Tire Issues

[Jess041]

Missy has some serious tire issues. I don't think she's scared of it, but she keeps running between the tire and the frame holding it. Her success rate has been increasing over the last year or so. Now she does the tire correctly at about 75% success rate if I'm standing right there in front of it. But as soon as I try to get some distance on her, or put her in a sit and call her from the other side of the tire, she goes between it. I'm kinda puzzled. She seems to really enjoy jumping regular jumps. Does anyone have any suggestions of how I can break her of this habit? Is it just something that is going to take time to get her to work through? I don't think it's fear, I wonder if it's the mindset of, "It's quicker to go this way!"

 

[cmae]

Lots and lots of repetition! It was explained to me that dogs basically just see the sides and underneath the tire as another section.. no different than the centre circle. When we learned the tire, we had myself and another person stand on either side of it and call Cruz back and forth through it. If he went through the centre, reward; if not, an "oops/uh oh" and the other person would call him through. After you get good success, start adding distance.. and after that you can start adding lateral distance so that she is not standing head on in front of it and actually has to find the right "section".

Good luck!!

 

[corbinam]

Yep--Cass is right. Lots of repetition. I also think it helps to shape it. So instead of luring (not sure if that's what you're doing), just stand near it and have Missy offer it. If she goes through the side, no cookie.

I also like to do the tire a couple times, just back and forth, before a sequence (obviously this won't work in a trial) to remind Enzo what it is. That seems to help.

The tire is one of those things that's an issue until it's not. Once she figures it out you won't have to worry about it anymore.

 

[JoonieB]

I took an "around the world" approach to teaching the tire. Kinda like 2x2 weave training...and shaped the correct entrance of the obstacle. So I would stand at different angles to the tire, which was at its lowest height to start with and when he offered the correct behavior on his own (going through the tire, not under or around), I would mark it with a "yes" and toss a treat in his direction of travel. I found it helped him quickly problem solve AND throwing the treat kept him from head checking or coming into me. Took very little time before he caught on and I could start raising the tire and adding handler movement. Now he actively seeks the correct "entrance". My older girl I taught the tire by luring and she has a much lower success rate than my young boy.

 

[Jess041]

We have done around the world. I'm not luring her through the tire, I'm standing on the same side as her and stepping in towards the tire with a hand out (same hand, same foot) to push her through the tire. She just keeps running through the sides. She knows how to do the tire.. yesterday she was refusing to so it properly again, so we skipped that obstacle and I put her in a start line on the other side of it. Goofy girl kept jumping through it then, when I was just trying to get her to sit. I think I'm going to have to break down and get a practice tire so we can work on it more at home.

On another kinda humorous note, last night in class, every time Chuck (trainer) tried to run her, he would put her in a sit/stay, and she would not release for him. He would say "ok!" and she would just sit there and look at me. She's never done that before, and usually enjoys running for him. We just figured she thought it was some sort of game. Of course, if I say "ok!" she runs straight to me. As frustrating as she is sometimes, she always makes me laugh.