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I want scare to jump up and run around that fan up….there…… yes she does it a lot so it is not much to ask! This picture is from back when we had an apartment, or as I like to call it sensory deprivation chamber. Teaching your dog to go around objects or “distance” as Sue Eh? calls it is a really fun game. Judging from talk on the training levels yahoo group, though, lots of people have a hard time with it. Scare can go around a couch and poles from 10 feet away, so I’ll let you all in on my secrets…

  • Start with something pretty skinny, as pole-like as you can get. I tried a chair at first but scherzo ran and jumped on it, it was too confusing. I stole a big traffic cone, just for her and all she wanted to do was chew on it. So, use an object your dog hasn’t really interacted with in the past like a lamp and not of a material they will want to chew.
  • Put masking tape on the carpet (isn’t hard to vacuum over, little flealings!) to measure out your distance otherwise you will probably try to move too fast, judging distance is hard, atleast for me.
  • At first food is best. You stand on right, dog on left side of the pole. Now, reach your hand all the way around and completely lure the dog around a couple times. But fade the lure quickly, don’t forget.
  • For the second phase, when your dog is coming the first half of the turn herself or just walking up to the pole click when she reaches that point and then lure her or call her the rest of the way around for her reward.
  • This is where it got fun for us. Go to a hardware store and buy a duster, its basically a poofball on a stick. Feels like fur in the mouth, bird dogs should love it, grippy dogs, herding dogs…hell even chihuahas will probably like to beat it up. Now once shes turned the corner and gotten the click start shaking that thing around, she’ll come racing around and run to you to get that awesome toy. You don’t need to be near the pole anymore, you aren’t luring her, and you are really setting the stage for easily adding distance. You can delay the click or just drop it once she knows to go around the pole and then come to you. The duster was a stroke of genius, I tell you! try it.