BeezSK Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 Our dog had an accident last week and slipped off the bridge. She didn't hurt herself and we got her back on the bridge and she went across it again a few times (much slower however). Now this week she will not even attempt to go over the bridge and has decided she won't do the teeter anymore either. What can I do to build her confidence back up on these obstacles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted April 13, 2006 Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 Bridge? Is that the same as what we call the dog-walk here? Anyway, I'm sure others will have suggestions, but I think I would be going back to plank on the ground, or raised only slightly. (In other words, go back to foundation contact training. Pretend you're working on correct contacts, and that wil take your focus away from being nervous for the dog. Unless you can lower the teeter, I'd probably be getting someone to hold the end. I'd probably be using food drops along the length of the teeter - just trying to make it really happy for her. I wouldn't worry about speed at this stage, and be very careful not to 'baby' her - keep everything up-beat and happy. A friend's dog had a 'teeter-freak-out' a while ago, and it only took a couple of weeks to get the dog over it - took another couple to get the handler over it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeezSK Posted April 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 yeh, bridge-dogwalk. Same deal. Bridge is easier to yell when you're running Wife took the dog to agility on tuesday and couldn't get her to do anything so I'm going to take her a bit early tonight and work with the dogwalk set a foot or so off the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted April 13, 2006 Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 Is your bridge slatted or slatless? How did the dog fall? What caused the accident? -Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeezSK Posted April 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 the entrance and exit boards are slatted the walk is smooth. I think she just wasn't paying attention, her back foot missed the board as she was running along and she fell off. It wasn't at full height. Maybe 4 feet off the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat's Dogs Posted April 13, 2006 Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 It might be same problem (both teeter and dogwalk) To a dog - they look the same. 12" wide plank that goes up 12'. For those two a different command helps for each helps (if you don't already have one). Now, for this kind of problem you really need to know WHAT is the problem. It is the fear of falling off the planks or (like my Dazzle) the noise they make? What NOT to do when this happens (and it always does at some point): Don't force her over the obstacles Don't lure her over the obstacles Don't praise her for a slow performance Don't let her jump off of the obstacles Don't Don't cuddle her because she is scared of the obstacles Don't let her hide from the obstacles (under you, behind a chair, etc.) One more thing that I wouldn't do here: put her in a sit/stay and then make her go over it. Rather, hold her back by the collar and get her really revved up and excited - then take off and run with her over the stuff. Don't start walking next to her - even if she is going slow over them, you keep running. Even (if it is safe that is) run around a corner or out of the room. That will make her want to keep up with you more. Whatever the exact problem is, I would take a HUGE step back in training and train like you would a new pup. Put one Dogwalk plank on the ground (flat) and just get her to run over it at height speed, if she doesn't run, don't praise much but you can say "good girl" or something - just no major jackpots for walking. When she is confident with that again, prop up one end so she has to jump up on it and run down. Once she is confident with more and more height put the whole Dogwalk together again and (if it is adjustable) put it at its lowest height. Remember to only praise a faster and faster performance - you don't want her thinking that slow is OK. For the teeter, same thing, start with just the Dogwalk plank and eventually go back to the full teeter at its lowest height (if adjustable) and get her running over it. Bring the height up little by little until you are back at full height. When she does run over something at full speed like she used to - big party! Treats, toys, pets everything that she loves! Happy training. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted April 13, 2006 Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 Don't let her jump off of the obstacles Everything else sounds good, but this I'll have to disagree with. I'd rather a dog hop off if he was uncomfortable or losing his footing. I've seen too many dogs try to stick the dogwalk at all costs. Recovery is one thing; trying to still recover once gravity has taken over is another. I want a dog to realize when to bail, so they can land on their feet hopefully. I've seen way too many scary dogwalk crashes. :-( I'd praise the dog for staying on, ignore it for hopping off if this is an issue. A dog hopping off may also be signalling he's being asked to do too much too soon. -L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat's Dogs Posted April 13, 2006 Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 To me there is a difference between just being scared (in which case you should make it easier) and actually falling kind of jumping off. Jumping off just because they don't want to do it or because of being scared I think you should hold their collar and help them across. When I said "Don't let her jump off of the obstacles" I didn't mean always - but for this training don't let her jump off every time for no real reason other then because she is scared kind of thing. Sorry, I should have clarified that better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diane allen Posted April 13, 2006 Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 Have you done any clicker training? If not, you can still do this - but clicker does help. Teach your dog what a friend of mine calls "teeter jungle gym." You basically reward ANY contact at first - nose touch, anything. Then just gradually up the ante. A dog I've seen has gone from being not really afraid of the teeter, but maybe what I'd call reluctant - to actually putting her paws on the "up" side, and banging it to the ground on her own! Very joyfully! You can do the same thing with the dogwalk/bridge board. I agree with lowering it again. How long this will take totally depends on the dog. Is the dog young? If it happened during one of those weird fear periods, it might take awhile! Main things have been covered - but whatever you do, don't coddle, don't act scared yourself; just matter-of-factly, go on about your training! I'm sure it will be fine in "awhile!" Diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeezSK Posted April 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 Well it seems she only hates going up the bridge. If you pick her up and put her on it she'll run the entire length and down without any issues. Still working on getting her comfortable with going up the walk. We move outside soon for training so hopefully that will help, it seems she is all of a sudden very aware of the cieling (we train in a basement) on the way up and it freaks her out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeezSK Posted April 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 We've been working on this. She is fine on the dogwalk now if you can get her past the first contact zone, then she RUNS the rest of the way over. But for some reason last week she wouldn't do the A-frame, now she is fine with it and yesterday she was afraid of the weave poles. Our instructor said that some dogs go through a 'fear period' around 12 months and she just turned a year yesterday. I remember she did a similiar thing around 7 months for a few weeks where she refused to do any obedience/agility training as soon as she was given any sort of correction (even as mild as with-holding a treat). Is this a possibility? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat's Dogs Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 It is a possibility, that tends to happen when you work with puppies. Glad it is going better though, just keep working through it, you will get everything good eventually! Dazzle was afraid of the weave poles one day too so I worked on it and got her through it. But then she had Weave pole suck! Its crazy, they are her favorite thing to do now! If she even sees them she runs over and does them. Silly dog (silly trainer really). All the other dogs hate the weave poles but she LOVES them! So what I am saying is, DON'T overwork just one obstacle, work on them all kind of evenly. It will help prevent your dog from "sucking" into one obstacle all the time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northof49 Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 Why is the dogwalk slatted? There is no need for the dogwalk or the teeter to be slatted. I can't remember the last time I saw a slatted dog walk or teeter in Western Canada anywhere. There is absolutely no benefit to having either of those pieces of equipment slatted. If she is hesitant about just the upside of the dogwalk she could be confusing it with the teeter and expecting it to tip. As well, balance problems show up in the upside of contacts, not on the downside. If she fell off the dogwalk she could have something off that is affecting her balance. My friend's dog's pelvis was tilted to the left by less than .5 mm, but that was enough that he didn't want to do the teeter as his balance was not good as it tipped. Once he was worked on and his pelvis realigned, he was fine with the teeter, as his balance was back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobh Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 WE actually teach our dogs to get up on the DW from all positions . IE in the middel of the dog walk and to come off the dog walk . The DW is not at full ht . We also teach the dogs to get up on the See saw from the up end. Some dogs bring there feet up and pull the Up end down than run to the other end, We all so teach rear end awarenes prior to doing the DW. My wifes Bc will jump up on the up end of the see saw. Our dogs are very confident on the DW and SS.They will turn around on the SS and the DW. I think you should teach your dogs how to come off the DW . My dogs even though we taught them how to come off , they never have done this in trials. But both my wifes dog and my aussie have fallen of but knew how to land . No issues developed after these incidents. Bobh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat's Dogs Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 There is no need for the dogwalk or the teeter to be slatted.I don't know about any place other then the US but some organazations (AKC for example) REQUIRES slats on the equipment. I don't like slats either but it is wise to train your dog with AND without them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northof49 Posted April 28, 2006 Report Share Posted April 28, 2006 Originally posted by Kat's Dogs: quote: There is no need for the dogwalk or the teeter to be slatted. I don't know about any place other then the US but some organazations (AKC for example) REQUIRES slats on the equipment. I don't like slats either but it is wise to train your dog with AND without them. Well AKC needs to get with the time. They only organization where I run into slats. The slats simply do not assist the dogs in any way on dogwalks and teeters. I know there is always the discussion on different agility lists that the only way dogs can possibly tell the difference between the dogwalk and the teeter is to have the slats on one of them. I have been training and competing in agility since 1990 and all the dogs that I have trained and taught have never had a problem discriminating between the two with both of them being slatless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeezSK Posted April 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2006 Well better news, no problems with the A-frame or the weaves yesterday. Dog walk wasn't setup. Maybe she's just a goof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar Posted April 28, 2006 Report Share Posted April 28, 2006 I'm wondering... my ob instructor yesterday talked about something that occurs with a lot of dogs.... she said around the fifth or sixth week a lot of training sometimes dogs just "shut off" and act like they've never heard a command before. She said it's weird, it's like the dog's mental filing cabinet gets all mixed up... but then it passes and the dog does everything better than ever. So I wonder if this phenomenon is related to your problems? I don't know, I've never run into it, myself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeezSK Posted May 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2006 It's a possibility, she was great on Tuesday. No fear issues and every run we did was fast and clean (although we're only doing at most a dozen obstacles and only 10 inch jumps). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeezSK Posted September 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 Quick update. Finally have the dog going over the teeter on her own now. I think we should have taught teeter before the dogwalk. I notice now on the dogwalk she pasues for a 1/4 second or so here the teeter pivot point would be just to make sure it's not moving then runs the rest of the way across. She's much more confident on both obstacles and on the course in general now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb Scott Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 We taught the teeter before the dogwalk to our youngest dog; it was the only contact obstacle in the house during the winter. I'll do it this way from now on. Barb S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northof49 Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 One of the things that really helps a young dog cement the difference between the two is to set them up and have them do one and then the other several times in a sequence, with a strong verbal emphasis on the name of each obstacle. I sometimes put a couple of low jumps between them so that they do the dogwalk (walk on), jump, jump, teeter (teeter) jump,jump, dogwalk, jump jump teeter, and so on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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