group puppy/obedience class a week, and once a week to an agility hall (where she only plays and trains tricks, LoLaBu homework etc while other dogs work next to her).
City centers are hard for us to get but this week we can manage (its a 300km trip). Usually I go to our local airport when there is a flight arriving as thats the biggest crowd I can get (but I can’t film there).
And so we owe you some tricks still. Unfortunately I have to prioritise a little with this class. It would have been better to have this course on its own, but eventually we’ll get to it all.
Great job! Getting there with 4in, time for a smaller box! If you are still working on duration and stays, I would suggest you to for now still reward the position too, not only the release and then fade rewarding in the position later on, when she knows it’s about duration already. Very cute back up, very cool toys 🙂 And yes, sit up requires quite some muscle, so it’s difficult for puppies, even when they weren’t operated on a leg, so it’s important to add duration slowly, you don’t want them sore after! For handstand, you need back feet up first yes, to eventually be able to fade the object.