Hi
I am on week 4 of a 6week puppy training course, it's really good fun and I'm learning loads.
In last weeks class we were told to see, just for fun, if we could teach our puppies a trick i.e. give me your paw, roll over etc...
I have no idea!! This is our first dog, there's no pressure whatsoever but I would love to tech her something.
I would love any ideas? And also how to actually teach that particular trick if you suggest one.
Thank you
Sam
Tricks to teach my JRT
Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost
Oooooh..
Ill prod Josie to come here when I see her, she is the trick QUEEN!
Have you been using clicker training?
If not, let me know and I can explain that in more detail but the basic concept is this.
Clicker makes a distinctive 'click' sound - you use this sound the instant your dog does the thing you wanted (not after, the split second, so if its a sit the second dogs bum hits the ground you click). This 'marks' the exact thing you wanted.
To make it all work you teach the dog that click = treat, so just sit with a clicker and a pot of treats beside you. click and treat until the dogs face clearly says 'wheres the treat then' after you have clicked. Its the same expression you get when you open a packet of crisps or go to the fridge really... expectant.
Once you have this marker to tell your dog instantly 'that was right' you can teach, well..... pretty much anything a dog is physically capable of (in case i say 'anything' and someone sues me because they fail to teach their dog to do open heart surgery or fly to the moon.....
).
The main rule of clicker is you must always treat after the click. Click must always mean treat will follow or you will cause the click to become meaningless.
Now - tricks....
How impressive do you want to get? Obviously for a small pup, nothing involving jumping or standing on hind legs is appropriate yet. Plenty of stuff that is though....
Spin and Rewind.
Spin = turn around in a tight circle clockwise.
Rewind = turn around in a tight circle anti clockwise.
Pick one to start with. Watch your dog and see which side he favours, you'll teach him to turn this way faster although my preference would be to teach the opposite way first (as the side he favours will be easier, for the reverse you may find he struggles).
The easiest way to do this is to lure the dog with food.
Hold a tasty treat in your hand, make sure he knows its there, hold it just in front of his nose. Slowly circle your hand so that to follow it, he must 'spin'.... as he completes the movement, click and treat.
Keep this up with short breaks in between so hes keen to earn that treat, dont say anything yet though.
When he starts to spin quicker and more keenly, you can move your hand a little distance away from his nose. If he doesnt 'get it' go back to the first stage again.
Only do 5 minute sessions - if you do a session where he gets it really well in the first 2 minutes, only do a few and end on a high note. You can do another training session in an hour.
The next stage is to add in the command 'spin' - as he follows your hand round, say 'spin', then as he completes it, click and treat.
Gradually work your way in small stages, towards not needing the treat in your hand. The eventual end goal is to not need the hand signal at all but for this level of training thats not necessary and is quite a big hurdle as dogs do body language far better than they do verbal.
What is vital though, is that you practice this trick in as many places as you can. Dogs are context specific about learning behaviours - this means that 'spin' said in the living room may mean 'turn in a small circle to your right', but 'spin' said in the garden will probably not.
Once you have him spinning in the living room, go to the kitchen, the hall, the landing, the bedroom, the garden, the pavement - everywhere you can think of!
Not practising new behaviours in multiple locations is one reason why frequently, dogs learn to behave really well in training classes, but seem to 'forget' it all elsewhere. In fact they haven't forgotten at all, they don't understand as the context in which the command is given has changed.
You can teach a whole range of tricks using a clicker - one thing to be aware of though is that whilst a trick may seem to you to be one behaviour, to a dog its not, its a whole series of behaviours. With a trick like 'spin', thats just one thing - complex tricks like 'shut the door' are long.
The way to teach these is to 'back chain' - break the trick down into each behaviour; 'shut the door' has these...
go to the door. paw the door. paw door until it clicks shut. (if you have an easy to shut door that may only be two stages).
To back chain, start with the final part of the trick, which in this case is 'paw door to click shut' - for this i encouraged my dog to paw the door, he already knew to do a 'high five' so we developed that, and he got his click and treat for clicking shut the verrrrrryyyy sliiiiiightly opened door. When he would reliably do that with me stood next to him, we opened the door more, so he had to paw it more before he got his click and treat.
Finally we moved right back across teh room and he had to go to it, paw it a few times, click it shut, to get his treat.
So backchaining can link a series of behaviours into one trick - a great example of this is heelwork to music. The whole 2 minute 'dance' is actually a long sequence of 'tricks', all pre- learned first, and then back chained together to form the final performance.
Hope that helps!
Em
Ill prod Josie to come here when I see her, she is the trick QUEEN!
Have you been using clicker training?
If not, let me know and I can explain that in more detail but the basic concept is this.
Clicker makes a distinctive 'click' sound - you use this sound the instant your dog does the thing you wanted (not after, the split second, so if its a sit the second dogs bum hits the ground you click). This 'marks' the exact thing you wanted.
To make it all work you teach the dog that click = treat, so just sit with a clicker and a pot of treats beside you. click and treat until the dogs face clearly says 'wheres the treat then' after you have clicked. Its the same expression you get when you open a packet of crisps or go to the fridge really... expectant.
Once you have this marker to tell your dog instantly 'that was right' you can teach, well..... pretty much anything a dog is physically capable of (in case i say 'anything' and someone sues me because they fail to teach their dog to do open heart surgery or fly to the moon.....
).The main rule of clicker is you must always treat after the click. Click must always mean treat will follow or you will cause the click to become meaningless.
Now - tricks....
How impressive do you want to get? Obviously for a small pup, nothing involving jumping or standing on hind legs is appropriate yet. Plenty of stuff that is though....
Spin and Rewind.
Spin = turn around in a tight circle clockwise.
Rewind = turn around in a tight circle anti clockwise.
Pick one to start with. Watch your dog and see which side he favours, you'll teach him to turn this way faster although my preference would be to teach the opposite way first (as the side he favours will be easier, for the reverse you may find he struggles).
The easiest way to do this is to lure the dog with food.
Hold a tasty treat in your hand, make sure he knows its there, hold it just in front of his nose. Slowly circle your hand so that to follow it, he must 'spin'.... as he completes the movement, click and treat.
Keep this up with short breaks in between so hes keen to earn that treat, dont say anything yet though.
When he starts to spin quicker and more keenly, you can move your hand a little distance away from his nose. If he doesnt 'get it' go back to the first stage again.
Only do 5 minute sessions - if you do a session where he gets it really well in the first 2 minutes, only do a few and end on a high note. You can do another training session in an hour.
The next stage is to add in the command 'spin' - as he follows your hand round, say 'spin', then as he completes it, click and treat.
Gradually work your way in small stages, towards not needing the treat in your hand. The eventual end goal is to not need the hand signal at all but for this level of training thats not necessary and is quite a big hurdle as dogs do body language far better than they do verbal.
What is vital though, is that you practice this trick in as many places as you can. Dogs are context specific about learning behaviours - this means that 'spin' said in the living room may mean 'turn in a small circle to your right', but 'spin' said in the garden will probably not.
Once you have him spinning in the living room, go to the kitchen, the hall, the landing, the bedroom, the garden, the pavement - everywhere you can think of!
Not practising new behaviours in multiple locations is one reason why frequently, dogs learn to behave really well in training classes, but seem to 'forget' it all elsewhere. In fact they haven't forgotten at all, they don't understand as the context in which the command is given has changed.
You can teach a whole range of tricks using a clicker - one thing to be aware of though is that whilst a trick may seem to you to be one behaviour, to a dog its not, its a whole series of behaviours. With a trick like 'spin', thats just one thing - complex tricks like 'shut the door' are long.
The way to teach these is to 'back chain' - break the trick down into each behaviour; 'shut the door' has these...
go to the door. paw the door. paw door until it clicks shut. (if you have an easy to shut door that may only be two stages).
To back chain, start with the final part of the trick, which in this case is 'paw door to click shut' - for this i encouraged my dog to paw the door, he already knew to do a 'high five' so we developed that, and he got his click and treat for clicking shut the verrrrrryyyy sliiiiiightly opened door. When he would reliably do that with me stood next to him, we opened the door more, so he had to paw it more before he got his click and treat.
Finally we moved right back across teh room and he had to go to it, paw it a few times, click it shut, to get his treat.
So backchaining can link a series of behaviours into one trick - a great example of this is heelwork to music. The whole 2 minute 'dance' is actually a long sequence of 'tricks', all pre- learned first, and then back chained together to form the final performance.
Hope that helps!
Em
teaching dog NEW tricks
Hi
You could also teach your dog to sit it is soo easy to teach and every dog should learn it.
HERES WHAT TO DO
put a treat in your hand but make sure the dog cant get to it but can smell it lick your hand what ever and she needs to work out how to the treat out of your hand .and just wait until she put aher bottom on the ground , as she going to put her bottom now say sit and give her the treat do that 1 more time then try it with just the word SIT and praise her then do it again for a quicker Response DONE !
You could also teach your dog to sit it is soo easy to teach and every dog should learn it.
HERES WHAT TO DO
put a treat in your hand but make sure the dog cant get to it but can smell it lick your hand what ever and she needs to work out how to the treat out of your hand .and just wait until she put aher bottom on the ground , as she going to put her bottom now say sit and give her the treat do that 1 more time then try it with just the word SIT and praise her then do it again for a quicker Response DONE !
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Amazing-Grace
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 8:22 am
I'm no pro, but I taught my little girl to "roll" - when she was in the down position (Drop, for her), I would hold a treat in front of her nose, and move it slowly around to her left paw, which she would then follow with her nose - and I'd give her the treat for following it. Once she got the hang of that, I'd start moving the treat around to her left paw, and then above her back - and her little head would try to follow it - and as she followed the tread, I kept moving the treat across her back until it got to her right paw - and in following the treat, she effectivelly rolled! Once she'd done that a few times, I put the word "Roll" to it.
Because I used the circular motion with the treat, I was able to then teach her with a single circle of my pointer finger, and the word "Roll" - until I can now just circle my finger and she rolls. You can apply clicker training to these methods too.
I also taught "Hi-5" - I got a yummy smelling treat and put it in my fist up by her chin on the side that I wanted her to give me 5. She sniffed it, licked it, chewed my hand, and FINALLY, pawed it - which is when she got the treat! It took about 5 times for her to figure out that the only way she'll get the treat was to paw my hand - and once she had that down pat, I put the word 'Hi-5' - as soon as she pawed my hand, and then she got the treat.
I used the same method for the other side, but put the words "Other side" - so she now "Hi-5" with the left paw, and "Other side" with the right paw. It's very cute
we are currently working on "Crawl" and "Beg"
(she is a JRT x Pom - super super smart 14 month old. When she was a puppy she would learn a new trick in 10 minutes, and still remembers them to this day - and our other is a very stubborn 4 year old ittle boy JRT who can't do as many tricks - it took him 3 months of constant training to get him to drop! lol)
Because I used the circular motion with the treat, I was able to then teach her with a single circle of my pointer finger, and the word "Roll" - until I can now just circle my finger and she rolls. You can apply clicker training to these methods too.
I also taught "Hi-5" - I got a yummy smelling treat and put it in my fist up by her chin on the side that I wanted her to give me 5. She sniffed it, licked it, chewed my hand, and FINALLY, pawed it - which is when she got the treat! It took about 5 times for her to figure out that the only way she'll get the treat was to paw my hand - and once she had that down pat, I put the word 'Hi-5' - as soon as she pawed my hand, and then she got the treat.
I used the same method for the other side, but put the words "Other side" - so she now "Hi-5" with the left paw, and "Other side" with the right paw. It's very cute
we are currently working on "Crawl" and "Beg"
(she is a JRT x Pom - super super smart 14 month old. When she was a puppy she would learn a new trick in 10 minutes, and still remembers them to this day - and our other is a very stubborn 4 year old ittle boy JRT who can't do as many tricks - it took him 3 months of constant training to get him to drop! lol)
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Amazing-Grace
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 8:22 am
It's driving me nuts mopping up all this wee!!Of course you can!
Think of it as a game - your goal is to get the dog to pee outside.
Dogs perspective is though 'pee outside, win a prize, every pee wins!'...
Make sure you stick to the game rules though....
1/ no shouting even if you suddenly see puppy go to pee.
2/any accidents whoops, lose a life: your fault you weren't keeping your eye on the ball here... or pup as it may be
3/clean up accidents with bio washing powder, not ammonia based cleaners as they will attract the pup back to that place.
4/ no using paper - s'cheating and you lose a life.
5/take puppy outside on the hour, every hour, after meals, games, sleeps, drinks and when she looks 'suspicious'.
6/store in pockets some tiny tasty treats.
The method of play is this:
Watch the puppy like a hawk (remember you lose a life if she pees/poos on the floor!).... take her outside as mentioned in game rule 5. Stay out for around five minutes and dont let her play. If she pees, crowd goes WIIIIIIIIILDDDDDDD, treats rain from heaven (your pocket), shes SUCH a good giiiiiiiirllllllll.
Do that for around 2 weeks. She should by then get the idea OOH, pee outside, win a treat!
Now, shes totally pleased that peeing in front of you, on the grass (or wherever) is a really GREAT thing to do, because whenshe does, you are fun fun fun, and have nice foods.
NOW - if shes still not really got the idea that the only place to go is outside, you can introduce a distraction noise, not a NOOOOOOOOO OMG EVIL PUPPY, but distinctive 'AH!'.... followed by extreme encouragement to get outside fast.
The reason for doing it this way round is you risk with some pups, them becoming worried about going in front of you, before they learn its great to do so outside only. That can lead to immense frustration on both parts - you want her to go, its 2am and its raining - shes desperate to go but experience has told her you arent a fun person if she does it where you can see...... so you get angry, give up, come in and she wees on the floor when you arent looking.
hth
Em
Think of it as a game - your goal is to get the dog to pee outside.
Dogs perspective is though 'pee outside, win a prize, every pee wins!'...
Make sure you stick to the game rules though....
1/ no shouting even if you suddenly see puppy go to pee.
2/any accidents whoops, lose a life: your fault you weren't keeping your eye on the ball here... or pup as it may be
3/clean up accidents with bio washing powder, not ammonia based cleaners as they will attract the pup back to that place.
4/ no using paper - s'cheating and you lose a life.
5/take puppy outside on the hour, every hour, after meals, games, sleeps, drinks and when she looks 'suspicious'.
6/store in pockets some tiny tasty treats.
The method of play is this:
Watch the puppy like a hawk (remember you lose a life if she pees/poos on the floor!).... take her outside as mentioned in game rule 5. Stay out for around five minutes and dont let her play. If she pees, crowd goes WIIIIIIIIILDDDDDDD, treats rain from heaven (your pocket), shes SUCH a good giiiiiiiirllllllll.
Do that for around 2 weeks. She should by then get the idea OOH, pee outside, win a treat!
Now, shes totally pleased that peeing in front of you, on the grass (or wherever) is a really GREAT thing to do, because whenshe does, you are fun fun fun, and have nice foods.
NOW - if shes still not really got the idea that the only place to go is outside, you can introduce a distraction noise, not a NOOOOOOOOO OMG EVIL PUPPY, but distinctive 'AH!'.... followed by extreme encouragement to get outside fast.
The reason for doing it this way round is you risk with some pups, them becoming worried about going in front of you, before they learn its great to do so outside only. That can lead to immense frustration on both parts - you want her to go, its 2am and its raining - shes desperate to go but experience has told her you arent a fun person if she does it where you can see...... so you get angry, give up, come in and she wees on the floor when you arent looking.
hth
Em
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Amazing-Grace
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 8:22 am
Yes we are 
Tricks are going well and house-training too I'm pleased to say, I go way over the top with the praise - Have you heard me!!
Hey I just had to break from this post because she cried to go out..... And did a POOH!!
Oh I've never been so happy to see something soooo stinky!!
Thank you all for your help
Tricks are going well and house-training too I'm pleased to say, I go way over the top with the praise - Have you heard me!!
Hey I just had to break from this post because she cried to go out..... And did a POOH!!
Oh I've never been so happy to see something soooo stinky!!
Thank you all for your help
