Lap Turn - On the flat
Dogs naturally turn towards the handler, so to be able to turn your dog away from you, you’ll need to teach him how to do this.
Lap Turn is one of the handling techniques you can use to turn your dog away from you. What puppies learn early on will be easy for them later, and that’s why this technique is a part of OneMind Dogs foundation training.
Practicing turning away from the handler increases your puppy’s body awareness. Dogs are left-pawed or right-pawed just like we humans are left handed or right handed. If a human child learns to write with both hands when he first starts to write, he can learn to write equally well on both hands. In agility, there are turns to both left and right, so it should be easy for your dog to turn to both directions equally well.
This exercise also helps him learn to follow the handling, and teaches him to change leading leg.
What you need
- Really yummy small and soft treats that your puppy can easily smell and swallow.
- A quiet space at home with a non-slippery floor or outdoors where you and your puppy have enough space move a little.
Goal for you
- You’ll learn to turn your puppy’s nose away from you by turning your wrist, and start moving forward as soon as your puppy starts turning. You’ll be able to do this to both left and right.
Goal for your puppy
- Your puppy learns to follow a treat between your fingers and turn away from you to both left and right.
Summary
These are the main points of the lesson.
2. Put your hand to the level of your puppy’s nose.
Shake your hand to get your puppy’s attention.
3. Let the puppy come really close to your hand.
4. Start moving backwards.
5. Turn your puppy’s nose away from you by turning your wrist.
6. Speed up and start moving forward.
7. Reward your puppy from your guiding hand.
Praise him happily.
Can't make it work?
Don’t worry. Here are some common problems and how to fix them.
1. My puppy moves toward my hand, but I can't get him to turn away from me.
Turn your hand slowly so that your puppy can keep up with the turn. The treat needs to practically be in the puppy’s mouth throughout the turn.
2. My puppy turns his rear end away from me making it hard for me to turn him away from me.
Practice moving backwards with your puppy following your hand next to a wall at first, so that your puppy’s side is next to the wall.
3. My puppy wants the treat in my hand, but won’t follow my hand when I start moving backwards.
Let your puppy eat treats from your hand while you are moving backwards so that he gets rewarded for each step towards you. You can also try having a toy in your hand, and throwing it behind you after he gets interested in the toy, so that he gets rewarded for moving towards and past you.
4. My puppy turns to face me after I turn his nose away from me.
Make sure you move forward when your puppy’s nose starts turning away from you. Dogs naturally move on parallel lines with us, so if you move, your puppy will move, too. If you stop, your puppy will turn towards you.
5. It feels impossible for me to start moving forward after the turn, am I doing something wrong?
Make sure you have the hand your puppy follows next to you, and not in front of you. When the two of you are next to each other, you can easily start moving forward.