Skateboarding Step by Step

Session one
Skateboard in the middle of the room, pillow restricting movement.

1. Dusty backs up (recently learned, not on cue)


2. one foot on board CT


3. two front feet on board CT and call her to me for a pat


4. she backs up


5. two front feet on board CT


6. three feet on CT


7. wait for fourth foot, she lies down and puts her chin on the board, very cute. call her to me.


8. hops up with four feet CT


9. stays on board with four feet CT


10. stays on board with four feet CT


11. call her to me with lots of praise and a tummy scritch


12. runs back and hops up with four feet CT


13. stays CT


14. stays CT


15. release and play smack a puppy.

Session two
Skateboard in the middle of the room, pillow restricting movement, count out three lots of ten treats, raised the criteria to four feet on the board.

1. Dusty runs over and hops up on the board CT throwing treat off to the side so she has to get off the board


2. Repeat until she has had the ten treats, release and play.


3. Repeat, for another ten treats.


4. Repeat, this time rewarding facing the front of the board.

Session three
Took away the pillow so the board could move, on carpet so it doesn’t move too fast, criteria moving the board while standing on it with one or more feet. Ten treats.

Session four
Still on the carpet. Two rewardable behaviours: either standing on the board with all four feet, or pushing the board along while having one or more feet on it. I have never tried having alternative criteria so not sure if it will work.

Session five
Rubber bands against the wheel bearings slow the board down, we move outside to our street which slopes down to the gutter. Rewarding either hopping on the board or pushing it along.

Session six
Taken the rubber bands off the board, reinforcing jumping on the board and staying on it for five or ten seconds as it rolls. Dusty tends to stand on the nose rather than in the middle, so I probably missed a step reinforcing her for the correct position on the board.

Session seven
Breakthrough. Dusty combines the behaviours, pushing with one foot while staying on the board.

Session eight
Captured on film.