Jumping Through A Hoop

[brody_smom]

I have been trying this one off and on for a few weeks with no progress. I stand holding the hoop on the ground and lure Brody through it. He will follow the lure fairly well, but as soon as I drop the lure, he just bites the hoop. I probably need to do more work on "leave it", but this seems to be his default behavior any time I present a prop. Either biting or pawing. I don't want to say "leave it" because I am trying to shape interaction with the prop. I have not taught a general "jump" yet, and would like to teach him to jump over my leg as well. He does do "over" for low walls and benches when we are on walks.

 

[kcmetric]

Are you luring him with the treat in your hand and then slowly pulling it through? I would lure by tossing the treat through the hoop (make sure he doesn't just go around the hoop to get it). If he doesn't see that you're tossing to the other side just toss it toward then middle and then slowly toss it a little farther. Eventually don't actually throw the treat, he should go through for it and then give him the treat from your hand. The hand signal will being, of course, as the swinging motion as if tossing the treat.

 

[kassidybc]

Does he stop biting after a little while? If so, you could try shaping the behavior instead of luring. You could say "yes" and reward first when he looks at the hoop, do that a couple of times then say "yes" and reward when he takes a step toward the hoop, and keep progressing like that until he is actually going through the hoop.

 

[brody_smom]

I think I fixed it. I had him sit and stay, then walked about 5 feet away and put the hoop down. I put my hand through the hoop without the treat in it, then quickly pulled it through. He followed my hand, and I clicked when he was all the way through. Then I tossed the treat back to where he had started to reset and did it again. I was able to get him to go through with the hoop about 6 inches off the ground as well. I also found with a little distance between him and the hoop it helped him to pick up a little speed so that he was doing a little hop with his back legs. When he was closer, he would just walk through, and when I raised the hoop a bit, he was getting his back legs caught and wouldn't complete the trick.

 

[kcmetric]

Waaaaaay to make me feel useless to you, hahah!

I'm glad it's coming around

 

[brody_smom]

Waaaaaay to make me feel useless to you, hahah!

I'm glad it's coming around

Not useless, just slow! Just kidding, I had done the work with him yesterday afternoon, before you even posted your reply. It's funny how I can get frustrated with HIM for not doing what I want, or doing what I don't want, without thinking about what I'm doing that frustrates him. I had tried tossing the treat through the hoop, but he would run around and eat it before I had the chance to stop him. Just putting some distance between him and the hoop stopped the biting problem and got him paying more attention to me.

Does he stop biting after a little while? If so, you could try shaping the behavior instead of luring. You could say "yes" and reward first when he looks at the hoop, do that a couple of times then say "yes" and reward when he takes a step toward the hoop, and keep progressing like that until he is actually going through the hoop.

No, he doesn't stop, he will run away with it if I put it down, or tug on it if I hold on. He's a goofball.

 

[kassidybc]

Glad it all worked out!