Cross Your Paws
- Thread starter goingnowhere
- Start date
tigerlily46514
Honored Member
Fly, my dog also struggled with this trick.
He found it hard to keep using his RIGHT leg only when i began crossing over his left leg, he automatically wanted to use his left leg. He also squiggled his entire body to avoid crossing his paw over, but, we did get past that...
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but Buddy actually got annoyed, when i began training the SECOND leg...honked Buddy right off! His face showed total disgust when his previously rewarded right leg was now being ignored, as i tried to teach him to cross his LEFT leg now...
.
He was like, "no way! all week long, you wanted ONLY my right leg, and NOW, you are ignoring my right leg? what is up!"
ha ha. I had to keep breaking up the training with tricks he DID know well, to keep him in good enough mood to persevere, lol!
He found it hard to keep using his RIGHT leg only when i began crossing over his left leg, he automatically wanted to use his left leg. He also squiggled his entire body to avoid crossing his paw over, but, we did get past that...
.
but Buddy actually got annoyed, when i began training the SECOND leg...honked Buddy right off! His face showed total disgust when his previously rewarded right leg was now being ignored, as i tried to teach him to cross his LEFT leg now...
.
He was like, "no way! all week long, you wanted ONLY my right leg, and NOW, you are ignoring my right leg? what is up!"
ha ha. I had to keep breaking up the training with tricks he DID know well, to keep him in good enough mood to persevere, lol!
fly30
Experienced Member
tigerlily, we have the same kind of dog lol ! I don't train too much on that trick because she doesn't really like it. I don't have the problem with the left leg, she's happy to try the right one but she's right handed, we noticed that at herding. Maybe your Buddy is left handed.
tigerlily46514
Honored Member
lol, we did persevere, i had to keep moving room to room, and keep interrupting the cross-paws training with other tricks, and swap out treats to include pretty high value things, etc etc,
and he did get it, but, it took two weeks!!! wow. But now, he likes cue fine,
but, before he 'got it', he did NOT like trying to figure it out, but now,
he can do it sitting, and standing and lying down. Yay!
but, yeah, Buddy did NOT like to use his left leg, not sure whether he is right-pawed,
or whether he was just annoyed to find out, all that big praise
for right leg last week, is not working now.....now i want LEFT leg...very annoying, said Buddy!
Must have felt like a rip-off to Buddy, there he was,
performing his right leg perfectly, and getting no praise at all.....
and he did get it, but, it took two weeks!!! wow. But now, he likes cue fine,
but, before he 'got it', he did NOT like trying to figure it out, but now,he can do it sitting, and standing and lying down. Yay!
but, yeah, Buddy did NOT like to use his left leg, not sure whether he is right-pawed,
or whether he was just annoyed to find out, all that big praise
for right leg last week, is not working now.....now i want LEFT leg...very annoying, said Buddy! Must have felt like a rip-off to Buddy, there he was,performing his right leg perfectly, and getting no praise at all.....
tigerlily46514
Honored Member
no wait, scrolling back, i see this trick took Buddy almost an entire month to master! wow! I did wait a lil while before starting on left foot....I think even learning to shake his head "no" took less time....
Overtime, i've learned something about Buddy, he MUCH prefers and 'gets' tricks which involve his whole body. Not like one piece of his body only. Real simple one-body-part cues, like "Shake hands" he gets those easy enough, but, a complicated, multi-step cue which involves only 1 part of his body, he gets frustrated easily on *those* kinds of tricks,
and i have to then break up training it with other cues,
reward heavily with various types of treats,
and move room to room, etc etc,
to keep him at it.
lol. he's so cute i can't STAND it.
Overtime, i've learned something about Buddy, he MUCH prefers and 'gets' tricks which involve his whole body. Not like one piece of his body only. Real simple one-body-part cues, like "Shake hands" he gets those easy enough, but, a complicated, multi-step cue which involves only 1 part of his body, he gets frustrated easily on *those* kinds of tricks,
and i have to then break up training it with other cues,
reward heavily with various types of treats,
and move room to room, etc etc,
to keep him at it.
lol. he's so cute i can't STAND it.
We are STILL having problems with this!!!
I finally put my foot on top of his left paw, holding it in place, so he'd quit moving over! It seems to have worked! I slowly put less and less of my foot on his, until it was just off the end of his toe, he'd do it right once or twice, then he'd move sideways again! We're fine if there's a solid target, but as soon as we remove the target and start using my hand, he starts moving!!! So I think I'll just work on building muscle memory for now, do ten repetitions each session with my foot holding his left foot in place, then maybe after a week or so, we may just get that he cant move sideways!
AARG, why does a dog who can do complicated tricks like a backwards figure eight have trouble with something so simple!!!
I finally put my foot on top of his left paw, holding it in place, so he'd quit moving over! It seems to have worked! I slowly put less and less of my foot on his, until it was just off the end of his toe, he'd do it right once or twice, then he'd move sideways again! We're fine if there's a solid target, but as soon as we remove the target and start using my hand, he starts moving!!! So I think I'll just work on building muscle memory for now, do ten repetitions each session with my foot holding his left foot in place, then maybe after a week or so, we may just get that he cant move sideways!
AARG, why does a dog who can do complicated tricks like a backwards figure eight have trouble with something so simple!!!
It's driving me bananas! I feel quite dumb that I cant teach him something so simple! At least you can be dumb with me, then I wont feel lonely! LOL I'm joking. I think it has alot to do with previous tricks I've taught with paws and targets and such, not to mention crawl and growl LOL he works all that into the cross paws trick! Patience... Patience... patience! I need patience! LOL
fly30
Experienced Member
Yes let's get dumb and joke together !
When I think that my previous dog used to lie down naturally with her paws crossed !
Fly wants her target. I use a small flat plastic lid. Sometimes it slides away when she puts her paw on it and she stands up and would spend hours if I let her to try and get it back, put in back in place and go back to the exercise. All this highly excited of course
tigerlily46514
Honored Member
Buddy thought this trick was confusing too. I had a lot of trouble getting him to cross his leg over, too,
but, then,
when i tried to train his OTHER leg----
i'd *HOPED* learning the first leg would help him "get it", but NOPE.
STill, a bunch of body shifting, offering wrong paw, zoning out on me, etc etc.
.
THEN he reeeeally got annoyed, gave me a dirty look even, for ignoring his 'first' leg being performed so well. All that praise for his 'first' leg, was now, earning him no att'n. Very confusing to Buddy. And i used an entirely different 'target' for the second leg.
i had to keep moving us from room to room, outdoors, switching up rewards, mixing in tricks he KNOWS to keep Buddy in good mood about it all, lol.
.
Buddy had a lot of trouble with this one, too. mmmMmm.
.
i'm starting to notice,
no one yet, has posted anything like, "Oh, my dog got this trick very readily."
(or *maybe*, there ARE dogs who easily 'get this' easily,?
but our fellow members here don't mention that -- so we don't feel bad about ourselves? lol)
but, then,
when i tried to train his OTHER leg----
i'd *HOPED* learning the first leg would help him "get it", but NOPE.
STill, a bunch of body shifting, offering wrong paw, zoning out on me, etc etc.
.
THEN he reeeeally got annoyed, gave me a dirty look even, for ignoring his 'first' leg being performed so well. All that praise for his 'first' leg, was now, earning him no att'n. Very confusing to Buddy. And i used an entirely different 'target' for the second leg.
i had to keep moving us from room to room, outdoors, switching up rewards, mixing in tricks he KNOWS to keep Buddy in good mood about it all, lol.
.
Buddy had a lot of trouble with this one, too. mmmMmm.
.
i'm starting to notice,
no one yet, has posted anything like, "Oh, my dog got this trick very readily."
(or *maybe*, there ARE dogs who easily 'get this' easily,?
but our fellow members here don't mention that -- so we don't feel bad about ourselves? lol)
Ollie and I have FINALLY got this trick!!! (well, right over left)
Seems, if he's in a bow, he can cross his paws without moving his left paw We discovered this by accident, and now, we've got this thing mastered!!! LOL I think he just needed the trick to be more complicated than it was 
Silly monster...
After getting the cross solid in the bow position, we went back and proofed it in a down and a sit...
But now, for the dreaded left over right...
Seems, if he's in a bow, he can cross his paws without moving his left paw
We discovered this by accident, and now, we've got this thing mastered!!! LOL I think he just needed the trick to be more complicated than it was Silly monster... After getting the cross solid in the bow position, we went back and proofed it in a down and a sit...
But now, for the dreaded left over right...
Anneke
Honored Member
Cooper has it down, right over left, that is. Left over right needs a little work, still, but we do have it on cue.
Jinx on the other hand... I think I need to join this support group She will bend and twist her body to touch my hand, I was trying to fade out my handtarget, but she hasn't put the link to crossing her paws. Then I tried a different approach, using a plastic lid as a target. When the lid is on her left paw, she will touch it every time, with her right paw. But as soon as I put the lid next to her left paw, she will use her left paw to touch it. Why use your right paw? Left is closer!
Jinx on the other hand... I think I need to join this support group
She will bend and twist her body to touch my hand, I was trying to fade out my handtarget, but she hasn't put the link to crossing her paws. Then I tried a different approach, using a plastic lid as a target. When the lid is on her left paw, she will touch it every time, with her right paw. But as soon as I put the lid next to her left paw, she will use her left paw to touch it. Why use your right paw? Left is closer!
srdogtrainer
Experienced Member
This trick was a huge challenge for River! It took months for him to understand. He has it down pretty well now.
srdogtrainer
Experienced Member
That's really good for only her fourth training session!
tigerlily46514
Honored Member
Nice work everyone!!!
lolz, my dog kept scooching around and using the paw closest to the target. But he finally understood to cross his paw.
but then...when i tried to teach 2nd leg, Buddy got most obviously annoyed that his 1st leg was no longer being rewarded! poor guy, just honked Buddy right off. He refused to play
for a while,-----------so i had to change up the treats, ^the praise, move from room to room, and intersperse tricks he DID know well, to keep his at that 2nd leg...
but he finally got it. This was very hard trick for Buddy but he did learn it.
Buddy can cross paws in a sit,
a stand
and a lie down.
but
He much prefers crossing paws in a sit,
and keeping him in lie-down to cross paws, he still often tries to sit, lol. It takes some coaxing to get Buddy to cross paws in a lie down, no idea why. In a sit, he'll do it all day long, but in a lie down, he acts like it is so hard. no idea why that is.
lolz, my dog kept scooching around and using the paw closest to the target. But he finally understood to cross his paw.
but then...when i tried to teach 2nd leg, Buddy got most obviously annoyed
that his 1st leg was no longer being rewarded! poor guy, just honked Buddy right off. He refused to play for a while,-----------so i had to change up the treats, ^the praise, move from room to room, and intersperse tricks he DID know well, to keep his at that 2nd leg...but he finally got it. This was very hard trick for Buddy but he did learn it.
Buddy can cross paws in a sit,
a stand
and a lie down.
but
He much prefers crossing paws in a sit,
and keeping him in lie-down to cross paws, he still often tries to sit, lol. It takes some coaxing to get Buddy to cross paws in a lie down, no idea why. In a sit, he'll do it all day long, but in a lie down, he acts like it is so hard. no idea why that is.
tigerlily46514
Honored Member
isn't it funny how some tricks are hard for a particular dog,
even if they seem simple to us humans?
and other tricks, which seem more difficult, multi-step tricks,
like "pick up toys" Buddy got right off. Easily.
go figure.
even if they seem simple to us humans?
and other tricks, which seem more difficult, multi-step tricks,
like "pick up toys" Buddy got right off. Easily.
go figure.
southerngirl
Honored Member
I'm so proud of Missy I've only done two sessions with her on teaching cross paws and she's doing it with the target , now I just have to take the target away and hopefully that won't confuse her. Crossing my fingers.
, now I just have to take the target away and hopefully that won't confuse her. Crossing my fingers.