Side Changes

One of the classes I teach is pretty much a basic manners+... we get quite a few students who have very interesting goals that don't necessarily fit well into any of the other classes.   A student who started last night is very interested in freestyle.

The primary goal was to get the dog to be walking on the right side.  The dog is typically walked on the left and so has a huge history of reinforcement for being on the left.  While we did a little work on it, I told the student to make the right side walking part of daily life, and to do right side walking only for the next week.

We also talked about how to get the dog to change from being on the left side to the right (and right to the left).  Our training started with a few of the way too many options:

• Front Cross on the Flat:  Handler turns to the dog, dog turns to the handler, and then they go in the direction they came from. The turns can actually be greater or less than 180* for more...options.  But for beginners...180* is a good start.
• Rear Cross on the Flat:  Handler turns to the dog, dog turns away from the handler (so both are rotating clockwise or both are rotating counterclockwise). The turns can actually be greater or less than 180* for more...options.  But for beginners...180* is a good start.
• Leg Weave:  For a dog that knows this behavior...  going on one leg weave (or an odd number of times) can get the dog to go from one side to the other. Horray!

Next week, I'll teach a few more:

• Multiple Spins: Have the dog do 1+ full spins, then a 180* turn to go in the other direction.
• Rotating in Front:  Picture a dog going from front to a left finish.....    We can use that type of rotation and get the dog to cross all the way back and forth in front of the handler to the right hand side...back and forth. Dog and handler always facing each other.    We'll start this by using a box and teaching the dog to pivot readily back and forth. before we take away the prop.
• Ducking Behind:  The dog can go from left heel...behind the handler to right heel.  And back again.  We will start this with a hand target to get the dog to move up and a treat magnet to reset the dog behind the handler.   
• Foot Jump:  This is combining a few other behaviors... but makes nice use of vertical space.   Dog is one one side.... jumps over handler's outstretched foot, and then rotates back to the heel position on whichever side he is on.
• "Quartering"  (....I don't have a better description name!).  Dog is moving ahead of the handler, and going on a serpentine path, back and forth, ahead of the handler.   At any point the handler can pick up the dog in heel position again.... typically having to rotate 90* as the dog will be out further ahead.  
• Prop Use:  When the dog is sent from heel to a prop (to interact with it in any way), when the dog comes back, the handler can rotate so the dog is now on the opposite side.

And there's a start to a list.  The behaviors can be combined in so many different ways and depending on the dog's repertoire, you can get even more options.