Seesaw Woes

[Sophie]

Right, we (Morse and I) are having some problems with the seesaw, and wondered if anyone had any suggestions.

 

Morse and I have been doing agility for about 3 years.

 

Morse used to love the seesaw - it was his favourite piece of equipment, he wasn't scared by it tilting, and he never flew it.

 

In about October, Morse was on the seesaw (standing still at the tipping point) when there was a rumble of thunder. Morse is terrified of thunder - he jumped off the seesaw (flew off the end) and ran to cower against the door of the training place. Since then we've had real problems with the seesaw.

 

I can get him over it once - it requires coaxing with food, and is very slow, but he'll do it. However, this only works if he's the first in the class to go. The problem seems to be that the seesaw is making banging noises when it hits the ground - I can feel him flinch everytime another dog goes over the seesaw. After it has banged, he then won't go near the seesaw - he won't walk past it, he won't go on any other equipment which would have him facing the seesaw start at the end of it (so won't jump then turn away from the seesaw), etc. He spent 20 minutes hiding in a tunnel a few weeks ago.

 

I know part of the solution is to get him desensitised to the noise. He wears a bandana with DAP spray on at agility, and his coat (as a substitute anxiety wrap) when he is waiting in the queue. But I figure part of the solution is going to be getting him happy on the seesaw again (and we are holding it short of the ground to make sure it doesn't bang when he is on it) - he wasn't bothered by the sound when he wasn't scared to go over it (if that makes any sense). Does anyone have any suggestions on getting him comfortable with it again?

[gooster]

Would it be possible to maybe tape the noise at training and then play it back to him, starting with a really low volume? Or could you stand at a distance where he doesn't react to the noise and really distract him (food/play etc) and then gradually move closer, so he realises that the noise of the seesaw means fun and food? I only ever did agility for a while, so don't know if that'd work well, but it might be worth a try

[LyndaTaylor]

Do you clicker train?

 

I would do free shaping aound the seesaw (this is how I trained all my contacts). So click for looking at it, click for being near it, for sniffing it, for one paw on it etc. etc.

 

No presssure whatsoever, no pulling/coaxing the dog across or rocking it back and forth

 

If all he can cope with in the first session is looking at it, then leave it at that, he is choosing to look at something which is pretty scarey to him right now and thats a pretty big choice for him to make.

 

This will take longer initially but you'll have a really solid behaviour and a dog who enjoys the seesaw

 

 

Lynda

[Guest karenf]

Hi

 

All dogs are different so be prepared for it to take a while, he may also surprise you and get over this quickly, but I would try to avoid coaxing him anymore, as he sounds like it really has spooked him. If coaxing does not work the first few times, I have found it generally will just make things worse.

So a good method that i have used with several dogs that has worked

 

At training

Ask if your trainers could put a bit of carpet under it, while the other dogs are using it, to soften the noise, and for the time being, just give him a titbit each time it makes a noise (you could also click this). If his response it good, see if you can move him closer to the see-saw over a period of weeks.

 

At Home

Get a piece of wood, of a suitable size for him, does not have to be big and get him used to walking on it. Then put a brick or baton under it to create some movement on the wood, and encourage him to walk over it, with lots of play & food (and click if you are using it)

When he is happy with both of the above:

 

This last bit is how i now train all my beginner dogs on the see-saw

At Training

If you have access to a mini table (or full height) Put the see-saw "up end" and push the high end down onto the table, ask him to get on the table then onto the see-saw from the end which is on the table and get someone to hold it, lead him down it and lower the see-saw onto the ground slowly while he is walking down it. The idea is the pivot will only be going down by about 1/3 of normal. Once he is happy again, take things slowly, and build up his confidence. If he does this while leading then try him on his own i think you will be able to work out when he is happy with this, by which time, he should be able to cope with the see-saw again.

 

Good Luck

Karen

[kirisox]

Hi Sophie,

 

I think Lynda's suggestion sounds good, especially if you have access to a seesaw outside your classes, as it may be a bit difficult to spend so much time shaping in a class environment.

What has your instructor suggested? How is he with the dogwalk?

[Sophie]

Thanks - lots of good ideas. There is a new beginners class at our club at the moment (we're in improvers), and I plan on asking if we can join them when they start the seesaw - so right back to basics and none of the dogs will be banging it.

 

We do clicker train, so i'll work on free shaping it in the meantime - it'll hopefully mean he's only doing what he is comfortable with. I think I may need to build me a mini seesaw at home

 

He's fine with the dogwalk - he is slow the first time over (when he thinks it might be a seesaw, but once he know it's the dog walk he loves it).

[Sophie]

Well, quick update.

 

The seesaw was out yesterday, so I went over to it before we'd actually started, and Morse was perfectly happy to go over it. No coaxing or food required (I did hold it for him just short of the full tip so it didn't bang into the ground).

 

Once class started, we had a couple of good (seesaw free) runs. Then the next course had the seesaw in, and as soon as another dog went over it, Morse went into meltdown. We weren't even in the training place - I had taken him out for a wee, and to try and make it so that the banging was far away. It didn't work. As soon as we were back in (and I had to carry him in) he went into a tunnel to hide

 

But, it looks like this isn't actually a seesaw problem. It's a sound problem, so we'll have to start looking into helping him cope with bangs. Am thinking of looking into TTouch, and we have a desensitization CD we haven't tried yet, so shall have to see if we can find something that helps.