O.k., I'm publishing lesson 3 already now as we're then going for a 2-week-catch-up-break. I like those breaks as they take some pressure off and I can always see a huge progress after the break! It's a great timing right now as it gives you time to really master that pivoting before going to lesson 3. Focus on getting really independent, fast and fluent circling in both directions. Lesson 3 can wait, we'll start with it after the break and you'll have 2 weeks for it then, so no hurry with that one. You can also revisit recalls, playing and spend some time on socialization. We'll be discussing this lesson only after 25th November, with no video commenting in between, I only posted it now so that you can see what is the plan and you can start working some in that direction. But no videos and questions during the break please, otherwise there is no point in the break 🙂
1. take your dog to a city center, a store that allows dogs (pet store?) and on a train station. Do some easy tricks and tape your tricks in a new environment this time.
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.
A word of warning: when you position yourself next to the target, you need to stay at it's side, NOT behind it (so at 3 or 9 o'clock, not 6!), meaning that you need to move from one side to another every time you ask the dog to come to the other side. If you stand behind the target, you're practising wrong position as the dog is too much in front. The dog's paws should be were your heels are, his shoulder at your knee and his rear end completely straight - parallel to you.
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 or cavaletti 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 and 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!
See you back in class on 26th November!
2on2off progression into handstand:
Last call for 
Hi everybody,
here is some cavaletti work with Bisou -- she is still looking up to my hands, trying to fade that, but most of the time she really walks and doesn’t jump.
It’s funny how much growing all the puppies did during the break! I could hardly recognize Bisou -- but her wagging tail and enthusiasm is still the same! You can try rewarding that one by tossing a treat on the ground, might help with keeping her focus down. Great job!
Yes, she grew a lot plus I clipped her coat for the first time, thats why she looks very long-legged now…
Would you recommend using more cavalettis? I used 4 and also changed distances between them -- she adjusted her steps, sometime touching the obstacle, but getting better after a few walks.
Yes, if you can make more, definitely use more of them!
Here is some training for handstand -- I must admit I was very lazy with the 2on2off as she offered stepping back onto an object right away and I did not train to walk and stop until released as I did not consider it different excercises… lalalalaaa, stupid me. So definitely some work to do, as we need that for the next lesson and stopping and WAITING is definitely the worst for little Bisou. She is still like a bunch of fleas, no patience if she does not find out fast enough -- she is not really a thinker, she just tries extra hard, offers other tricks and starts singing and complaining. She offered so many funny things like backing up and pivoting at the same time, sometimes I cannot resist to click them…
Nice! I do prefer higher&higher objects for a handstand though vs. angling it as angled objects promote climbing and you actually want a push up with both legs (vs. stepping on with one leg and then climbing higher). But I would take it slowly with young puppies and take an opportunity when she is still stepping on with one leg at the time to teach her a pee trick, we’ll need that one too!
Hmm, yes, I tried it and I see the difference… she now uses a different technique:
(Funny that she accidentially once used the wall already -- now the wall has a special dog paw design as we were just coming in from a walk…)
Would you click only the tries where she lifts both legs at once? Which max height would you recommend for a 5 months old puppy?
Yeap, that looks right! The try on the wall was great! 🙂 You can still reward every try, but jackpot two feet up at the same time -- and then not anymore for one foot at the time. HOWEVER, I would first teach lifting of one and another leg as it will be harder to get it once she is jumping in her 2on2off position all the time. So I would leave this for a little while and focus on left and right hind leg lifts. Once you have it, I think you can then go up all the way even to the vertical object, just don’t try to fade it yet + of course, don’t do too many repetitions and not every day!
Speaking of the “pee trick”…
I was working on backing up to a high platform, a trick Dash knows very well. He had whined earlier in training, which he has previously done maybe twice in his life, and only when he needed to go outside. This time, I thought he was whining to get treats and ignored him. He backed up to the platform from increasing distances. Finally, while lifting a leg to search out the platform for the sixth or so time… he got an “ah hah!” look, realized his leg was in the proper position, and peed right there on the platform. My fault, of course, poor little guy!
I’ll be careful and only work on this trick when there’s no danger he has a full bladder…
Hihihi, well, a very authentic “pee-trick”…
Oh, poor Dash! He took that trick too seriously 🙂
And third (and last) one for today: Pivoting. She still likes counterclockwise a lot better than clockwise 🙂 She does it well on higher and lower bowls but she cannot yet transfer to flat ground without any hint where to keep the feet. Shall I proceed already or keep training on the bowls? Or is it recommendable to have a circle of paper on the floor just as a visual hint?
Great! She sure looks ready for the next step. I would first try on something like a frisbee or a plastic lid and if that goes well, switch to a piece of paper and then make it smaller. Try stepping somewhat to the side as you’re circling and jackpot if she follows you instead of staying on a target -- she needs to switch from target on the floor to your leg as a new target.
Hi Verena, for pivoting, we can exchange because my Garlic likes clockwise a lot better than counterclockwise !!!
Hi Silvia
this is Astro first cavaletty, circle to my leg and back up training
thanks for your advices
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Looks great! You can make a 2on2off object slightly higher. Did you forget to include circling to the leg?
Oh, yes i forgot, here is the link 🙂
Try to help less with hands, I think it’s confusing him some. For now, you can let him choose the direction and just position yourself on the right side for the direction he takes to make it easier. Make sure to not reward with a head out as he is going behind your back too much anyway, so in this case, head in is actually better, but ideally, reward as high and as straight as possible to help with his head position. Basically, you should be rewarding somewhere at your hip: don’t bend down to reward with low head! You can even reward several times without moving when you get a good position, to help him understand the position and to take an opportunity to reward for head up (ie. click&reward so soon after rewarding with head up that his head is still up).
Trumpet and Tat’s cavaletti work, and backing up onto an object.
Great job with both!!! Amazing body awareness and very nice and coordinated stepping back on an object -- looks ready for the next height! Tat sure looks to like that one too! 🙂
Tat likes anything that involves backing up! It’s become her default behaviour. Whenever she’s not sure what I want she starts backing up! I’d like to eventually get her to back up over the cavaletti, and up the stairs. This weekend I will work on the pee trick. I haven’t started the pivoting to the leg yet because I’m not getting full circles yet but we’re getting close.
She sure looks ready for backing up stairs and cavaletti! Great that you are almost at full circle with pivoting now!
Tat is going to be 5 months old next week. Is it okay to start raising the height at this age? Do I need to be careful about how high we go?
And I have a question about the pee trick. Do we fade the object that’s behind them very quickly? Or can we leave it there?
Sure, you can definitely go to the height that she can still step on, one leg at the time. I would then focus on peeing trick and once you have that, proceed with height towards handstand. Just be careful you don’t train it every day or too many repetitions once she is pushing up with both legs at the time. Just stepping on is not a problem. For peeing trick, fading an object is usually pretty easy. Just click before they touch an object. Once they can do it against the wall, you can also try it against the chair leg or something like that that is harder to touch anyway.
Here is Torment’s lesson from last time. He was on injured reserve with a broken toe so we are a bit behind. We will try and catch up as we can :-).
Great 2on2off! For pivoting, you can try somewhat smaller bowl so that it’s less tempting to do 4on and 2on2off on it 🙂 Maybe it would also help if you stand up for this trick? Keep working towards full, fluent circles before trying to use it for heel and side position. Keep working on backing up too. You can soon try backing up into 2on2off. I’m sure Torment will catch up in no time!
After Bisou immediately decided that slamming whatever is her favorite trick and jumped against every cupboard door I thought it might be better to find something more stable…
Here is some slamming on a puppy teeter:
Cool! I would make it somewhat lower for a puppy though and then only reward all-the-way-to-the-ground pushes.
Hello,
Nice to be Back!! I´m sending you a video with the peeing, the door and the heel. Tomorrow I will send you the other tricks.
I´m having a lot of fun with all this trick!!!!
Great! Very cool door slamming, that was just too cute! The pee trick looks great too, despite it seems like he would prefer to do a handstand! 🙂 Now try to get lifts of the other leg too, it’s important to always work on both sides! Heeling position looks great on the right side and often not completely straight on the left side, so work on the left side some more. Make sure you don’t reward with a head in as that promotes hind end out. Reward with high, straight head. You can also make that target lower to then slowly fade it. Great job, Trono seems to have lots of fun with it too!
Watching the video, I realized I am a bit confused with the pee and with the 2o2o. Trono was doing the 2o2o very nice (backing up into the chair).
But for teaching hin the pee I started clicking only when he was lifting one leg…. I’m Confusing him??? (sorry, my English is a little bit rusty, and I haven’t understand quite well this trick…)
You’re doing it right: click&reward as he lifts up one leg. You can try it against the wall next so that he can’t actually put the leg on -- and two might be less tempting. Position him somewhat sideways to the wall so that you can get either one or another leg, depending on which side the wall is. Also, name it soon as possible as that will help him differentiate between the two tricks, two feet up and one foot up.
Garlic and me began backing up on an object : it’is still hesitant !
Here is also progress with paw cross : can I try now with the other paw ?
And this week more sessions to improve circling on a lower objet :
Silvia, do you feel us now ready for next step ?
Great job, Garlic is a really fast learner! Backing up an object looks perfectly good to me, I think you can even raise it some. Nice paw crosses too, you can try the other paw too yes. And very nice, fast and fluent pivoting -- ready for the next step! I think it will be easier to get her all the way to the leg now. If not, you can try kneeling down next to the target first -- you’ll see if necessary.
Wow, Garlic is really good in pivoting, my dogs lose contact to the target after 2 fast turns, I think they get dizzy a lot faster than Garlic…
This rainy afternoon, I try circling to my leg. When I stand up next to the target, Garlic don’t give me pivoting like before, as she wants to avoid contact. Then I try kneeling “up” and I feel it better : Garlic now wants to execute pivoting as before and I get sharp contact on my thigh and I click when contact. But I must hide my hand ( with treat ) until contact. Garlic is a little disturb with this new game. Now I will work on “happy circling and give me a sharp contact if you want to get a treat”.
Yeap, keep working on it. Only reward when she is really all the way to the leg and completely parallel, no swinging out.