Trick of the Week: Perch

Oh my. Commanding dogs to balance on things in the great outdoors is so different from asking for it indoors.

Bodhi was manic. As per usual. But managed 3 feet on the block! Fred was doing well till it toppled and that put him off, but we did get a couple on the block.

Think this is going to be a mission!!!

What command are people using?

I use an unimaginative "hop-up".

"On" is my cue word - so clever, LOL.

When I'm out and about I use "up up" but this seems to need a separate cue...

I use 'Up Up' for it outside for all objects (trees, rocks, fire hydrant etc.) , getting onto me, inside for getting onto things. My cue is very generalized so they really get that it means get onto the nearest object or what I point to.

Since you're getting her confident inside right now, showing her that it's OK to do this inside, and expanding the definition of your cue I wouldn't worry about having a new one. But I wouldn't keep using your existing cue inside until she has a better idea that you really do want her to get on things inside too.

If that makes sense?

I use perch. Haha.

We had a good session, though Summer is still so sure I want her to hop on and off the object. I may actually go for that because it's cute. And Summer gets to do whatever and be cute.

Mia's session went well. I introduced making the perch really wobbly and you can tell that is a workout for her. It'll be good to get her some more muscle tone/core strength. We also had her spinning on the bigger perch and I got her to stop jumping off. The main issue we're having is she's so tiny that most objects are easy for her to balance on and all the really small objects are very light an she'll jump on them then knock them over and fall. It happened once today and I don't want to do that again. Any ideas on something tiny but weighty she could perch on?

Ok, started trying for a back stall. I'm putting her up in her end table perch then crouching in front of her and luring over my shoulder. She'll put her front feet up but so far no dice with back feet. Soooo....

Got out a casserole pan and put it on the floor upside down. Worked for a long time to get her to think up the idea of trying to put a back foot on it while front feet are already on. Hoping this will help her with the idea that she should try to fit back feet onto places they don't really fit.

Problem with the hounds is they don't take kindly to falling. It super weirds them out.

I wanted to know what a shoulder stall looked like, so I decided to find out myself.

[YOUTUBE]EuW-92WWK1Q[/YOUTUBE]

I'm particularly poofy here because I put on a down vest under my sweatshirt. She clawed my back real good a few times and oooouch. Can't put the vest on over top since it's kind of slick. Now I know why all my disc friends have kevlar sport vests.

E: Link troubles

http://youtu.be/EuW-92WWK1Q

OMG Sekah OMG. That's so awesome.

krissy, you might try working on the "feet in a bowl" game! Start with a really big bowl and then start switching to smaller bowls. It helps them to think about getting their feet into a smaller space. Also they kind of have to balance funny when their feet are in a tiny bowl all crammed together, so it helps!


Got Payton to actually sit on my legs in the knee stall today. I didn't do too much since I did peanut work with him yesterday so I got him on my legs twice and then he sat the third time. Also does anybody else have a dog who tries to hop up on their legs/feet by first stepping on their stomach? Because Payton does that. Jerk.

My dogs are so used to getting up on things and posing for pictures that this was nothing! I made them "sit up" to add something extra. Pirate was too wild to do the paint cans although, I know he could do it if he would just calm down. He was just too excited. I'm really liking the hand perch. Something I may try with Bayleigh!

Pirate

Bayleigh - My photographer couldn't catch her sitting up. Well, kind of...

I love how so many people are getting involved in this TOTW!!!! Love seeing the pictures and videos

Your hands! Seriously, you could fill up a food storage container with dry beans or rice to weight it down.

As a side effect of this trick, Squash's new "I'm bored... if I do this thing you gave me stuffs for earlier, will you give me stuffs now?" behavior is to stand on the stool where it has been put away behind my chair and stare intensely at me. It's quieter than his usual attention-getting ploy (barking) but also much creepier, so I'm considering it a lateral move.

Day 3 of training, Kaia is making some progress. She'll stay standing on her two front feet for a little bit. I have to get my SO to help get her back feet on.

Obligatory "training the dog in my PJs" pic:

Ha! This is where I am with Em, too.

Likewise.

Zinga has been working on that too! Cohen looks like she lands so lightly.

For a 40 pound dog, she's pretty light on her feet!

Would love to see Zinga's progress.

Ha ha, amazing and funny

I'll get some video this weekend.

So this happened.