Benefits:

• Front Assembly Weight Shift

• Proprioception

• Core Strengthening

Equipment:

1. Start with larger pieces of lower, stable equipment. The rear foot target should not be taller than your dog’s hocks.

1. A low, stable surface will help naturally reinforce good form. 

2. Once your dog understands rear foot targeting, then you can start experimenting with different sizes and shapes.

3. Always start with STABLE equipment. Build your dog’s confidence. 

Set-Up:

1. Place the piece of equipment a small distance in front of you - make sure there’s at least a dog’s length of space between you and the equipment.

How To:

1. Toss a treat directly behind the object. When your dog turns around and comes towards you, they should have the confidence from front foot targeting to walk over the equipment. When their back feet end up on the equipment, manually stop your dog by putting down a treat right in front of them.

1. Reward Placement Note: To prevent your dog from hyperextending their back, reward low. You can place food on the floor or you can feed with their head low. 

2. Keep a special eye on your dog’s backline whenever their forelimbs are lower than their rear legs. Unless your dog’s breed standard says otherwise, the backline should always remain level.  

2. Give a few treats with them in the position with their back feet on the equipment, then release them off and toss the treat behind the equipment again and repeat.

3. Slowly begin delaying the timing of your ‘stopper’ treat. Your dog should begin stopping with their back feet on the equipment on their own, without the stopper cookie.

1. Slowly increase duration. As you increase duration, you can also increase criteria. You want your dog's hocks to be perpendicular to the ground and parallel to each other. Don’t worry too much about their front feet right now, focus on the form for the rear assembly.

2. Once your dog is confidently and independently rear foot targeting the first piece of equipment, then begin introducing other pieces of equipment. Experiment with different shapes, sizes, and heights but remember to keep the equipment lower than your dog’s hock for safety. For now, keep all equipment stable. 

3. You can also begin back up away from the equipment to test your dog’s independence and understanding of the rear foot target. Move just a little, almost an indiscernible amount for your dog - perform a couple of reps at that distance. If the reps are successful, move a little bit further away again and repeat. 

4. Troubleshooting

   • If your dog is understanding rear foot targeting, but having trouble with bringing their legs parallel to each other, you can try luring your dog to the edge of the equipment. Their legs should naturally become more parallel as the dog tries to anchor their back legs to the edge of the equipment.

Goal:

1. Your dog should come to you and stop once their rear feet touch the equipment. They should be perpendicular to the ground, parallel to each other and be able to maintain a level topline.