See-Saw help!

Hi,

Can anyone give me some advice on how to help my boy get his confidence on the see-saw, something we can do at home, at the moment we don't have one at home, he tried it at agility and completly lost his nerve, he wouldn't evan go on the A frame or dog walk after, and it took several weeks befor he would, any and all advice would be very greatly appreciated. THANK YOU.

Christine

Get a plank of wood and put it on something like a brick, so it will only tilt a little bit.

high value treats, LOTS of them, every time he tries, even for very small steps. No dragging or pulling, he must do everyting at his own pace or he will not gain his confidence.
Did it take him by surprise?? Do you have someone at the club helping you now, holding the seesaw and letting it go down very very slowly, as not to startle him?

,
I think it did take him by suprise, so far we haven't tried the see-saw again, just been trying to get him back on the A-frame and dog walk, but I hope it won't be too long, one of the things that helped Jack was sitting close-ish to these two things and watching the others go over happily, he soon realized they were nothing to be frightened of, but before he used to run of and hide in the middle of the tunnel. I guess I'm just worried about my baby being frightened, he's been through so much in his short life, I don't want to put him through anymore.

It is understandable that you don't want him to be scared, but keep in the back of your head that if he feels you worry, then he will see it as a sign that there is in fact something to worry about! The advise I gave about lots of treats, high value, goes for A frame and dog walk as well, and anything he is not confident with. Don't cuddle him or make a big fuzz in a "aww poor boy" kinda way, it will unnerve him more than help. Tell him how much fun it is, and he might believe you :smt002
Lots and lots of praise, even for things he know. Agility is FUN! Agility means mummy is SO happy! Agility means I can't do ANYTHING wrong, is what you want him to be thinking.

Thanks DanishPastry,

I'll do my best not to get worried about it, Jack is the sort of dog thant responds really well to high over the top praise, as long as he thinks he's done something his mum is really exited and pleased about he's happy, I guess it's down to me, bucket loads of positive mental attitude,

there you go!

...just don't get him so excited he wriggles down off the obstacles

I agree with the advice, also this is a very common problem so don't lose heart

My Belgian was exactly the same and with hindsight I wished I'd started her off on small moving planks of wood before we even started agility.

At college where I'm doing a training course, the tutor uses a table under the see saw at first so the dog learns to go up and isn't too phased, as the movement to the table is only a few inches.

Not sure if you saw the Underdog show, but the trainer who was training Chump the Wolfhound cross had similar problems and he free shaped it with the clicker and at the end had a very happy dog going over.

This is more or less what i did in the end too, and not dissimilar to what Danishpastry has suggested ... rewarding with high value rewards for small steps

Wys
x

Thanks Wys,

Not sure what you ment by 'free shaped' but the table thing is a great idea, the clicker thing I know wont work with Jack, somethings happened in his past and he's terrified of the clicker, but I'm certainly going to try out all the advice i'm given, we should soon have a dog who loves the see-saw, (see, this posisitve mental attitude things working already ).

Thanky you,
Christine