Front feet side stepping with hind feet stable

Goal:

• Have puppy move their front feet from one target to the other target while keeping their hind feet on the platform

What you need:

1. Non-slippery floor

2. Two low, stable platforms for front feet target

   • Ideally the platforms are identical, but they don’t have to be

3. One low, stable platform for hind feet target

   • This can be larger than the front feet targets

4. Cookies

5. Your puppy

What to do:

1. Place the two front feet platforms side by side, with a slight gap in between

   • Approximately the distance between your puppy’s front feet

2. Place the hind feet platform about the distance between your puppy’s front and hind feet

3. Lure puppy to put their front feet on platform #1 and hind feet on hind feet platform, mark + treat

4. Lure puppy to put their front feet on platform #2 while keeping hind feet on the platform, mark + treat

   • I use a combination of slight body movement (i.e., moving to the side) and my hand with cookies to lure the puppy

5. Repeat steps 3-4

What the progression may look like:

1. Puppy side steps with one foot from platform #1 to platform #2

2. Puppy side steps with both feet from platform #1 to platform #2

3. Puppy side steps with both feet multiple times

How many reps? How often?

• Learning phase: 4-8 reps/direction/session, 2x/week

• Maintenance phase: 8-10 reps/2 sets/direction/session, 2x/week