- Location
- Andorra and Spain
I'm creating this thread to collate a selection of more precise behaviours we can teach our dogs, either as part of "bigger" behaviours, or because we have limited space or mobility.
I'll add a few to start, but keep adding more over time - feel free to put your own in, too.
No videos for this first post, but I'll try to add some as I go on.
1. Prolonged nose target and/or chin rest. These are super useful behaviours for all sorts of reasons. Rather than just going for the nose "bop", I've added in duration so that I can hold the dog in place, or move them around. I then use it in other behaviours for proprioception and stretching (see below).
2. Zen hand. Teach the dog to back away from a hand of food. Put food in your closed hand, place it in front of the dog at a distance they won't go for it, click and reinforce. Incrementally bring the hand closer, clicking the dog for avoiding it. What you want is the dog to slightly move their head away from it as it approaches. If the dog goes for the hand, increase the distance again, until they understand that the task is avoiding the hand when it is presented that certain way.
3. Front feet on a target. The target can be anything solid; it's normally better to have a difference in texture to the rest of the flooring (eg a carpet strip on a hard floor) to make it clearer for the dog. For these exercises, we want it to be stable, so no soft foam or inflatable targets. Teach the dog to "find" the target from any angle - to start this, you'd use nice clean loops by clicking as soon as the feet hit the target, and treating between their front feet, so they step back, click when they come back to target, then treat slightly to one side behind the target, and repeat, making the approach to target more and more complicated.
4. Stretching on the front target. Once the dog is really confident in the target, you can teach them to "stick" to it, so their feet are solid on it without any peddling, lifting feet etc. Then, using your nose target or chin rest, you can start stretching. Eg, for stretching out the neck, you can incrementally raise your target from a position where the dog's head is horizontal, up to as high as they can physically manage - without moving, sitting down etc. You can also have the dog stretch forwards by reaching towards the target hand in front of them - again building it up slowly so they realise the idea is to keep the front feet planted. When reaching forwards, focus on keeping the back neutral by positioning your hand at the natural height.
5. Rear feet on a target. Start with a large target, and train (however you wish) the dog to put his back feet on it. Until they get the idea, it doesn't matter how they approach the target, as long as the click happens when the back feet are on it. As they gain confidence, they will become more efficient. As with the front feet, slowly vary the position of the reinforcer so that the dog approaches the target from different angles and confidently plants both feet, without peddling. Some dogs find it easier with a higher target, but work towards a flatter one. If your dog is like Willow and steps very high, use a flatter target from the start.
6. Build towards using a narrower rear target (front to back) so the dog has to be more precise in stepping onto it and keeping their feet aligned.
7. Zen hand with rear foot target. This is to try to get a backwards movement in the dog's four legs without roaching of the back. Use your zen hand, and click any slight backwards movement - it may just be a clenching of the muscles (which is easy to see in our short haired dogs!). Remember that you want both rear feet to remain planted with no peddling.
8. Front and rear targeting. As above, but working on having two targets, one for the front feet and one for the rear. Planks of wood are really good for this, or strips of yoga mat or carpet. Again, vary the direction of approach so the dog is confident in finding them both from any angle. You may want to start with a larger rear foot target, but aim for the rear feet to be on the front edge of that target - adjust the spacing of the targets accordingly. Once you have got back to a confident stand on both targets, introduce your narrow targets again for precision. Set them a comfortable distance apart so that the dog can stand on them naturally.
9. Stretching with two targets. As above, you can work on stretching the neck with your chin rest/sustained nose target in the vertical plane, and forwards and backwards weight shifts using the target and zen hand respectively. Again, you're looking for very small muscle contractions rather than big movements, and maintaining a neutral spine throughout.
More to follow
I'll add a few to start, but keep adding more over time - feel free to put your own in, too.
No videos for this first post, but I'll try to add some as I go on.
1. Prolonged nose target and/or chin rest. These are super useful behaviours for all sorts of reasons. Rather than just going for the nose "bop", I've added in duration so that I can hold the dog in place, or move them around. I then use it in other behaviours for proprioception and stretching (see below).
2. Zen hand. Teach the dog to back away from a hand of food. Put food in your closed hand, place it in front of the dog at a distance they won't go for it, click and reinforce. Incrementally bring the hand closer, clicking the dog for avoiding it. What you want is the dog to slightly move their head away from it as it approaches. If the dog goes for the hand, increase the distance again, until they understand that the task is avoiding the hand when it is presented that certain way.
3. Front feet on a target. The target can be anything solid; it's normally better to have a difference in texture to the rest of the flooring (eg a carpet strip on a hard floor) to make it clearer for the dog. For these exercises, we want it to be stable, so no soft foam or inflatable targets. Teach the dog to "find" the target from any angle - to start this, you'd use nice clean loops by clicking as soon as the feet hit the target, and treating between their front feet, so they step back, click when they come back to target, then treat slightly to one side behind the target, and repeat, making the approach to target more and more complicated.
4. Stretching on the front target. Once the dog is really confident in the target, you can teach them to "stick" to it, so their feet are solid on it without any peddling, lifting feet etc. Then, using your nose target or chin rest, you can start stretching. Eg, for stretching out the neck, you can incrementally raise your target from a position where the dog's head is horizontal, up to as high as they can physically manage - without moving, sitting down etc. You can also have the dog stretch forwards by reaching towards the target hand in front of them - again building it up slowly so they realise the idea is to keep the front feet planted. When reaching forwards, focus on keeping the back neutral by positioning your hand at the natural height.
5. Rear feet on a target. Start with a large target, and train (however you wish) the dog to put his back feet on it. Until they get the idea, it doesn't matter how they approach the target, as long as the click happens when the back feet are on it. As they gain confidence, they will become more efficient. As with the front feet, slowly vary the position of the reinforcer so that the dog approaches the target from different angles and confidently plants both feet, without peddling. Some dogs find it easier with a higher target, but work towards a flatter one. If your dog is like Willow and steps very high, use a flatter target from the start.
6. Build towards using a narrower rear target (front to back) so the dog has to be more precise in stepping onto it and keeping their feet aligned.
7. Zen hand with rear foot target. This is to try to get a backwards movement in the dog's four legs without roaching of the back. Use your zen hand, and click any slight backwards movement - it may just be a clenching of the muscles (which is easy to see in our short haired dogs!). Remember that you want both rear feet to remain planted with no peddling.
8. Front and rear targeting. As above, but working on having two targets, one for the front feet and one for the rear. Planks of wood are really good for this, or strips of yoga mat or carpet. Again, vary the direction of approach so the dog is confident in finding them both from any angle. You may want to start with a larger rear foot target, but aim for the rear feet to be on the front edge of that target - adjust the spacing of the targets accordingly. Once you have got back to a confident stand on both targets, introduce your narrow targets again for precision. Set them a comfortable distance apart so that the dog can stand on them naturally.
9. Stretching with two targets. As above, you can work on stretching the neck with your chin rest/sustained nose target in the vertical plane, and forwards and backwards weight shifts using the target and zen hand respectively. Again, you're looking for very small muscle contractions rather than big movements, and maintaining a neutral spine throughout.
More to follow
