Teaching Back Up

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pattymac

New Member
I tried searching for this but couldn't get it to work. I didn't see anything in the lessons either. I see all these dogs weaving backwards and stuff and I'm getting jealous!! Bayley is working on her crawl and yesterday she actually offered it to get a ball..yipee!! She also has her BANG down with just a word cue. Now we have to work on speeding it up a bit.

Anyway any tips for teaching back would be great.:doghappy:
 
Backing up is really hard for dogs. I often start by having a wall on one side, and a barrier on the other so it makes a little channel for the dog. If he can't go forward, cause i'm there, and he can't go sideways, the only way for a dog to go is backwards. You can either free shape it by waiting for your dog to offer one paw going backwards, or lure it by walking into him. Just reward the tiniest motion in the beginning though. Gradually start moving your barrier away, and then do it away from the wall. If you're walking into them, get rid of that too so the dog can back away from you.

You can also try placing the treat between your legs so the dog has to back up after eating it. Then click the back up and throw the treat between your legs again!

If you're trying to walk into them and the dog sits you can try holding a treat in front of you at nose level. If your treat is too high it makes them want to sit.

I've also worked on the dog walking backwards between my legs, and then backing up to get to my legs. I reinforce heavily for the dog standing there, then take a couple steps backwards. Once they can do that, click for backing up with me and then throw a treat 6in in front of me. When the dog eats it, he should back up to get back between your legs since that's a reinforcing position, so i click that backing up and throw it in front of me again, gradually throwing it further and further away. Good luck! I've also seen this video on youtube before that i like

[MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLY0EgF5vjY[/MEDIA]
 
Fickla's given you great advice. :) The backwards weaving is extremely difficult, much more advanced than simple backing. Your dog will really need to master the back very thoroughly. You'll probably have more questions to post here in the lounge once you start that one. :) Good luck!
 
Lol glad to hear you're having progress Snooks!

Mud will back through my legs...but we are so far from the backwards weave I'm kind of at a loss. :dogblink: We're sticking to it, but we're going to have to find some kind of alternative way to learn. Mud's not catching on. We'll get there though. :)
 
I find that getting standing in a corner (couch or walls) after having taught a back that they will follow a lure around a corner backward hugging my legs. If I move a foot or so away from the wall behind me and they hug my legs I consider that they are getting it and thinking. Now is when I start the word cue. Next would be using target stick so that the lure is gone and more thinking is necessary. I'm combining that with the forward and backward walk between legs with me. If I push the lure behind-between my legs like a football hike they'll back through my legs. A target stick would be next. I'm hoping to combine the two.

In any event teaching a good with me or engaged eye contact or attention is the key. I have best results with this waiting until the dog gets bored and looks away and spitting a treat. If I get to it before she does then I pick it up and say too bad and act like I'm eating it. I'll pop a fresh one in my mouth and depending on how attentive I may show it to them between my teeth or hide it behind lips so they must guess. This worked very well for agility where the dog was really distracted, at a distance, and running. Once she got that laser focus down she and I did great. One caution, if you don't practice they lose the focus and you need to retrain it. My big girl is out of practice but soon to get back in. :doghappy:
 
What I tried was standing kind of mid-stride close to the couch, and stopping her in between my legs where she would back into the couch and turn alongside my leg. She will do that now even away from the couch, but the curling around my leg for the next stride is what isn't clicking. I was told to try using my click stick(retractable target stick with a clicker on it) on one side of her as a barrier, so that she would curl the rest of the way around my leg. But with Mud, I really think it would be more of a "trap" and she would rush forward rather than curling backward away from the "barrier." A corner is a good idea though. I think learning to back through weave poles would be easier for her, and help her bridge into the backwards leg weave. But I don't know. Kind of at a loss. :dogblink: This one's really stumping us. I know how to teach it but perhaps I'm having trouble applying it?? I can't tell if it's her or me or both, lol.
 
Dude backs up brilliantly!

I discovered the treat under the chin trick too and it works brilliantly, doesnt it? I cant wait to teach him a backward weave but I think with him never having done a forward weave, its a tad ambitious lol!
 
Who says you can't do backward first. If he's backing brilliantly he doesn't care if he weaves forward first. That's the beauty of a doggie brain. Give it a go. Buddy's really smart maybe it's not too ambitious. :dogrolleyes:
 
snooks;15345 said:
Who says you can't do backward first. If he's backing brilliantly he doesn't care if he weaves forward first. That's the beauty of a doggie brain. Give it a go. Buddy's really smart maybe it's not too ambitious. :dogrolleyes:
Click to expand...


You know, youre right! I have no idea how rto teach a bacward weave but I am going to give it a whirl. I will have to get some of those poles, wont I? Or maybe I could try with traffic cones??
 
Did you see the link to azoogle's you tube stuff and Silvia Trkman for help? I'm using a little azoogle now but need to look for DVD's and books this week. I'll share what I run across.
 
With the backup I found that using the clicker and expecting only one or two steps at first worked quickly and then I built on it from there. There's a couple of easy ways, one is with the dog standing between your legs and a lure encourage one or two steps back at a time. Your legs will help to keep the dog straight and it is easy to add a neat spin in front of you with the dog ending it by comming back between your legs in one fluid movement. Another is to stand directly in front of the dog with its focus on you and step in towards the dog the dog will usually take a step or two back, click even a single movement backwards you would be surprised how quick one or two steps become much more. Once you have the basics there are lots of variations, including the dog backing to you at a distance. Here is a video of my girl which includes some of her backup movements, might want to turn the volume down though, the human is a real pain.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICeUG4vPW9U[/media]
 
snooks;15345 said:
Who says you can't do backward first. If he's backing brilliantly he doesn't care if he weaves forward first. That's the beauty of a doggie brain. Give it a go. Buddy's really smart maybe it's not too ambitious. :dogrolleyes:
Click to expand...

yvonne;15352 said:
You know, youre right! I have no idea how rto teach a bacward weave but I am going to give it a whirl. I will have to get some of those poles, wont I? Or maybe I could try with traffic cones??
Click to expand...

I struggled with this trick initially and then found an easier way with the help of my dog. She already knew the backup but we had some trouble translating it to a smooth backward weave. That was until I taught her to swing into my side and then it was just a matter of extending the swing further around. I did this using backleg awareness exercises, frontlegs on a telephone book (c/t) for keeping them there, then with me at her side I would take one step at a time away from her side and encourage her into my side still keeping the front legs on the telephone book. The result as we built up the number of steps was a neat rear pivot that was later translated to a pivot around my leg. If you have taught the pivot on both sides then whalla! you then soon have a backward weave when combined. You will find your dog will have a preference for pivoting one way more than the other. Always start the backward weave with the dog a little ahead of the heel position so that when it swings its butt it easily comes between your legs. Expect a few bruises if your dog is enthusiastic. Hope this helps.:dogsmile:
 
ozjen;15406 said:
With the backup I found that using the clicker and expecting only one or two steps at first worked quickly and then I built on it from there. There's a couple of easy ways, one is with the dog standing between your legs and a lure encourage one or two steps back at a time. Your legs will help to keep the dog straight and it is easy to add a neat spin in front of you with the dog ending it by comming back between your legs in one fluid movement. Another is to stand directly in front of the dog with its focus on you and step in towards the dog the dog will usually take a step or two back, click even a single movement backwards you would be surprised how quick one or two steps become much more. Once you have the basics there are lots of variations, including the dog backing to you at a distance. Here is a video of my girl which includes some of her backup movements, might want to turn the volume down though, the human is a real pain.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICeUG4vPW9U[/media]
Click to expand...


This is a great video! I watched it on you tube, rated it and left a comment too :)

Well done!
 
snooks;15398 said:
Did you see the link to azoogle's you tube stuff and Silvia Trkman for help? I'm using a little azoogle now but need to look for DVD's and books this week. I'll share what I run across.
Click to expand...


I saw the Silvia Trkman but I must have missed azoogle on you tube, do you have a link please Snooks?.

Went to class today and Dude was good, but not as good as he was on Monday. Today he was in a 'sniffy' mood :dogrolleyes:
 
Thanks xena that is interesting. I'll give it a go today. I've been working on the forward and back between my legs and puppy really caught on well. we'll try the book pivot and continue some couch backing since it's FREEZING outside today and fresh snow. :dogwink: Sounds like good doggie indoors activity to head off boredom to me.

Yvonne the link for azoogle is http://www.youtube.com/user/Azoogle. Wait until you the spins this dog can do... whew! She got a backwards spinning video that is pretty amazing.
 
snooks;15418 said:
Thanks xena that is interesting. I'll give it a go today. I've been working on the forward and back between my legs and puppy really caught on well. we'll try the book pivot and continue some couch backing since it's FREEZING outside today and fresh snow. :dogwink: Sounds like good doggie indoors activity to head off boredom to me.

Yvonne the link for azoogle is http://www.youtube.com/user/Azoogle. Wait until you the spins this dog can do... whew! She got a backwards spinning video that is pretty amazing.
Click to expand...


Thanks Snooks,

I took a look and its amazing!! I also saw a video for teaching a recall and its brilliant. Why do I find theses things just as Dude begins to catch on lol!!
 
Same reason I do. LOL My timing is fixed at working harder than needed. :dogrolleyes: If I find out how to fix that I'll let u know. :msngiggle:
 
I had a very difficult time teaching my deaf terrier to back up. I got a channel going between my couch and ottoman, and finally figured out which sign to use that worked for her, I found that using 2 hands flat palms towards the dog and waving forward and back got her backing up straight worked. I use a thumbs up for a visual clicker. a few steps at a time and we finally got it. now Scout can back up in front, at heel and around me in a circle... now to expand it into a weave. She will not work away from me so I dont ever see a back up from a distance ever working, but I can only try.... lol
 
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