canine freestyle moves database
Teaching position using a pivot platform
the pivot platform
The pivot platform does not necessarily need to be round. It can be something like a thick book, a brick, a paver, an upturned plastic pot, an upturned flower pot, an upturned bowl, an upturned ceramic casserole dish, etc. Some people refer to it as a “perch”. For the purposes of this workshop the pivot platform will be called “the pot”.
It needs to be sturdy enough so that if the dog enthusiastically places his two front feet on it, it will not slip out from under him, perhaps frightening the dog. Whether it slips or not is also partly due to the surface the pot is resting on. The best surfaces are lawn or carpet, especially thick piled carpet. Unless your pot has a rubber surround on its rim, surfaces like cement and polished floors are not ideal. Smooth surfaces can also cause the dog to slip when going out to get his treat, causing possible injury or pain. Any pain associated with the pot will make the dog reluctant to interact with it.
You can place a non-stick mat beneath the pot if it needs to be on a slippery surface, but you do not want the mat to become a part of the behaviour. These mats tend to become “slippery” if not kept clean, that is, dust collects on the surface of the mat, rendering it slick.
The diameter of the pot needs to be big enough to accommodate both front paws at the same time. The dog should be able to place his paws on the pot comfortably, without having to worry about slipping off the edge. A pot for a Bernese Mountain Dog would need to be larger than that for a Tenterfield. Note, that the Tenterfield could use the larger pot if required, but as it will be used to teach positions, the less room the dog has to move his paws around on the pot the better. The pot also needs to be high enough for the dog to be aware that his front paws are on it.
With a dog new to clicker training, if the pot is fairly small, the dog may not realise he can get two paws on it and may be reluctant to try. In this case you could start with a pot that is bigger in diameter so that the dog has plenty of room. Once the dog understands what you want you can reduce the size of the pot.
Inadequate for this dog’s large paws
When not in use the pot needs to be unavailable to the dog so that the dog can have no interaction with it that is not reinforced. Put the pot somewhere so that he cannot even look at it.
When you want to train, get your … training area ready,
… treats and clicker ready,
… pot and
… dog.
Start your training session with “Are you ready?” (or something similar) and place the pot on the ground. Be ready to click immediately the dog interacts with it, eg looking at it or putting his paws on the pot.
At the end of the training session pick up the pot while the dog is getting his treat and announce “Good job!” or “All done!” or whatever you say to indicate the training session has finished.
With pivot platform work you will mostly be clicking rear end movement, that is, any movement of the back paws. For this to be timely you need to be able to see the back paws move. If you have a big hairy dog and your platform is low, chances are you cannot see the back paws if the dog is standing in front of you. You might need a higher pivot platform so that you don’t have to guess from the dog’s hip movement or you can use a mirror.
If you have a dog that likes to “tap dance” with his front paws on the pot what you click could be tricky. You want “front paws on pot”. Chances are the dog also thinks the tap dancing is a part of what you want.
To stop the tap dancing use a taller pot, eg one that is shoulder high to the dog. This will stop the front paw movement and the dog will learn to keep the front paws still.
Taller Pivot Platform
For a shy dog that is new to clicker training you might need to start with a low pot that has a hole in its base, like a terracotta pot used for planting bulbs. To get the dog going you can place a piece of food under the pot that he will paw to get to. When the dog gets the idea of two front paws on the pot you dispose of the food and can either continue with the same pot or start with another one without a hole in its base.
When you are ready to fade the pot, you can train using a different pot, different size, different shape, different height (normally lower), different color so that the dog learns the pot is not part of the behavior.
The final consideration is the surface you are working on and the treats you will be using. Apart from being non-slippery as described above, the surface the pot is on should be smooth enough for the dog to be able to easily find tossed treats. The treats should be non-crumbly and preferably not the same color as the surface the pot is on, because the dog needs to find them quickly. You don’t want the dog spending half the training time vacuuming for treats. Finding the treats quickly enables you to have a higher rate of reinforcement.
In training, as the dog progresses, train in different locations in the same area, eg the same room, train in different locations, eg different rooms and face different directions. Generalizing these things earlier will assist the dog’s learning.