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Post by ladyarya on Feb 4, 2005 1:42:58 GMT -5
I've been working on teaching Buddha and Karma to roll over and I'm having some difficulties with Karma. Buddha loves being on his back and getting his belly rubbed, so rollover has been easy for him. Karma throws a fit whenever she gets put on her back. As soon as her belly is exposed (even if she's still on her side and we're just starting the roll) she starts kicking like wild and putting her back legs on me to push me away from her (or herself away from me... since usually the push results in her sliding across the carpet away from me). She never did like anyone touching her stomach and its been this way since I adopted her... she doesn't have any medical problems that would make touching her stomach uncomfortable... so, any ideas on this? I've tried putting my hand on her stomach and treating her to try to work her up to it, and I still seem to get kicked in the process.....
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Post by Aussienot on Feb 6, 2005 1:59:38 GMT -5
Dogs will favor one side and you should try to teach the roll to that side. Sailor naturaly rolls to her left, but often gives me her 'stunned mullet' look if there's only room to roll to the right. So maybe try rolling the opposite direction to see it that's any easier for her to get off her back. You might also teach her to play dead first, to get her more comfortable lying on her side.
Tricks are easiest to teach when you are capitalising on a natural behavior that the dog engages in as an umprompted behavior. Sailor is my "trick" dog, because although she's thick as bricks when it comes to learning, she has lots of natural carrying, foot moving, jumping around, spinning, rolling over and generally cute behaviors I can build on. If the dog never engages naturally in the behavior, it can be difficult to teach - - and if the dog actively rejects the behavior, it can be VERY difficult to teach.
Perserver and you may get her more comfortable about being on her back. But at some point you must ask yourself if the trick value is worth the time spent teaching. I spent months trying to teach Sailor to shut her eyes when playing dead. I started by holding the lids shut, gradually could get her to close them when my fingers approched, gradually started fading the approaching fingers, but could never get her to automaticaly close them. She always needed at least a nominal prompt with the fingers coming close. So eventually I abandoned it as a waste of time since closing the eyes goes against her survival instincts.
Finn has NO carrying behaviors, and actively resisted having anything placed in his mouth. Every other dog was retrieving by the second week and Finn still wasn't having any of it. It took 7 months of solid daily training three times a day to teach a dumbell retrieve. He's now a brillant retreiver of the dumbell, but it was important to me, so I spent that time and am proud of it.
You don't have to teach both dogs exactly the same tricks. Could you teach Karma to play dead instead, or could you teach her to jump over Buddha while Buddha rolls over. That would be cool.
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Post by ladyarya on Feb 6, 2005 14:31:00 GMT -5
Could you teach Karma to play dead instead, or could you teach her to jump over Buddha while Buddha rolls over. That would be cool. Now that would be fabulous! And probably more likely since Karma spends most of her time at the dog park leaping over other dogs. Whenever she's running and once crosses her path, she just leaps over them as if they weren't there To me, the rollover isn't so much a trick as it is helpful for me with possible future health problems. See, when Melody (my dalmatian) was diagnosed with "an adrenal abnormality that presents similarly to cushings disease" (best diagnosis they could come up with) she used to get all these pustules (? looked kind of like blackheads) on her stomach and chest that my vet asked me to keep an eye on for any changes. And, since I never taught her to rollover, it was difficult to keep her on her back so I could check them out. My goal with this was to help in case either of them ever had stomach problems so I'd be able to check them out. But being that Karma has always been super protective of her stomach, it looks like this is going to take a while. 7 Months huh? I guess I'll just keep at it then. A little perserverence and a few bruises never hurt anyone ;D ;D
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