 Body awareness on ladder
#406781 - 09/05/2018 06:18 AM |
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I tried to teach my dogs to climb a ladder. They do it with the front paws until the highest step they can reach. None of them had until now the idea to climb up higher by putting their hind paws on to the lowest step.
I tried then to help putting one of their paw up to there. But as soon as I bend over they come down each time. 
I also wanted to try by sitting on the top step and lure them to me. But when sitting on the top step I noticed that the ladder would be much too shaky, depending on how the dog comes up. Only when I'm standing beside the ladder I can hold it stable.
Someone told me to use a ladder with steps as well on the back- and frontside. But such a thing I could not find here until now.
Has anyone got an idea how to make them climb up?
If not, never mind, it's not sooo important, it's just because my dogs and I love so much all kind of body awareness exercises.
“If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs, then you are a leader” – Rudyard Kipling |
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Re: Body awareness on ladder
[Re: Christina Stockinger ]
#406786 - 09/05/2018 03:45 PM |
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Is this ladder leading up to something that you want the dogs to go onto? Or are you just trying to get them to the top of the ladder? If it's what I'm thinking of, a typical stepladder, the very top step is quite small and would not provide enough of a stable platform for the dog to stand on. It seems like it would be too easy for the dog to fall off. And how are they going to get back down? Again, that small top step is not going to be large enough for them to get up there and turn around easily. And I also think going down would be a lot harder than going up.
Sorry, but if I'm understanding you correctly, it just sounds unsafe in many ways. There are many other things you can do to teach body awareness that do not involve height and instability.
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Re: Body awareness on ladder
[Re: Christina Stockinger ]
#406787 - 09/05/2018 10:48 PM |
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Put the ladder on the ground and walk them through it bottom to top.
Many dogs just aren't aware of their rear legs as to climbing and that will help him realize what'a going on back there.
For no explainable reason most of my dogs would climb ladders.
The terriers in particular.
My JRT would actually climb up into my son's tree house via the boards nailed in the tree.
He never did figure out how to climb down so he would just jump out the tree house window.
I learned to just put a pile of landscaping mulch in his landing spot.
Thunder, my first GSD, just seemed to do it the first time I pointed up a ladder.
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Re: Body awareness on ladder
[Re: Bob Scott ]
#406794 - 09/06/2018 05:40 AM |
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How funny and surprising for me, Bob 
So I must definitally be doing something wrong.
Walking over the ladder on the ground they do since a long time without problem, forwards, backwards and across in zigzag. They also go up a long stairway fwd and backwd. But this isn't shaky
Big illumination just came to me, I idiot  : Perhaps i should simply hire someone to hold the ladder stable. Then I can climb and sit on it and lure. Hope this might help. 
“If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs, then you are a leader” – Rudyard Kipling |
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Re: Body awareness on ladder
[Re: Christina Stockinger ]
#406795 - 09/06/2018 06:03 AM |
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Cheri, yes it is quite a normal stepladder with 8 steps. But the top one is broader than the others and the dogs could theoretically easily sit.
I just wanted them - (still far down the road) - to perform there one or two spins and maybe a sit pretty. And at the glorios end a handstand. Sorry the last exercise is just a joke! I know I'm sometimes a bit crazy, but not that much. They don't even know the handstand on the ground. I have begun with preparation., just stepping up on objects with different heights. Two of them succeed to step bwd on to a bench. On the ladder i'd never ever try. Even on the ground I doubt, if it would make sense. I think the utmost would be with the hind feet against a wall. (If at all.) 
“If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs, then you are a leader” – Rudyard Kipling |
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Re: Body awareness on ladder
[Re: Christina Stockinger ]
#406797 - 09/06/2018 07:20 AM |
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Can dogs be trained to go up and down ladders? Certainly. As Bob points out, for some dogs, it seems to come naturally. Some dogs will even climb trees. We've all seen either circus dogs (the old days) or people on TV who have trained their dogs to do remarkably athletic things. Most of what I see involves very experienced trainers, taking extreme precautions for the dog's safety, and a dog who is athletic and fearless and loves to try different things.
What scares me is I am picturing a case where a dog is finally coaxed, against his better instincts, to climb a high ladder (eight steps is pretty high, IMO), gets to the top, and can't figure out how to turn around and walk back down the steps one by one so simply jumps off -- or maybe loses his balance and falls off -- resulting in injury (possibly to the handler, too). It's not something I'm going to try with any of my dogs -- I can think of enough safer activities to keep us busy for a long time -- but to each their own.
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Re: Body awareness on ladder
[Re: Bob Scott ]
#406798 - 09/06/2018 11:16 AM |
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Put the ladder on the ground and walk them through it bottom to top.
Many dogs just aren't aware of their rear legs as to climbing and that will help him realize what'a going on back there.
For no explainable reason most of my dogs would climb ladders.
The terriers in particular.
My JRT would actually climb up into my son's tree house via the boards nailed in the tree.
He never did figure out how to climb down so he would just jump out the tree house window.
I learned to just put a pile of landscaping mulch in his landing spot.
Thunder, my first GSD, just seemed to do it the first time I pointed up a ladder.
Yeppers, all my BASENJIS would climb trees nearly as well as a cat & scale chain-link fences of their own free will, without any training or coaxing -- Kennel runs for that breed must have escape-proof ROOFING and below grade level dig-out prevention in addition ... When the Kennel Club in England was originally classifying them as to GROUP, at first they couldn't decide between Hound or Terrier (of course Basenjis are now universally recognized as being sighthounds, but they still demonstrate many terrier-like traits)
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Kelly wrote 09/06/2018 12:44 PM
Re: Body awareness on ladder
[Re: Christina Stockinger ]
#406799 - 09/06/2018 12:44 PM |
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Christina I think if I were to do this I would start with a smaller step ladder- like two or three steps. Teach them the muscle memory. Teach the turn at the top seperately as well. Don't put it all together or add steps until they are solid on the short step ladder.
Does that make sense?
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Re: Body awareness on ladder
[Re: Christina Stockinger ]
#406800 - 09/06/2018 10:34 PM |
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Ditto with Kelly!
Small step ladder for sure and not a rung ladder.
old dogs LOVE to learn new tricks |
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Re: Body awareness on ladder
[Re: Christina Stockinger ]
#406802 - 09/07/2018 05:30 AM |
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Cheri, I mentioned the exercises spin and sit pretty only because I thought you wanted to know what were my goals for later on. They were only in my mind as options, in case they'd go up some day easily to the top.
My near goal is just that they'd lift one hind leg to the lowest step, then both of them and so on.
I'll never train them for anything they're afraid of or don't like.
Thanks to all four of you. Yes the three step ladder makes absolutely sense!
The hardest part will be to convince my hubby to buy one, cause he always says we have to much junk because of the dogs.
I'll tell him that we need one for our own safety in order to reach the top kitchen cupboards. Does this make sense?
“If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs, then you are a leader” – Rudyard Kipling |
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