Crawl

sarhaspups

New Member
Hey ya'll! I am teaching my 5 month old BC puppy to crawl. He does it great and understands the behavior I'm asking for but how do you start fading the lure? I don't think he knows the command 'crawl' yet. Is it just a matter of repeating the command, luring it and once he knows and understands the command he will just start doing it on command ? I am not sure how to fade the lure out of this one?
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance! Happy trainining! :dogbiggrin:
Sarha
 

sarhaspups

New Member
Well I've been thinking.... maybe i could stand in front of him and ask him to crawl towards me, fading the lure.... any suggestions on a hand signal to use? Maybe that will help him get the que??
 

montsterdog

Well-Known Member
Are you using a treat to lure or a target stick? If you are using a treat maybe you could switch it to a target stick at first before fading it completely?

Another idea I had is that maybe you could work on the distance first. For example have the puppy crawl a short distance to a folded towel or from carpet to a tile floor and maybe he would figure out that he needs to crawl until he hits the "target". Does that make any sense?

Handsignal... maybe do something like pulling the dog on an imaginary line?

Crawl is such a cool trick!! Post some video if you have any. :)
 

sarhaspups

New Member
Just using a lure. I'll try the target stick, he knows how to nose touch the target stick, good idea.
Can't really get distance if he isn't doing it freely? He still needs a lure? That's what I'm trying to transition to not having to use a lure?
I'll keep at it and will post video when I get some :) Thanks , your advise helps!!
Sarha
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
I treat it kind of like down. Start stooping slightly higher than normal each time until you're standing straight up using the hand signal(similar to the lure--if you're waggling your finger and moving it along to lure him, then waggle your finger the same way), then start asking for more and more distance. Down stay, take a step away, CRAWL! Good boy. Repeat, repeat, repeat..... Down stay, take two steps away, CRAWL! Good boy. R, R, R... Down stay, three steps, CRAWL! Etc.

You could also try having him crawl under things. This is where muscle memory kicks in. With Mudflap, she just wasn't catching on until I tried something different. I would sit with my knees up with plenty of room for her to crawl through. Down stay, then lure under legs. Her only option was to crawl. Then an object to crawl under. Then a smaller, less distinctive object, and so on. Despite not having something over her, it became kind of a conditioned response to stay down for the crawl rather than hop up and just come.
 

szecsuani

Experienced Member
I teach 2 different kinds of crawling.

1. Crawling to me. At first I start with luring. Then I ask Pami to lay down like half a meter from me, and ask her to crawl, with my hand on the floor. I increase the distance gradually, and just start to stand up. At first I'm on my knees, then standing, but bend down very low, and then just start to stand normally. It worked quite well for me.

2. Crawl away from me
I ask Pam to lay down between my legs, facing the same way as I do. Then I ask her to touch a target, that is in front of her. And I jsut put the target further away as she starts to understand that she has to crawl forward.
This is still in progress. :D

I hope I helped. :)
 

sarhaspups

New Member
Thanks tx cowgirl, i love ur idea of having him crawl under things. So much you can do with just any one trick. :)

Thank you szecsuani, great advise. I will keep working on it , i'm sure he'll get it soon, he does such a perfect crawl. I've never had any of my dogs do it so naturally. Fun fun!! Thanks for the help!

Sarha & Wit
 

sarhaspups

New Member
YAY! Wit's catching on. Here is a short video of him crawling towards me. This was the first time I had done it this way. :) We are making progress. Thanks everyone for the advise and suggestions.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3SoangxgWA&feature=channel_page[/media]

Sarha
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
Looks like he's doing great!! Very cute. He's catching on quickly; Mud had a little more difficulty with this one. Keep it up!
 

sarhaspups

New Member
Thanks ladies. He did it all on his own, I didn't teach it to him, lol. Just need to practice and he'll have it down. First time I've been able to teach this one, my others don't like this trick.
Happy training!!
Sarha
 
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