Teaching a hand stand

 HAHA!  That's how some people learn a handstand lol (on the wall).  I HAVE to try this with Nikon..

 omg I completely forgot about that! You're right. Most people start a hand stand on a wall lol

Yep with little kids we do exactly what she was doing, have them face the wall and "walk" their feet up the wall (or first use a cheese wedge mat turned up against the wall so the kids can't quite get to vertical and then accidentally flip over backward).  It's crazy how well the dog can do the same thing.  It's really all about training your body to find the balance.  The dog has the advantage of lowering her center of gravity by bending the hind legs (in handstand contest most people will bend their legs or do a split b/c it's easier to balance, for some reason my center was always one leg straight up and one leg bent over so my foot almost touched my head).

That is seriously cool!

 I want to try this!  Going to do it with Dell, but might have to teach her taht she has Back Legs first.... what do you guys reckon?  Do you think that would make a difference? 

We will do our first sesh tonight...

 Joker says thanks alot Julie!! Now he has to be a show dog and entertain me also? Lol.

Off to torture the little red monster.

 I'm totally up for it, I need more tricks for the dogs anyways.

But which dog to choose?  I'm thinking Honor or Eli...both are ridiculously springy dogs...

I'm excited to see/hear how everyone progresses!

 We tried our first sesh last night. 

Couldn't find a ladder or anything to teach Dell about the existence of her back legs, so just decided to do it and see how she got on, using a thick, A4 sized book. 

She is a mehodical dog.  She will try a sit, or a down, and if that doesn't work she will try shifting position, or moving a few inches to the side.  She will totally exhaust sitting (or lying down) before moving on to something else.  She also flies through behaviours quickly, so this methodical approach is not slow at all.  In fact, it can be hard to "catch" the behaviour I want as it goes whizzing by.  She tests your timing and no mistake. 

Well, she twigged very quickly that the book was important, which impressed me, because what with having William, they are actually used to an assortment of objects lying around most of the time (unfortunately), so just the appearance of a "novel object" isn't enough, usually. 

She kept trying to bite it at first, when that failed to work, she tried pawing at it, sitting on it, lying on it and walking over it.  We got to the point where she would stand with one back paw on it and stay like that.  Couldn't seem to get both paws on, so we left it there.  We will have another go in a minute.

Just out of interest I also tried this stage with my 13 year old dog.  I am sure he WON'T be attempting a handstand, as he is not flexible enough and I would worry that he would hurt himself.  But I like trying the same things with him, when I can because he nearly always gets to the same answer via a different route and it fascinates me.  I figured that just seeing if he could "get" the placement of his rear paws wouldn't be too strenuous for him.

He was totally clueless that the book was significant at first, but he twigged VERY quickly that the placement of his paws was key.  He stood there watching me and shifting his weight on all four paws, moving them slightly but not actually going very far.  I had to keep tossing the treats to oneside or the other so he would go after them and I could click as he walked over the book.  He does NOT offer behaviours as freely or quickly as Dell, possibly because he is a cross-over dog.  But he IS capable of massive leaps of imagination, which is how HE got one back paw on the book.  So he earned his jackpot and we put the clicker away for the night.  I might try again with him shortly too.

How did everyone else get on?

 Joker wants to sit on the book. If I tell him to stand he will get into his show stand and looks confused when he gets no treat. So I have to figure out a word for him.

kle1986

 Joker wants to sit on the book. If I tell him to stand he will get into his show stand and looks confused when he gets no treat. So I have to figure out a word for him.

I wouldn't worry too much about a command.  Now this is the first time I've tried getting a dogs BACK legs on a book, but for pivoting I use a "perch" (a book, usually).  The dog puts the front legs on the "perch" and then as I move into or away from the dog it pivots right or left.  I've never using a command to get the dog's legs on the perch.  At first I just use a treat and sort of lure the dog here or there until it puts the feet on the book, then mark/treat.  It might take a few sessions but they will figure out why/when they are getting treated and start offering it on their own when the book is set down.

 Ok I did what you said Liesje and it went ok. He would get one foot on the book and he wouldnt move it. So I would have to back away and tell him to come to me to get him off the book. Lol. He's too smart for his own good. I think he thinks Im dumb!! You dont see the looks he gives me when he does what I ask, gets a treat, and I ask him to do it again.

He was at first stepping over it. So when he would even barely touch the book I would click and treat. Finally he started putting his foot on it!! But then he wouldnt take it off. Hehe. I love this pup.

Yeah that sounds right.  He doesn't necessarily have to hop both feet on it at first.  With some dogs that are hesitant to offer new behaviors, like my Kenya, I would initially click and treat for simply *looking* at the book, lol.  Then maybe C/T for a front paw.  Once the dog figures out the C/T is for interacting with the book, wait for one hind paw, etc.

 Woohoo!  Honor's making good progress.  We had our first session tonight, and she picked up on it really quick.  To help her get the idea initially, I lured her over the book and waited for one of her back feet to touch the book.  Then I C&T for both feet.  After that, she was quick to the fact that feet+book=treat.  At the end of our session, she was up to four cookbooks stacked against the wall (about 4" tall altogether).  I can't wait to keep going!