Getting and keeping your performance dog in good condition pays huge benefits. He will perform better and longer, and the possibility of injury is greatly reduced. You can do these tricks at home — actually pretty much anywhere — and no special equipment is required. And since you will be teaching these tricks in a positive manner, your partnership with your dog will grow. Besides, teaching these tricks is FUN!
Rear End Awareness Exercises
Rear-end awareness is critical for performance dog success. They really do need to learn where their hind end is and to move their rear legs consciously.
This video shows 22 rear-end awareness exercises for dogs.
Give Paw, High-Five, Wave
Kickback Stand
Short video with step-by-step instruction on how to teach your dog to do a kickback stand from a sit position (as opposed to walking forward with the front feet).
Target with Hind Foot
Bonus: Teach dog to self-trim rear nails:
Back Up
and
Roll Over
Take a Bow
Part 1
and Part 2
Crawl
Forward
and backwards
Sidestep
From Pam’s Dog Academy. Five-minute video on teaching dog to sidestep:
This video is for clicker-training junkies like me (and hopefully you). Twenty minutes long, detailed, showing how to train the sidestep from scratch using pure shaping, including pitfalls and so many minute details that could be required to get the job done right. Love the cue: Frrrrrront.”
Another video from Pam’s Dog Academy, training sidestep (using stairs):