Working dogs minds and creating a valuable command for safety at the same time.
Teaching a dog the "middle" command can far and away be one of your most valuable resources beyond just having people think you and your dog are mad impressive. If your dog goes places with you this can be a space command that puts them where you need them in a crowded or tight place. My favorite place to use middle is during check out at the store or in a public restroom. Waylon in particular doesn't like people in his personal space and hello! Big, white, fluffy beautiful, magnetic dog (biased, me? Never.) Everyone wants to pet him. Having a direction for him to follow that keeps him where I have control of him, I can see him and, he is focused on what I am doing allows me to manage a situation where I have no control over the external factors. If you teach the dog to sit in the middle position, which really comes most natural, make sure you are mindful of where the dogs tail is. We almost had a shopping cart roll over Waylon's once. You can also teach this as a stand, unfortunately, with Waylon's height I would be riding him like a pony if he stood between my legs.
Teaching this command is pretty simple. If they love to learn, you can use one of your dogs meals to get some reps in each day or if they are a harder sell, use a higher value treat they will work for. When teaching this kind of behavior you don't want to use anything that makes your dog hyped up or over-aroused as dog trainer's like to say.
One way to teach this command is to lure the dog with food to go between your legs from front to back. With the dog directly in front of you, lure them through your legs to get them to begin understanding what you want them to do. Once they grasp that you want them to go through your legs, begin to toss the food (from the front) between your legs and have them go get it. This puts them in the prime spot for beginning to teach them middle. Now you will bend over slightly and lure them with the food to come through your legs from behind. Depending on your desired end result of sit or stand, will depend on what you do next. If you want them to stay in a stand, make sure you keep your lure even and steady until their head and shoulders clear your legs then mark and reward. If you want to end in a sit, once their shoulders begin to clear your legs you will pull the food up slightly to continue to lure the through and then sit, then mark and reward. This should begin to happen in one fluid motion. Not asking for the sit during this command keeps the sit waters from becoming muddy. Our primary goal is to keep all our windows and commands clear for the dog.
Practicing this and other tricks / commands for a few minutes every day is a great way to keep that working dog mind busy and satisfied. Side benefit - you now know an awesome way to feel confident your dog will stay safe and out of trouble while you check out at the pet store.
- Good vibes everyone!
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