Back-Up
Back-Up is an incredibly useful exercise as it not only teaches your dog a fairly convenient skill that you’d be surprised might use every day, but also helps them develop increased rear-end awareness and flexibility.
To begin, place your the dog in a Square-Stand position (see 104) with treat/reward held out in front of them.
Next, once the dog is standing comfortably we’ll want to get them to step backwards. This is done by using a Terminal Marker (see 103), with the same hand that’s holding the treat/reward you want to command your dog to step backward while moving this same hand back past their head. Once your dog steps back to reposition themself in front of your hand, give them the terminal marker signal and reward.
With these steps, the goal is to have your dog to step backward with simply giving them the back-up command. With teaching any skill, repetition is key. The focus of this exercise is have the dog step back smoothly, and ideally straight without any drifting to either side.
As mentioned, this exercise helps promote great rear-end awareness and flexibility - which is useful for any dog especially so in those dogs competing in any sports where increased understanding of their own movements and weight distribution can maximize their overall performance.