There are many reasons to teach our agility dogs to pivot. Besides body awareness that includes rear foot awareness and proprioception, the pivot is perfect for teaching side cues, line-up routines, recall to heel exercises, and helps when teaching collection work and serpentines.
To teach the pivot, a step stool or some other type of perch will be needed. It is best to use a size appropriate item depending on your dog’s leg length. The goal is to have a dog who will place their front feet onto the item and independently rotate around the perch, void of any movement from the handler. When the dog understands the movement, we then teach the dog to target the handler’s leg with their shoulder. As the handler moves away from the dog, the dog will learn to move/pivot with the handler.
Ideas for perches. Make sure to use a non-slip surface.
It is common for handlers to want to use their physical presence or motion to move the dog, but this is counter-productive to what we want to teach. I recommend starting the exercise by sitting on the floor to discourage any accidental physical encouragements.
Step One:
Teach the dog to place his front feet on the perch. I find shaping this to work best as it takes quite a bit of time to fade the lure and get true understanding from the dog. When shaping the behavior sit close to the perch and reward any interest in the perch, making sure to reward in position. First mark/reward one foot, then two, etc. When the dog seems to understand the two feet on the perch you can name it. When the dog has two feet on the perch, throw the food behind him, as he approaches and places his feet on the perch give your verbal cue, “feet”. I call mine feet and it comes in handy when working on strength training exercises.
Step Two:
When the dog understands the front feet on the perch, it’s time to start shaping the rear foot movements. Start by clicking and marking all rear foot movements. I find it best to place a mirror behind your dog, so you can see all movements. When the dog is doing what I call the “two step” which is moving back and forth in both directions, choose one direction and start marking and rewarding for movements in only that direction. When the dog moves into you, he may not want to turn away from you, stay patient and reward on the opposite side of his face, encouraging the rear to pivot away from you (see photo). Continue until the dog is performing full 360 pivots on the perch.
Use of a mirror allows the handler to easily see rear foot movement.
Step Three:
Repeat step two, but in opposite direction.
Step Four:
When your dog can pivot in both directions, stand up and generalize the position. When the dog understands this, stand close to the perch and as your dog comes into your leg, mark and reward, moving away from your dog and repeating the process. You move away one step, the dog comes into your leg, mark reward, step away, dog follows, mark reward, continuing until the dog moves with you as you step away. When the dog is offering his shoulder to your leg target as you move, start naming the behavior. You can have a different name for each side, or they can be the same name.
Step Five:
Remove the perch and take it to the ground. Many dogs automatically understand the behavior when the perch is removed, others still need a front foot target to perform the behavior. If the dog still needs a front foot target use a flat paper plate. When the dog is performing the behavior with the plate it is usually quite easy to remove the plate or cut it to make it smaller.
Step Six:
Generalize the behavior. Take the behavior on the road, asking for it in every situation until your dog can perform it anywhere and anytime. Start in less distracting environments and build up to carnival like settings
LINkS TO VIDEOS
Beginning Pivot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7X4zMGU_Vo
Teaching Rotation on Perch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfaBxMZK3Co
Completed Pivot on Perch