Won't Stand Up For Step Up

[brody_smom]

@Brodysmom, Brody is a big boy, isn't he? I bet he's strong as an ox too, pound for pound dogs are much stronger than we are, more muscle density. I got to tell you, the more you talk about Brody the more I like him, I bet seeing all that potential in him is very motivating and endearing.

I don't consider him big, 24" at the shoulder, 54 lbs as of one month ago. Haven't weighed/measured lately. But strong when he wants to be, that's for sure! He is a lovely boy, most of the time.

 

[brody_smom]

I used a phone book with Holly.
Ok, Holly is little (6.5kg, 28.4cm at the shoulders), but in class we were using ceramic tiles that are the same size as a phone book and all the dogs used them (I think the biggest dog in the class was a tall lab X), they are not round. I don't think the height is important, you could probaly even use something that's completely flat on the floor as long as the dog understands to keep their feet on it.

I thought it would be easier for them to keep their feet on it if it was higher. For the next part, the moving around, do you just lure her as you move around, like for a "roll over" only standing up? I started doing it this way, and it worked okay, but I'm not sure it's going to get the end result I want. His head is turning too much before his feet follow.

 

[sara]

I did lure this, but At first, I stayed in front of Oliver and I moved, so Oliver had to move his back feet to keep facing me, then I slowly started luring with my hand, in the same way you teach a spin, then phased out me moving, until Oliver had learned to spin completely around the book with his back feet.

In hind sight though, (it took FOREVER to phase out the hand signal, he was so dependent on the luring,) I would teach this only through Shaping... I'm really not liking luring at all anymore.

 

[brody_smom]

I did lure this, but At first, I stayed in front of Oliver and I moved, so Oliver had to move his back feet to keep facing me, then I slowly started luring with my hand, in the same way you teach a spin, then phased out me moving, until Oliver had learned to spin completely around the book with his back feet.

In hind sight though, (it took FOREVER to phase out the hand signal, he was so dependent on the luring,) I would teach this only through Shaping... I'm really not liking luring at all anymore.

I've heard that shaping becomes a lot easier once your dog has learned a few behaviors to offer. Luring is probably a lot faster than shaping before your dog knows how to think.

 

[tylerthegiant]

I am still having trouble on the smaller items getting her to KEEP her feet on there. She's not getting it, and moving her feet off before I give the release. I think I need to back up to bigger items, and then see if I can find items somewhere in the middle between a coffee table and something small and flat on the floor. I don't know what else to do...........

 

[brody_smom]

I am still having trouble on the smaller items getting her to KEEP her feet on there. She's not getting it, and moving her feet off before I give the release. I think I need to back up to bigger items, and then see if I can find items somewhere in the middle between a coffee table and something small and flat on the floor. I don't know what else to do...........

Are you getting her to move yet, or just stand with paws up? I have tried both luring and shaping to get him to elephant walk around the stool, but neither has worked really well. If I just move my hand, he moves his head too much before his back legs follow. If I shape him, he just takes two or three steps left, then two or three steps right. He wants to be facing me, so the best way is for me to move around facing him, and he will follow. I don't hold any treats, I click and treat him every quarter way around. I don't have a hand signal yet, but I don't want to use the same one as "spin", as he will hop right off the stool.

 

[threenorns]

i'm not an expert on great danes, but i do remember reading somewhere that it's not good to encourage deep-chested breeds to roll because of gastric volvulus (their stomachs kinda hang loose, as opposed to the tightly secured guts of the narrower-barrelled breeds, so it's easy for it to flip).