# Teaching the Teeter



## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

Looking for any tips/info on how to train the teeter.. the catch? My dog weighs less than 4lbs.

I'm wondering if it would be worth it to try building a simple teeter at home so we can work on it frequently, as opposed to only being able to use it once a week at group practice and even then, only if the rest of the group is open to working with it.


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## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

Most dogs don't like how unsteady it is under their feet. Have you done any work with a wobble board? 

I've seen some pretty successful teeter training where both ends of the teeter are placed on tables. You start the dog on the table, they get on and walk to the other end, and because there's a table under the far end, it tips to a much shallower angle and sooner. Gradually, you lower the table at the far end (put it on shorter and shorter legs) so that the angle of the teeter to that table gets larger. 

Large dogs often go to the middle of a teeter, get it to tip, and then go the rest of the way. With a small dog, the best strategy would be getting them to run all the way to the end of the teeter and then ride it down like an elevator. Problem is, when it hits the ground, it's going to jostle them pretty good. How's Corona with loud noises? Some dogs don't love the bang. Both the jostling and the loud noise will probably require desensitization work.


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

According to the AAC the teeter should drop when a 3 lb. weight is 24 inches from the dropping end and it should hit the ground in less than 3 seconds. I know when we made our own teeter at home, we made sure it did do this. I have not checked the new teeter we bought to see if it is set properly.


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

Yes, we've done some work on a wobble board.. she's not a fan.


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

If she isn't a fan of the wobble board, then I would do just a TON of wobble board work. I would do it until she LOVED the wobble board. Click and treat for any and all interaction until she is diving on the thing. Then start teaching sit/down/stand on the board.

Also, get a skateboard and teach her to love sit/stand/down on the skateboard and be able to push the board forwards and back while she rides in it.

I also taught my whippet to like being pushed around in a wheel barrow. And to like being dumped out.

These skills might not seem relevant, but by the time my whippet got on the teeter, she was fearless. No motion bothered her at all. In an early session, she ran a full-height teeter (without permission!) and got totally bucked off. Thanks to the wheelbarrow/skateboard/wobbleboard, she didn't care at all and got right back on it. Teach a love for motion AWAY from the teeter so that the teeter doesn't take on the baggage. 


This works!


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## SDRRanger (May 2, 2013)

Ranger was originally found the teeter very off putting because of the clunk noise. We put pillows under the ends to stop that noise and found it helped


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## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

CoverTune said:


> Yes, we've done some work on a wobble board.. she's not a fan.


Yeah, I'd work on that until she loves it. Lots of click/treat, as trainingjunkie said.


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## MrsBoats (May 20, 2010)

GottaLuvMutts said:


> Yeah, I'd work on that until she loves it. Lots of click/treat, as trainingjunkie said.


What about doing ball work or balance disc work too?? - http://www.fitpawsusa.com/

It might work in a similar way to a wobble board (and build up her core and condition her.)


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

Well, we got to bring home a small tippy board from class last week and worked with that, she got comfortable with it quickly. Over this past weekend, my dad and I have built a teeter (was gonna be a "mini" version, but ended up being nearly competition size lol) and with it set at just 6" tonight, Corona was running from one end to the other like it was nothing. The stand we built is adjustable, so I'll gradually work her up to the 24" height.. which I fully expect to take quite a while as she is afraid of heights.


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## Gally (Jan 11, 2012)

When Gally (who is a pretty timid with any inanimate object that moves or any loud noise) was learning the teeter we just praised and rewarded like hell lol. He got a major jackpot after each teeter and after a while he was going to it without hesitation. Wish I had a more scientific approach to tell you but he's super food motivated so that always helps.


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## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

With Faxon it's actually helping a crazy amount to have Roxie there because she follows Roxie around everywhere as it is and she watched Roxie and then has a little more enthusiasm to try herself. If you have another dog that already knows the teeter maybe that could help?


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

Quick session at 6" this afternoon.


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

Looks super! congratulations!


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## SDRRanger (May 2, 2013)

Looking good...and soooo cute seeing the teeny ones doing agility


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

That looks like it will work great. The only thing I would not do is let her turn around and go back up the teeter. I made that mistake with Lucy, she would do the 2o2o on the contact points but if she missed, she would back up and do them (I am talking about the A-frame and dog walk) and I was told not to let her do that because if she self-corrected herself it would be a fault so not to let her get into the habit of doing it. Since your dog is running right to the end of the teeter and stopping, I would then give her a release word and carry on instead of her going back up the teeter to the other end. Just a suggestion, maybe someone else can word it better.


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

Yeah, I was so intent on teaching her to drive to the end, without flying OFF the end.. I kinda forgot about the import step of teaching her how to get off - doh, lol. If the weather holds out, that'll be tomorrows lesson for sure.


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

Thought I'd update this.. we haven't made much progress. She's "ok" with it at a very low height, but once we reach a certain height, she's just super scared - even if I hold or brace the teeter so it doesn't move.

Soo… I'm not really sure how to work on the fear of heights, but I'm going to construct our own little wobble board and start back with that.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

Our classes have the teeter propped up on one end on a table, so it's level. Dog jumps on the table and then walks down so it drops. Somebody usually controls the descent for a while, but it seems to be working that they're getting used to the scary part (the drop) before they have to climb it AND have it drop out from under them. 

Might be a new approach?


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Do you ever do the bang game with the teeter? 

A lot of dogs have issues with the teeter though. One thing my trainer recommends is to not repeat the teeter over and over and over. If they get their teeter and do it well then stop on a good note before they have a chance to get scared/anxious about the next turn.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

Laurelin said:


> Do you ever do the bang game with the teeter?
> 
> A lot of dogs have issues with the teeter though. One thing my trainer recommends is to not repeat the teeter over and over and over. If they get their teeter and do it well then stop on a good note before they have a chance to get scared/anxious about the next turn.


Not much to add, but I wanted to agree with this. When we started the teeter in class Watson was ok with it - not super confident, but about average for the class. Once he heard it bang down with full force he became a bit more anxious, but still ok. The more the class worked on it the worse he got, especially as the more advanced dogs continued to bang it. I took him completely out of the facility while they were working, but it didn't help much.

Then we worked on it the next week. Then the week after. By the end of those three weeks he didn't even want to be in class anymore and was afraid of all of the contact obstacles. We weren't even pressuring him to do it, just feeding for being in the same room as the teeter or watching it move slightly, but his anxiety built every time we were in class whether we did the teeter or not.

So yeah, don't over do it.


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

Unfortunately I can't really do the bang game (what exactly is it anyway?)… the teeter we built at home barely makes any noise and my work schedule has nearly eliminated my opportunities to get to class.

I tried propping up both ends of the teeter and just sending her back and forth between myself and a friend (with treats) and even with no movement to deal with, she simply became more scared and more reluctant to even walk across the teeter.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

Since she is getting progressively more anxious, I would slow down a lot and keep sessions short. See my story above for what not to do!

Have you tried letting her move away from the teeter as a reward for moving towards it? Or turning it into a targeting type behavior?


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

The bang game is that you don't make the dog walk across the teeter but instead have the dog approach from the side and just work the dog banging the end down. Basically you click and treat any time the dog causes the teeter to move. We started there + wobble board then moved dogs to a very low teeter that barely tipped then would go back to bang game then to teeter work, etc. 

I agree SHORT sessions. If she gets scared on time #3, then stop after 1-2 times for a while.

It kind of mentions it here: http://www.dogsportmagazine.com/?p=385
http://dogagilityvideos.com/advancing-the-bang-game-for-the-teeter-seesaw/


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## LoMD13 (Aug 4, 2010)

I really think once you've pushed too far too fast (I did this with Lola and the teeter too) and she's getting worried about an obstacle- the best thing you can do is just leave it alone for a month and start from the begininng.


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## MafiaPrincess (Jul 1, 2009)

I agree with leaving it alone for a good long break to start over. When you do, you need to put it on something so that it DOES make noise. An extra plank on the down side of the teeter, put the whole thing on concrete, whatever. You will build confidence over time by making the bang it game rewarding. It is as much about conquering the fear of the sound as it is the beginning of teaching a solid teeter.


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

We've had a break from it for the last month or two, just getting back to it now.

There's no metal on our teeter, so it's not going to be very loud, or sound like the "real thing", but I can try to make it louder.


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