# Perch work- spinning the *other* direction...



## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

I've been working on perch work lately and Pimg has gotten very, very good at spinning counterclockwise. In fact- she picked this up SO quickly that I accidentally discovered one day not far into training that she had figured out a "close" command for heel-side lineups. She's really pretty good at it and will come into heel very close. I love it. So useful for positioning her for a specific start line.

But Pimg's problem is that she _sucks_ at spinning the other direction into "side" position. What I've been doing recently is letting her stand (on the perch) at heel position and then walking into her forcing her to turn the other way. Hmmm... that's probably not clear. How about this:

If she was in heel position and I side-stepped counterclockwise around the perch- she should maintain heel position also turning counterclockwise to maintain position. I do the opposite. I get her into heel and then side-step clockwise around the perch which forces her to take a clockwise step. That's about all I can do to get her to turn that direction.

I know that most all dogs have a natural turning direction and it can be difficult to turn the other way. So my question is how do you get _your_ dog to turn the opposite way? Any tips?


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## FG167 (Sep 22, 2010)

Madix, Kastle and Eden had the same troubles. 

With Eden, I started by really reinforcing either the "front" position or the "close" position - no movement. Then I started moving - she was solid on the heel-side so when I started making it more difficult. She would slowly go that way. She is a pleaser so she just tried really hard to do what I wanted.

With Kastle, I lured. It took me several days to figure out the proper position of my hand (instead of pushing into his face, cupping away from his face, to make him try to follow it). 

With Madix, I used dowels. I put him into the front position, standing and then tapped lightly at his feet with a dowel in a sliding motion, very rhythmic until he moved the foot - click/treat. Pretty soon the dowel could just move towards his leg, then just my hand and then he got the command. However, I started dowel training as flat work with Madix as a puppy. 

I do have some videos of me using the dowel on Madix and the hand lure on Kastle if you would like to see them.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

FG167 said:


> With Madix, I used dowels. I put him into the front position, standing and then tapped lightly at his feet with a dowel in a sliding motion, very rhythmic until he moved the foot - click/treat. Pretty soon the dowel could just move towards his leg, then just my hand and then he got the command. However, I started dowel training as flat work with Madix as a puppy.
> 
> I do have some videos of me using the dowel on Madix and the hand lure on Kastle if you would like to see them.


Yes- I'd love to see the videos! I _think_ I understand what you mean, but a video would be fantastic. I've had only low to moderate success with the lure. I can kind of get her to twist her body using a lure at the head, but honestly- it doesn't work that well... In fact, even if I put her relatively close the the "side" position and then pull her body closer by pulling at her hips- she's still reluctant to turn that way. I'd like to try this dowel method...


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Found it. 






And part 2- look how good it worked!!





[EDIT]- Genius! :thumbup:


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## FG167 (Sep 22, 2010)

LOL wow the quality of those videos is bad!

Hope that helps. I know I have video of my hand movements of Kastle too but I have a ton of him so I can weed through them if you want them. The trick with him was to tilt my hand away from his face, in the direction I wanted him to go, he'd spin to get his nose in there and eventually his body caught on.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Update. The stick method worked really well to build understanding for Pimg. I think I used it two, perhaps three times. She is starting to understand and be comfortable with turning clockwise!






This isn't a really great training session, but it does show how she is starting to have confidence in turning her *opposite* direction.


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## AgileGSD (Jan 17, 2006)

Pimg is such a good girl!


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Thanks AgileGSD- I think so too!


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## FG167 (Sep 22, 2010)

wildo said:


> Update. The stick method worked really well to build understanding for Pimg. I think I used it two, perhaps three times. She is starting to understand and be comfortable with turning clockwise


That's great!


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

I've never used this in training. What is the idea of the "perch" aspect of this?


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO said:


> I've never used this in training. What is the idea of the "perch" aspect of this?


Rear foot awareness/independence is by far the biggest advantage (to my knowledge) though it obviously goes hand in hand with teaching a "line up" which has been HUGELY helpful when trying to get a correct line/angle on the starting line.


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

Ah okay. We did learn other exercises for rear foot awareness, but I may try this too as Mikko's jumping 26" now and if I give him a bad angle, he's more likely to knock those high bars.


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