FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS

Training these two skills first will allow your dog to more easily learn many of the strengthening and conditioning exercises listed below.

  • This exercise is a prerequisite for many of the conditioning exercises, so it is worth putting in the time to teach this skill. Select any object that has a small height or change in texture (frisbee, low board, bumpy mat, etc). This will allow the dog to easily distinguish between the ground and the target he needs to put his front feet on.

    This exercise is easily done with shaping. Have treats ready to reward with in your hands. Put the target on the ground. Allow your dog to think through the exercise. Look at the target (not the dog), keep your hands and body still and be quiet. You can mark (Yes or click with clicker) and reward when the dog looks at the target. Reward by placing the treat directly on the target for the dog to eat. Once the dog understands to look at the target, wait for him to move to the target while looking at it (feed on the target). Then wait for the dog to put one foot on the target, then two feet on the target.

    Once the dog is placing his feet on the target, reward from a treat in your hand. If your dog sits or gets stuck, get him moving by tossing a treat away from the target. The dog should turn back to you and offer more behavior. Increase the amount of time he must keep his feet still on the target before being rewarded. Reward at the dog’s head height.

    To begin a new repetition, carefully toss or place a treat to either side and behind the dog, so he circles away from the target. He will eat the treat and turn back towards you and the target to try again. You can advance to having your dog place his front feet on different objects of various heights and stability (rubber feed bins, FitPAW balance discs/bones, etc).

    Shaping targeting behavior

    Link to video example

    Finished targeting behavior

    Link to video example

  • This exercise is a prerequisite for many of the conditioning exercises, so it is worth putting in the time to teach this skill. This exercise also strengthens the dog’s hind-end. Select any object with a change in texture (frisbee, bumpy mat, carpet square, etc). This will allow the dog to easily distinguish between the ground and the target he needs to put his hind feet on. If your dog has trouble keeping his hind feet squarely under him, you can have a target with a lip or edge on either side of their hind feet. In the video, pvc is attached to the front and sides of a carpet square.

    Have treats ready to reward with in your hands. Put the target on the ground in sight of the dog. Lure your dog with treats so the dog walks his front feet on the target first and then his back feet on the target. You will be walking backwards with the dog following you to allow the dog space to move over the target. You can mark (Yes or click with clicker) and reward when the dog stops with his back feet on the target. If the dog does not keep his hind feet on the target, stand still, be quiet and wait to see if he moves his hind feet to find the target on his own.  Increase the amount of time he must keep his feet still on the target before being rewarded. Reward at the dog’s head height. To begin a new repetition, simply repeat the above steps. Once the dog has mastered the flat target, the target can be raised off the ground or angled. At this point, you can add a back up to the hind feet target.

    Link to video example