Agility Teeter Question...

[Brooke&Ryan]

Hi everyone,

Julius will be starting agility class tonight. I will be asking the trainer this same question but of course I wanted to ask you guys as well.

Julius seems to be very confident with all of the pieces of equipment on the course. He used to be a bit uneasy about the dog walk but we've conquered that & are now working on building his confidence with the teeter.

He has never had a bad experience on the piece of equipment but of course seems hesitant about it. Is there anything that we could do at home or at the class to build his confidence with this piece of equipment.

He's entered into his first trial on July 3rd & I want him to have a good experience.

Thanks for everything!


Brooke

[DNeff]

I would recommend building a buja board and work on getting him to the point where he hops on it and slams it around some. The buja board tends to simulate the noise and movement of a regular teeter, but without the height. Making it a great choice for confidence building. The buja board is pretty small and portable, which makes it great to take on the road to practice in new locations and work on desensitization.

We click and treat any interaction with the buja board and then work
towards getting the dog to stand on it and manipulate the board. Any
time they shift the board they get a click and a cookie. Pretty soon
you have a dog who is slamming the board around pretty confidently.

Here's plans for building a buja board and some clips of one in action.
http://www.peak.org/~helix/Agility/bujaboard.html
http://www.mfrye.com/agilityeq/buja.html

Also a sturdy LOW (12") makeshift teeter that you can teach him to really drive over would be a big help as well. Jackpot EVERY single time he completes the teeter successfully. For a food motivated dog, using his dinner as a jackpot every morning and evening will go a long way to changing his perspective on doing the teeter.

Dawn
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[spoteet]

Dawn, you are just starting agility class and you have already entered Julius in a trial coming real soon!!!! You are braver than I am!

Good luck with the teeter. I am building a wuja board tonight thanks to BostonRotts suggestions earlier.

How did you get Julius comfortable on the high dog walk? Sajan is not too sure about going up, he has a problem with traction.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Thanks for all of the info. Dawn. I will look into all of that after class. Geez, today is a busy day.

Sharon, actually Ryan is going to be running Julius. He's braver than I am.

I don't quite remember how Julius gained confidence with the dog walk. I think that he was afraid that he was going to fall off & at one point he had a little slip (didn't fall off but I think it scared him). We just worked with the dog walk really low & started making it higher & higher.


Brooke

[Laura]

Dawn, thanks for the info on the buja board. Chance is having problems with the teeter and I was trying to figure out a way for her to get over this.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Well I am just shocked!

We went to agility last night & Julius handled the teeter like it was a breeze. He hasn't been on one since last fall (our last agility class) & maybe the break away was what he needed. He did wonderfully. Now he doesn't make the teeter slam down on the ground like some of the dogs, but he does it slowly & surely. Ryan & I were both staring at him with our mouth open.

I'll be posting pictures in Picture This once our server gets up & running. I think Ryan & I are going to still build one of those boards though to help boost his confidence even more.


Brooke

[spoteet]

I have found that after some time to let it all soak in, these guys get over most of what bothers them. At least Sajan does. He has shown me this many times. He'll be afraid of something the first time he sees it and the next he is fine.

WTG Julius!

[Brooke&Ryan]

That might have been the case. Well Ryan & I were just floored. Then I did the "happy dance." It was a successful night.

Julius is sending Sajan positive "dog-walk vibes."


Brooke

[BostonRott]

Rhonda Carter teaches the teeter in a very interesting way. Put the "down" end up on a 24" table. Have the dog on the table, being restrained. The handler is at the end that will drop, holding it up, and offering a VERY high value treat. Dog is then "recalled" across the teeter board (which is basically straight at this point). Teeter is being held up. While the dog is eating out of the handler's hand (in the contact zone), the board is SLOWLY lowered. The progression is to the board being dropped by the handler from a few inches off the ground to the full height from the 24" table. Then you lower the table to 20" and repeat.

The idea being that you get a dog who races to the end of the teeter and slams it down and is not worried about either the noise or the drop.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Originally Posted by BostonRott

Rhonda Carter teaches the teeter in a very interesting way. Put the "down" end up on a 24" table. Have the dog on the table, being restrained. The handler is at the end that will drop, holding it up, and offering a VERY high value treat. Dog is then "recalled" across the teeter board (which is basically straight at this point). Teeter is being held up. While the dog is eating out of the handler's hand (in the contact zone), the board is SLOWLY lowered. The progression is to the board being dropped by the handler from a few inches off the ground to the full height from the 24" table. Then you lower the table to 20" and repeat.

The idea being that you get a dog who races to the end of the teeter and slams it down and is not worried about either the noise or the drop.

Hmmm, very interesting Gretchen. I think I'll print this out & show it to our trainer. It would be something for us to try. Julius is showing much more confidence on the teeter (much to our surprise) but is not slamming it down. Now that might come with time, but I'm doubtful since Julius is pretty timid by nature.

Do you think that this method would work with a dog who already has used the teeter in the past (like Julius) or would this work better as an introduction with a new dog?


Brooke

[BostonRott]

Yes, after all I went through with Frol, I firmly believe that you can retrain any obstacle that you want. As I heard many times this week: You will get what you reward.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Originally Posted by BostonRott

Yes, after all I went through with Frol, I firmly believe that you can retrain any obstacle that you want. As I heard many times this week: You will get what you reward.

Wonderful & thanks again! Liike I said, I'll be printing this out to show to our trainer.

I'll give ya'll updates.


Brooke