Back Up #1

[blacknym]

We are working on backing up. Deja has a hard time with this one. It is hard to capture because she does not move in reverse naturally. I am luring her here to see if she will figure it out. If this does not work I will try something else.

 

[Linda A]

Looks to me like she is sitting because you are raising your hand. Try to keep it even with her chest. See if that helps. Otherwise she is doing great.

 

[blacknym]

Mmm you know what your right. :/ ill keep that in mind. :nods

 

[Anneke]

If you stand up and step towards her, does she back up? That's a way to capture the behaviour.
I did this and lured my dog, but you would have to bend over to reach her, so maybe a targetstick is an idea?
Deja is very focussed on getting the food in your hand, so I feel using a targetstick would get her more focussed on what she is doing.
If you don't have a targetstick, you can easily make one yourself.
I have one of these, it has the clicker build in, which is handy.
http://www.petexpertise.com/images/detailed_images/clikstik.jpg
But some sort of stick with a ball on it would do

 

[blacknym]

She is always very focused on the Food. No she turns around and walks away when i step towards her. Going in reverse is not natural to her.

How would i get her to back up with the stick though?

 

[Mutt]

You would teach her to touch the end and than point the target stick between her frontlegs/chest and ask for a touch.

 

[xena98]

Hi there
I taught my girl Gabby to back up I put two cages along side with enough room for her to be in and I put the food between her feet so she could eat it and put it further and further between her feet she has to move backwards to get the food as she cant turn around and she cant go forward as I am in the way and as soon as she has moved the foot(hasnt got much choice to get the food a foot has to move) I clicked. Took me about 5 min to teach Gabby
Hope that has helped Good luck

 

[blacknym]

thanks for the advice.

Sadly i dont have anything big enough to keep her from jumping over. LOL we live in a small apartment. Im gonna try the target stick though....i think she would do well with it.

 

[xena98]

have your dog working by the wall and have something else alongside should have other things to block the other side
cheers

 

[hannah_mylo]

I taught the back up using mat target. I started with the mat just in front of me and c/t for any paw contact with it. I then stood just in front of the mat with him and C/T when his back paws were touching the mat. I then shaped it - I would sit down with the mat in front of me and C/T for any backwards movement and because he has been trained to target the mat with his paws he moved backwards to the mat. I then just built up the distance and reduced the size of the mat to a tiny piece of paper and then gone all together. This make work for you if your dog is clicker and food savvy!

 

[blacknym]

Ill keep that idea in mind.

Got a target stick and tried her in it this morning... She is good at targeting so got it right away. Will work more with her and then try backward movement.

 

[brody_smom]

How's the backing up training going with Deja? I am going to start this with Brody. He will back up if I walk toward him, but I also made a target stick with a dowel and a little ball. Would be nice to have the clicker attached, but I'm saving money for a new wire crate. I think I will combine this with the idea xena98 suggested to keep him in line.

 

[Mutt]

How's the backing up training going with Deja? I am going to start this with Brody. He will back up if I walk toward him, but I also made a target stick with a dowel and a little ball. Would be nice to have the clicker attached, but I'm saving money for a new wire crate. I think I will combine this with the idea xena98 suggested to keep him in line.

You could also hold the clicker in the same hand as your target stick and press your thumb against it (but not hard enough that it clicks) while the rest of your hand is around the target stick
This is what I do and it works fine with me, I personally found it a waste to buy a new targetstick/clicker for it, but that is just me

A wall also helps to get them back-up straight (I taught it while having a wall one side of the dog and me on the other side, so we first backed-up together).

 

[brody_smom]

You could also hold the clicker in the same hand as your target stick and press your thumb against it (but not hard enough that it clicks) while the rest of your hand is around the target stick
This is what I do and it works fine with me, I personally found it a waste to buy a new targetstick/clicker for it, but that is just me

A wall also helps to get them back-up straight (I taught it while having a wall one side of the dog and me on the other side, so we first backed-up together).

Yes, I do the same with the clicker and the stick in the same hand. A little clumsy, but no big deal.

Do you stand beside your dog, facing the same direction, then have them target the stick between their legs while you move backward?

 

[Mutt]

I didn't use a target stick at the time, though you can use it to teach this trick. What I did was standing next to my dog, facing the same direction and holding a treat between his frontpaws at chest hight. For the slightest movement backwards I clicked. When he got the idea of the backwards motion I just backed-up together with them without luring. After that I did it while I was in front of them (first moving with them, then standing still wile they moved).

If I had used a target stick I would have done it similair only instead of a treat I would have used the target stick

 

[Evie]

I taught this to Evie quite recently and had absolutely no luck trying to lure her backwards with treats (while I was in front of her)... no luck with getting her to move backwards by having her in between two objects (she'd also just jump over them or refuse to move at all) and no luck with a target stick. I taught this by starting her in a heel position, treat in my hand above her head, and would step backwards. My hand for this wasn't quite above her head, it was more so to the side of it, so her head was between my hand and my leg (if that makes sense).

I can make a quick video of how I taught it if you like as it's a little hard to explain, but this way definitely worked for us when no other way did

Evie can now happily back up either next to me, in front of me, or backwards towards me to end up between my legs

Good luck!

 

[brody_smom]

I taught this to Evie quite recently and had absolutely no luck trying to lure her backwards with treats (while I was in front of her)... no luck with getting her to move backwards by having her in between two objects (she'd also just jump over them or refuse to move at all) and no luck with a target stick. I taught this by starting her in a heel position, treat in my hand above her head, and would step backwards. My hand for this wasn't quite above her head, it was more so to the side of it, so her head was between my hand and my leg (if that makes sense).

I can make a quick video of how I taught it if you like as it's a little hard to explain, but this way definitely worked for us when no other way did

Evie can now happily back up either next to me, in front of me, or backwards towards me to end up between my legs

Good luck!

Yes, I would love to see a video. I can't get him to move at all when we are facing the same direction and I put a treat between his legs. I have put a row of patio chairs close to the side of my house and then stood in front of him. Then I hold a treat in my hand and sort of wave it in a backward direction over his head as I shuffle my feet toward him. He will move if I just shuffle toward him, but I thought the hand motion would translate into a cue later. He does manage to back up fairly well, but when we get to the end of the row, he starts to turn around.

 

[Evie]

Yes, I would love to see a video. I can't get him to move at all when we are facing the same direction and I put a treat between his legs. I have put a row of patio chairs close to the side of my house and then stood in front of him. Then I hold a treat in my hand and sort of wave it in a backward direction over his head as I shuffle my feet toward him. He will move if I just shuffle toward him, but I thought the hand motion would translate into a cue later. He does manage to back up fairly well, but when we get to the end of the row, he starts to turn around.

Sorry it took so long, but I'd completely forgotten that I said I'd make a video!!

Now I've not made a tutorial type video before, so you'll have to bare with me, but hopefully it should give you the general idea of how I taught this to Evie Please excuse Evie's little hissy fit when demonstrating 'backing up near a wall'. She didn't particulary like that I was asking her to back up INTO a couple of books on the floor lol. Oops. My bad... didn't mean to

Don't worry too much about straightness in the beginning as I found that straightness comes with confidence in backing up. Once they know it's backwards that you want, it's quicker and easier to run back in a straight line than in a semi-circle

Just remember to ALWAYS reward the little steps and you'll get distance and duration once they are confident doing the trick!

 

[brody_smom]

Sorry it took so long, but I'd completely forgotten that I said I'd make a video!!

Now I've not made a tutorial type video before, so you'll have to bare with me, but hopefully it should give you the general idea of how I taught this to Evie Please excuse Evie's little hissy fit when demonstrating 'backing up near a wall'. She didn't particulary like that I was asking her to back up INTO a couple of books on the floor lol. Oops. My bad... didn't mean to

Don't worry too much about straightness in the beginning as I found that straightness comes with confidence in backing up. Once they know it's backwards that you want, it's quicker and easier to run back in a straight line than in a semi-circle

Just remember to ALWAYS reward the little steps and you'll get distance and duration once they are confident doing the trick!

Thank you so much! I will definitely give that another try. I see I need to have him very close to the wall with no space to turn at all. I loved your audience of kitty cats on the table, by the way!