Moonwalk?

Are you talking about the dog pushing with her front legs and pushing herself backwards and sliding while in a lying down position? Or is it a basic crawl backwards? Or walking backwards in a bow position? (I found a couple of variations on Youtube, including a standing version, so I thought I'd just ask.)

If the trick is the sliding backwards version, is the surface slippery enough? Does she already have a "back" command (walking backwards)?
 
I taught Oliver by having him in the bow, then, using the target stick, moving it back between his front legs, then slowly shaping the behaviour. He now goes about 4 feet without the target stick. I use the cue "Scoot" :)
 
OK. I took a look at it. I worked on it a few minutes, maybe 2-5 and was able to get about 3 or 4 small steps back several times. The bad news is, you need 3 hands. The good news is, if your dog is not intimidated by you being very close and touching her, you can work through it anyway. I used luring. But you need to be able to touch her on top of the shoulders and under the tuck a few times just to remind her of where her body needs to be. (It also helped that she is not a large dog and I could reach everything I needed.) So, I lured from behind her front legs (behind her elbows) while on my knees and bending slightly over her and barely touched her in front of her hind legs if she wanted to go to a full down (old fashioned way of teaching a stand). I did this a few times after I figured out what I needed to do. She went into the down a few times, but I just kept putting her back in a bow. It looked really weird, because she was crooking her neck beneath her chest, but she kept her elbows on the floor or almost touching the floor. At first, I clicked for any rear foot movement while in the proper position. When she got that (backing up a few steps), I asked for the same position and then lured her (pushing motion) from in front of her chest but behind her chin without touching her anywhere else. And it worked. She did a few small steps backwards several times. It was a lot of fun. Of course, she also offered me a couple of crawls and some limps. Great sign, as I am currently working on crawl and she was confident enough in that trick to offer it to me on her own. We finished up with a good crawl and then Barney got a turn to "play tricks".

You could also probably put her in the bow and try luring between the front legs like Sara did, but the touches really told her what I wanted and I wasn't pushing or anything like that. That is the second step that I used with Sundog. Whichever way works for you is the best way.

Caveat: Sundog has a lot of flexibility and excellent core strength. The "brisket stretch" is not new to her (bending her head towards her chest), since it is something we worked on in therapy ball class.

I'll keep that trick and develop it some more. She's over the hump, so we'll get it good eventually.
 
Thanks for the help. I tried having her in a bow and being really close to her than I tried luring her backwards with a treat between her legs but she didn't get it. When she isn't getting a trick she goes to a corner and rolls over on her belly with her tail tucked.:( I'll try it again today maybe she'll get it this time. SD&B when Sundog learns the trick could you post a video, I would love to see her doing it.
 
southerngirl said:
Thanks for the help. I tried having her in a bow and being really close to her than I tried luring her backwards with a treat between her legs but she didn't get it. When she isn't getting a trick she goes to a corner and rolls over on her belly with her tail tucked.:( I'll try it again today maybe she'll get it this time. SD&B when Sundog learns the trick could you post a video, I would love to see her doing it.
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Hi Southerngirl,

I posted a video of us working on it. It's still really rough, but she has the basic idea. We'll develop it from here.

SD&B
 
Here's our 4th training session today. Our training sessions are usually just 5min. maybe longer so I do several throughout the day. I don't praise her a whole bunch because she will go nuts and grab anything in sight wanting to play so I keep her somewhat calm. Sorry for the music in the background.

 
southerngirl said:
Here's our 4th training session today. Our training sessions are usually just 5min. maybe longer so I do several throughout the day. I don't praise her a whole bunch because she will go nuts and grab anything in sight wanting to play so I keep her somewhat calm. Sorry for the music in the background.

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She's got it!!! You must have found the sweet spot. Looking great!(y)(y)(y)

Yes, it's a good idea to know your dog's excitability threshold. She appeared happy, but not too excited to train. You both did a great job.
 
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