We introduced platforms and pivot bowls in rally class a few weeks ago, and I’ve been working hard to train Felix to use them. He’s finally getting really good at both of them!
We started out with the one he’s better at today—the pivot. I trained him to put his front feet on an upside-down bowl and swing his back end around into heel position. The next step will be to take away the bowl and see if he’ll swing his butt into heel without it. But today we did it with the bowl and he did a great job! I’m so proud of him! Here is a picture and a video of him doing it (don’t mind my lazy day outfit of Christmas corgi leggings and a red sweater, and our messy house!).
Next we worked on the platforms. These platforms are supposed to be very small—just big enough for your dog to sit or stand on. This forces them to be straight when getting into positions like front (sitting in front of you, facing you) and what I call heel up (getting into heel position). Felix is now able to do front and heel up quite well with the platform with me standing.
The next step will be to practice it with two platforms and teach him to discriminate between front and heel up, and then to introduce doing it next to my wheelchair instead of with me standing.
Below is a video of us doing fronts and heel ups.