Saturday, January 14, 2012

Some Fun (And Useful) Dog Tricks!

Tricks are fun, and like games, keep a dog alert and energetic. They give a dog a chance to play and think. Tricks help a dog 'learn how to learn'. If a puppy can learn a trick, then he or she can learn obedience and good behavior.

Turn Around

The first trick I taught Bonnie was to turn around. It's easy and it's fun. I started by having Bonnie standing and facing me. I let her see a treat in my hand. While I stood still, I said, "Turn around." I lead Bonnie's nose around to the left (clockwise) with the treat so she walked in a circle. When she came around and back to me, I said, "Good girl!" and gave her the treat.

Is there a practical reason to teach 'Turn Around'? I'm taking a puppy class and the instructor told us that she knew of someone whose dog enjoyed jumping on house guests. She would tell the dog to turn around whenever someone came over. Because the dog was busy twirling, he wasn't jumping on the visitors.

TIP:
After some practice, hold the treat in front of you so your dog can see it and say, "Turn around," but don't lead his nose. See if he is ready to turn around by himself and get the treat. Pretty soon, he will turn around faster than you can say 'Lassie!"

If you choose to use the words, "Turn Left", use them all the time. Don't use "Turn around" sometimes, and "Turn Left" other times. Be consistent.

Crawl

One of my favorite tricks has always been the 'crawl.' Bonnie learned the crawl over a period of weeks and now has a really smooth and comfortable trick to share with friends.

I started out by having Bonnie lie down while I was on the ground next to her. Then, holding a treat in front of her nose, I moved the treat away from her so that she would follow it while staying on the ground. Most dogs try to get up to retrieve the treat and Bonnie did as well. When she lifted her rear end, I gently tapped it and showed her to put it back down on the ground. Out of desire for the treat, she scooted just slightly forward. As soon as she did, I praised her wildly and gave her the treat. She had just crawled a tiny bit. We practiced this over and over, for two or three minutes a couple of times each day.

The hardest part of teaching a dog to crawl is the transition you have to make from sitting on the ground to standing next to your dog. Here's how I did it. I found a yardstick. Then I taped a small plastic cup to the very bottom of the stick. I put several pieces of tasty treats in the cup. Then, while standing, I held the yardstick in front of Bonnie's nose and coaxed her to crawl. Once she was used to crawling with my standing up she became comfortable crawling in any situation. Check out Bonnie's video. I think you'll see that with this method, crawling is a trick that you can teach your dog without too much trouble. Have fun!

TIP:
Your dog must know 'Down' before he can learn this trick.


Touch

Here's a trick that might seem a little weird, but I taught it to my dog anyway. The trick is called Touch. This means that the dog will touch their nose to something when I ask them to touch it.

First, I rubbed a dog treat on the palm of my hand so that the dog could smell it. I started out by holding my hand in front of the dog. As soon as they touched her nose to my hand, I clicked and gave them a treat. If you don't use a clicker, it's just as good to say, "Yes" and then reward them, too.

That's all there is to it. Just touch my hand and reward. Easy, isn't it? But why would we teach a dog to Touch? The reason I taught it to my dog is because I want them to ring a bell using her nose. If they can touch my hand with their nose, then later they can touch a bell with their nose.




Go Back
This is an easy one! Stand facing your dog and as you walk toward him, say "Go Back". He will want to get out of the way and will automatically walk backwards!

TIP:
If your dog doesn't walk back in a straight line, practice up against a wall or in a narrow hallway. After your dog is walking backward with you, try walking toward him only a step or two. Eventually, you will be able to stand still and say "Go Back".

Quiet

This is easiest if your dog already knows how to speak. Tell your dog to Speak or catch him when he is barking. Get right in front of him and say "Quiet". The second he stops, even if it is to take a breath, give him a treat. You might want to hold your hand or palm in front of his face to add a visual signal. Practice playing 'quiet' often and your dog will be loving the word "Quiet".

TIP:

This is easiest if your dog already knows how to speak. Tell your dog to Speak or catch him when he is barking. Get right in front of him and say "Quiet". The second he stops, even if it is to take a breath, give him a treat. You might want to hold your hand or palm in front of his face to add a visual signal. Practice playing 'quiet' often and your dog will be loving the word "Quiet".


Go To Bed

"Go to bed" means go to the bed AND lie down. You should only need to say "Go to bed".
Put a bed, blanket, or towel 6-10 feet away from you. With your dog beside you say "Go to bed!" and then together go to the bed. Have your dog lie down on the bed, give her a treat, and praise. Repeat many times. Later on, try sending your dog by herself. At first, make sure that someone is waiting at the bed with a treat. Later, your dog will do it herself, and you will walk over to her while she is lying down and reward her.

TIP:
It will take many repetitions, but she'll start to figure out that going AND lying down on the bed will get her a reward. It's important that your dog knows how to lie down. At first you might have to say Lie Down real softly to get your dog to go down, but try not to use it very much. What you want to say is "Go to Bed". Remember, "Go to bed" means go to the bed AND lie down.

Circle
With your dog facing you, take a treat and lead your dog's nose to the right and around your body. Let him follow the treat all the way around behind your back and around to the front. Give your dog the treat and praise him. He will be making a complete circle around you.

TIP:
In the beginning you might have to give your dog several treats while he is going around behind you and when he returns to the front. Practice it several times a day, but only for five minutes or so, two or three times a day.

All trick methods gratefully borrowed from LoveYourDog.com They give great advice, I got all of my dog's tricks from them! :)

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