- Pam and Hershey Practicing Paw-Work
Dogs are four legged, but sometimes they forget. They aren’t really conscious of their back half, and are startled when it is shut into a door, or their feet slip. Agility dogs need to be foot aware! Ladders and Cavalettis help a dog realize they have four feet, as repeatedly walking over things that require them to lift all their feet makes the dog think about how they’re walking. If they learn to think about their feet, they’ll think about it when they’re on a dogwalk or see-saw. When they are thinking on their feet, they’ll be more confident on all obstacles, and their speed will increase.
Training these can be difficult- some dogs hate them- or it can be easy- some dogs love them! Patience and practice will make your dog a fire-footed furball! For more information on training your dog to use a ladder, click here and here.
March 18th, 2010 at 9:54 am
I trained my sheltie’s body awareness with a PVC ladder (along with other props) and it really improved his proprioception; he now has perfect body awareness!
Yay for ladders!