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:
In this exercise I waddle more than she 😀
I can’t see this one, it says it’s a duplicate of a previously uploaded video…
Very cute! Time to put it on a verbal cue and minimalise the hand signal -- first start feeding from the other hand, then next use only a pointing finger as a cue and eventually have her do it on just a verbal cue.
Hi, may help if you give treats on floor ( rather that in mouth ) so dog keep crossing longer while eating food and you get your hand free.
Much better!!! 🙂 Now don’t always go just from one leg to another, try to sometimes just move away and have her follow your leg, to get a “glued to the leg” effect as we’ll need it for the next lesson!
Great! Time to go to a higher object and start to work on the pee trick too!
Cool, no fear! Slowly select for the most powerful pushes, don’t reward for gentle touches anymore and try to shape towards more powerful pushes.
The same as I wrote already, time for “glued to the leg”!
This is how far we are with: slamming door, 2o2o, back up, circling to leg & cavaletti. Vini is great at slamming door even though it makes noice when doing so. 2o2o I made a little easier so success rate is now very high -- but I forget to give her a release command… backing up is our very first attempt -- she seems to have understood it at the very last try -- but backing we haven’t progressed on -- I’m stuck -- I tried sitting down and throw the toy but either I’m not clicking at right time or not assisting Vini enough to understand what I want (no video). I used a frisbee for circling to leg but should probably have chosen a higher object as she was circling nicely to my leg when standing on tub. The cavaletti was also our very first attempt -- as you can see, the 2o2o is what she now offers 😉
Slamming sure looks great! No problem with the noise and lots of power. 2on2off looks great now too, but it’s very important to remember to give a release word 🙂 You can also add some more challenges now. For backing up the object, the easiest is to use a really low and soft object + simply use a “back” verbal cue -- so if you don’t have one yet, you certainly do want to name it, we’ll need it for another trick too. For pivoting, you can maybe use something lower as your original object, but higher as a frisbee. You did get some good ones also with a frisbee, but I prefer to go a little slower with this one and insist on precision.
Cool! You can add some more speed and do it in trotting next, like the last try.
This was the first time we tried pivoting in to me. I was very proud of her!
Definitely very good for the first time! 🙂 Try to slowly ask for one step more though, as her rear end swings out some. From that reason, I wouldn’t use a cue just yet. Do lots of moving away and having her follow your leg too, to get the “glued to the leg” effect. I would still do some full circles pivoting without you in the picture too, to get her very fast and fluent at pivoting -- it will certainly help with that last step that we need.
Second training session on backing into a 2o2o position. She can do this onto a platform about 4″/10 cm. high. After that, she starts working on the pee trick! (we haven’t really worked on that one yet -- I’ll explain after I finish uploading all our videos.)
Great job, no problems stepping back on a object! You can certainly add some more height next!