Author Topic: Agility - Dog walk/see saw  (Read 2983 times)

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Offline Rolo12

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Agility - Dog walk/see saw
« on: February 23, 2013, 04:21:25 PM »
I have been taking Rolo to agility classes twice a week for about a month now. He absoloutely loves it and so do I.

He is 11 months old and is doing really well with jumps/tunnel/tyre and weaves already.

His problem comes with the dog walk and see saw. He is petrified and when I pick him up to put him on it and get him used to it, he will do anything to get off including near suicide attempts of jumping off at crazy angles from the highest point.

We are going to keep persevering with it but I don't like seeing him scared. Any ideas of how to get him liking it??
Caz :)


Offline maddy74

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Re: Agility - Dog walk/see saw
« Reply #1 on: February 23, 2013, 08:58:42 PM »
I am really surprised your class is allowing you to take part as he is only 11 months, most clubs are very strict on not letting them start before they are a year old. Starting too young can damage their bones etc.

Willow is 2 years old and has been doing agility for 6 months now she has only just been introduced to the see saw. Its one of the last things they should learn once they are very confident with all the other equipment. Hence why she has only just been introduced.

At our class they get the dogs to walk around the see saw all together on the lead whilst the trainer pushes the see saw up and down just so they get used to the banging noise. Then they get used to getting on the end once its down and they are rewarded on there. Our instructor then lets them up the sea saw but holds the end. This is then lowered over time starting from just above ground level.

Offline abkb

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Re: Agility - Dog walk/see saw
« Reply #2 on: February 23, 2013, 09:14:00 PM »
Molly (18 months old) is the same; she's been doing agility for 6 months and she is confident on all the other equipment except the see saw. After lots of coaxing/praise, we've made lots of progress with the dog walk...she now does it really well and once she is up there she quickly legs it to the end to get off  :005:

We're still working on the seesaw, again lots of praise for the tiniest of steps on it, and then slowly lowering it. We're also getting her used to the bang it makes. Another thing we have done at home is encourage her to push doors when we say 'push', to get her used to things moving when she touches them.

Good luck with it!
Karen, owned by Molly B the blue roan show cocker, D.O.B 02/08/2011, and Finley the orange and white show cocker, D.O.B 19/01/2013




Offline flossysmum

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Re: Agility - Dog walk/see saw
« Reply #3 on: February 23, 2013, 10:01:11 PM »
Bertha used to be quite scared on the seesaw but she just used to lie in the middle of till it hit the floor. At first I would use lots of praise and some very high value treats. Practice doing them on the lead and really make a fuss once he's done it. Hold his collar on the seesaw so he doesn't jump off and guide him through it  :blink:
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Offline JohnK

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Re: Agility - Dog walk/see saw
« Reply #4 on: February 23, 2013, 10:15:44 PM »
Minnie will be 3 in April and we started Agility in September. She was scared of A frame and see saw at first, but now it really enjoying it! We go to Empingham training at Arena UK near Grantham

Offline elaine.e

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Re: Agility - Dog walk/see saw
« Reply #5 on: February 24, 2013, 09:07:47 AM »
I'm surprised that Rolo is doing agility training at less than a year old. All the clubs and trainers I've known don't let dogs start until at least 12 months old to minimise risk to developing bones and joints. They don't start dogs on all the equipment straightaway either, waiting until the dogs are confident and controlled with easier things before introducing the more difficult and potentially more frightening obstacles.

It really sounds like Rolo doesn't have the confidence or understanding to cope with the dog walk or see-saw yet. If he's petrified I think he shouldn't be attempting them yet and if he's jumping off he may injure himself, plus you're setting him up for failure each time he jumps off.

Is the dog walk at full height or is it set up a lot lower? It should be low for safety and confidence building, then you can keep him on lead, hold his collar if necessary and encourage him over it very steadily with lots of praise and a big reward afterwards. Much the same with the see-saw. Hold his collar and make sure a trainer is there to hold the see-saw and slowly lower it for Rolo once he's reached the top.

When I did agility with William the see-saw was the very last thing he was introduced to. By then we'd been training for several months and he was confident and controlled (more or less :005:) with everything else, although the canvas tunnel used to frighten him at first and it was some time before he was confident enough to go through it without a trainer holding the canvas end open so he could see through it.

Offline Rolo12

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Re: Agility - Dog walk/see saw
« Reply #6 on: February 24, 2013, 11:11:51 PM »
I would like to say that the club I go to is run by a very experienced trainer.

Rolo has been on the waiting list since he was four months old as they rarely have spaces come up. They start teaching small dogs (less problems with joints etc) at 10 months and bigger dogs at 12 months. Not a huge amount of difference really!

As Rolo picked up the all of the basic equipment quickly, we thought we would try him on dog walk (full height) and see saw to see how he reacted. We weren't expecting him to pick it up yet and the way we introduced him to it was to pick him up, someone holding him by collar/harness on either side and to coax him down one side with treats.

We will just keep going in very small steps to get him used to it but he loves the rest of it!

I guess what i wanted to know really was if there was something i could be doing at home with him to make him less scared of these things...

Caz :)


Offline Emilyoliver

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Re: Agility - Dog walk/see saw
« Reply #7 on: February 25, 2013, 08:07:17 AM »
I've always encouraged my dogs to run along logs and cross wooden bridges as well as go up open stairs. I find it helps with their balance and gets them used to working off the ground. Otherwise you could invest in (they're quite costly!) a wobble board. These help with getting dogs used to the sensation of surfaces which move beneath them. I also bought a seesaw for practicing on at home. I had it in my living room and while holding it, encouraged the dogs to walk slowly up it, and then slowly lowered it (possibly a bit easier if you have some help!) It helped to be able to practice without the pressure of having to rush during a class. They were quite happy with it after a few short sessions.  Although Rolo may not be ready for this yet if he's particularly frightened?  You could also get him to run along a plank on the ground as a starting exercise to help his nerves, and then move on to logs, etc. Whatever you do, I would suggest doing exercises slowly and carefully until he is confident and happy doing them.
Michelle, Emily and Ollie

Offline Max X 2

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Re: Agility - Dog walk/see saw
« Reply #8 on: February 25, 2013, 08:36:20 AM »
I guess what i wanted to know really was if there was something i could be doing at home with him to make him less scared of these things...
I would suggest just running along the plank on the floor, maybe just concentrate on the d/w for now as the see saw can frighten some dogs, you could always get a wobble board which might get him used to something moving under his feet before you introduce the see saw


ETA: Sorry, EmilyOliver has already said what I'd typed
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Offline Emilyoliver

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Re: Agility - Dog walk/see saw
« Reply #9 on: February 25, 2013, 09:06:46 AM »
The other thing I would suggest is to make sure you have a different command/ word for each bit of contact equipment.  The seesaw and dogwalk look very similar from a dog's perspective, and he needs to know in advance when the equipment will move under him or not. (otherwise he'll just be permanently on edge not knowing what might/ not happen).
Michelle, Emily and Ollie