Rear foot targeting help

Saeleofu

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#1
Okay, I think Logan's just...really thick about this. I have been trying and trying to get Logan to do rear-foot targeting and he just doesn't get it. I click for ANY hind foot movement, but he almost always moves either a front leg or his head at the same time...so he assumes I'm clicking for the front leg/head movement. If I click for back leg movement ONLY he gets frustrated and start trying stuff that has worked in the past. This has been going on for a while, but I have stopped training the last few weeks because it's frustrating for both of us. He's in desperate need of rear end awareness. Is there a better way of going about doing this? Or some exercise(s) we can do to sort of "prime" him for rear-end-learning? It's like his back end belongs to a completely different dog. Gavroche is slow-going, too, but NOT LIKE THIS! Gavroche is actually making progress.
 

Zoom

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#2
One thing I learned in the few agility classes and such I took...have him walk through a laid down ladder. If he doesn't pay attention to where his back feet are at, he's going to trip. Enough repetitions and he should learn to pay attention to where his rear feet are at?

Sawyer has rather poor hind end awareness too, whereas I'm pretty sure I could teach Marley to jump rope, because she can skip over her long-line like nobody's business.
 

stardogs

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#4
Kes had a similar issue. We used Michelle's technique with the platform and VOILA partial handstand in about 15 mins of work! <3 her technique!

ETA: We were at the same CE session the blog link posted above mentioned! :D
 

Saeleofu

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#6
Okay, using platforms sounds awesome. I like perch-work for pivots and the like, so this is very similar. What do you use as a platform? Logan's fairly large, so I'm having a hard time thinking of something that's high enough to get him off-balance if he steps off. I would imagine that for a lot of things something flat and contrasty would work, but for hind feet it sounds like being raised above the ground a bit is very important.
 

CharlieDog

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#7
Okay, using platforms sounds awesome. I like perch-work for pivots and the like, so this is very similar. What do you use as a platform? Logan's fairly large, so I'm having a hard time thinking of something that's high enough to get him off-balance if he steps off. I would imagine that for a lot of things something flat and contrasty would work, but for hind feet it sounds like being raised above the ground a bit is very important.
I used a food bowl. First I taught them to keep their front feet ON the bowl, and then started clicking for rear foot movement. That really differentiated between the two. Enzo is very aware of my body language, so moving into her makes her move either toward or away from me depending on what my upper half is doing. so it was easy to click for rear feet toward or away from me. Then putting it on cue was easy enough. I used "get in" for movement towards me, until she was in heel position, and "around" for movement away to go into right side heel position. She was basically pivoting around in a circle at first on the bowl though, then I added myself to the equation, and removed the bowl. She got it fairly quickly, though it's been awhile since we've done any of this.
 

Saeleofu

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#8
A food bowl works for perch work, but this is a bit different (only slightly). From the picture and description, it sounds like the whole dog needs to fit on the platform.

I have a folding table, and the top of it is probably the right size, and it's maybe an inch and a half thick. Would that be enough height?
 

stardogs

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#9
I made a platform out of several foam mats duct taped together. An exercise step works well, too. It helps to have a dog who is magnetized to the full body (all four feet on) platform before starting.
 

CharlieDog

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#10
Well that was my bad for not even looking at the article lol.

If you can find one, a plastic coke crate for the cans works well. It makes the dog collect themselves a bit better because it's smaller, and I used one with Knox. Knox is probably 10 pounds lighter than Logan, so I don't know if you might have tipping over issues with it or not.

If the folding table is the right size, I'd try that at least. It seems less likely than a can crate to flip over if the dog is off balance to one side at least.
 

SaraB

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#12
I taught Keegan to walk up stairs backward. ;)
I was going to suggest this. It really helps show the dog that you want them to move their back feet.

As far as platforms go, I use plastic totes for my dogs. Granted they are smaller, but if you got one of those plastic totes that slides under the bed, that would work.

As long as it's high enough for him to easily find it with his back feet, you are good.
 

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