Mud's Progress

[tx_cowgirl]

Yay! ^^ Lol, I've been working with Mud on backing up on command. As school limits my time with the dogs, her training has kind of been set on the backburner, no matter how much I wish it wasn't. Well, the last month or so I've had a little less homework so I've taken advantage of the extra time. I randomly chose to start working on backing up, as this one doesn't take too long to learn, and if I were to suddenly be overwhelmed with homework it wouldn't hurt her too much. So, in the first training session(yes, the first...the first 10 minutes or so actually) she was responding very well to both the vocal command and then hand signal. After maybe ten tries with stimulus(feel free to ask if this doesn't make sense), all I had to do was give the command, or give the hand signal, or both, and she would back up a few steps(and yes, straight). I decided I wanted her to back up a little quicker and further, so I went back to the stimulus during the second training session(the very next day). She picked up very quickly, and within a few tries she was backing up further and faster on command flawlessly. Of course, being her first couple sessions, this was with little-no distractions. We are now progressing to very mild distractions, and she's doing excellent. ^^ We've also been working on crawl, and we kind of hit a roadblock with "say your prayers." Since it's a more complicated trick, I don't want to have her be doing well and then have a school project or something and not have time to work with her. So, we're working on some simpler tricks for now. But anywho...I was just happy with her progress and wanted to share. :doglaugh: Yay....lol.
Which also brought me to a question....I may have overlooked it, but is there/will there be a lesson on backing up on DTA?

 

[Jean Cote]

My dog knows how to back up, I just haven't recorded and written the lesson yet. I must admit that I too, have been slacking off working on the website. But winter is coming and I plan on adding a lot of lessons!!

P.S. Good job on teaching your dog how to back up! It's one of my funnest tricks cuz it gives you opportunities to work at a distance from your dog.

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Yeah, school kills my time to work with my animals. But anyway...yes, I like this trick. I also think that it is beneficial with dogs that tend to crowd your space(crotch-sniffers, obsessive lickers, jumpers, etc) because it teaches them to respect your space.

 

[l_l_a]

Way to go!!

My dog doesn't know how to back up yet, it's on our list of tricks to learn!

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Thank you. ^^ Good luck with it. =) Lol, my list of tricks to learn is almost never-ending....I'm always looking for new things to teach my dogs. :dogwub:

 

[CollieMan]

Back is something that I've tried but Ellie just wasn't getting it. I need to approach it from a new angle I think. Glad to hear you and yours are mastering it though!

 

[tx_cowgirl]

What technique were you using? There are several different techniques for this one, so sometimes it can be tricky figuring out which one really works for you and your dog. I'm sure you won't give up on her. ^^ You seem to really work well together. :dogsmile:

 

[CollieMan]

I think, at the moment, she's still too young to be fully aware of what's going on behind her, so we'll work on different tricks while her coordination builds.

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Good point. =) I think dogs really aren't completely aware they even have a rear end. Lol. I taught Zeke how to back up when he was three months old, and he did really well...but Mud's four, and since I adopted her at three years old I didn't get to start that early. Rusty on the other hand has no idea what the reverse gear is, lol. He's not so great at that one...

 

[l_l_a]

oh my dog is two and half years old and I swear he doesn't know what his rear end is doing half the time!! Doing a Roll-Over is this herculean effort for him! He knows what to do, but it's always this big deal where he has to spin around to wind himself up with enough momentum, he can't just roll over casually and effortlesly the way most dogs do. I need to get him into agility or freestyle to help develop his body awareness!

Does dog-to-dog play develop body awareness? He goes to dog parks very often where he wrestles with other dogs, certainly they are rolling around, jumping over each other, hip-checking and body-slamming each other but with super self control...does that help him develop body-awareness? He still looks so uncoordinated, when he's all excited he barrels down the stairs in a way that makes me worry he's gonna wipe out any second. but maybe that' just because he has a long body so he looks so uncoordinated....?

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Lol! Hmm...I would assume that this could be beneficial. I would think that agility could be really good for his coordination. Having him do all kinds of challenging activities that require balance and body awareness are excellent. For instance, maybe jogging or something on rough terrain, teaching him to pick up each paw individually, various jump heights, etc. You can teach him to back up in a narrow hallway to help him learn how to steer that rear-end. At first he will probably back into the wall, but he'll learn in time how to keep himself in line. For a while he will probably need something straight to guide off of(wall, fence, etc), but he'll catch on and soon enough he'll know how to back up with nothing at all. ^^ And eventually you could even get him to back up the stairs. That's good for his coordination too. =)

 

[tx_cowgirl]

A horse exercise that many people use is several small poles fairly close together that they have to pass over. The are short enough that they do not have to jump, but they have to pay attention to their legs and hooves to move over them fluidly without hitting any of the poles. I suppose you could use this type of activity with dogs, too. Weave poles would be good also.

 

[dakotamom421]

dakota was having a hard time learning back up also so i started asking him to do it while playing ball and when he was really excited and watching the ball i would walk towards him and signal with my hand, the first couple of steps were jumps to the side but he then started to back up onse i got a step back i would click and throw the ball. He was so interested in the ball that he didnt realise that he was backing up. now he will do it any time with the signal or just the comand.

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Good. ^^ We're working on distractions with Mud, and we just started spin. She's doing great. ^^ Friday she's going to have a little reunion with the shelter I adopted her from. They're having an open house that I'm volunteering for, and I decided to let her tag along, so we'll see how it goes. ^^ Great job with Dakota!