whatevah

Leg Weaves Uses - Good Showoff Trick, Doggy Dancing Movement, Can also help with straight fronts on a recall, as the dog is not scared of your legs [/b] Equipment - food/and or clicker Method - Dog is taught off lead in distraction free area. Reason for off lead, if frees up both hands, and trick looks better off lead, saves you having to phase out the lead later. Dog is facing you about one foot away. Your legs are apart. Note: If you are five foot tall and your dog is a great dane, you might have problems with this trick Food Lure Method Puts some food in your hand and put your hand behind your back and down in between your legs. If the dog is a nervous type, reward him as soon as he moves towards your hand. Slowly move your hand further and further from behind so that your dog is going through your legs. Reward for every step he makes towards you. Have legs spread out wide so it is easier for the dog. Lots of reward, praise and food once dog makes it all the way through your legs. The next trial the dog should be more confident, so reward him once he is in the middle of your legs, and then again when he is through. Add the word "Through" or another cue word, if that word is already taken. Your hand coming in between your legs is the signal. Gradually phase out the food so the dog only gets it once he is all the way through. Then reward for every second "through". Target Method Same as food lure method, but you hold out your fingers, and the dog is rewarded once with food once he touches the two finger target. Instead of food only. See targetting trick for more info on targetting and teach it for a week if you are going to use this method. Clicker Method Same as above using food, but click for movements towards you. Then click for more movements towards you, slowly upping the criteria. Then click for the complete movement. Problems My flatcoat retriever loves this trick so much that he goes up to everybody and walks through their legs, even from behind. He once walked through this lady's legs and she had a kilt on. I have worked out that he likes the feeling of his sides being rubbed as he goes through. He will often stop midway so you can pat his sides. It is his spot. He also used to walk through mens legs, and give them a nudge in a sensitive spot on the way through. So just watch out for these joker dogs. Figure 8 Leg Weave Another leg weave you can do after the first one is known well. Is to stand with legs apart. You have pieces of food in both hands. You lure the dog through your legs with a piece of food with your right hand behind your back and through your legs. The dog walks through your legs and is rewarded. You then get your left hand and put it across the front of your body across your right leg, so the dog comes around from behind, you then guide the dog through your legs again and lure him around your left leg to the front of you and inbetween your legs again. It is confusing to write, but basically your dog is doing a figure of 8 in and out of your legs while you are standing still with legs apart. Think of the go around to heel after a recall in obedience, except the dog is going behind you and through your legs so he ends up in the front again and then going around the other leg. Walking Leg Weave Stand as if you have just taken a big step. An exaggerated step, lure dog through with food. It is easier if you have dog on left, right foot forward. Slip your right hand down with a piece of food and lure the dog through. Do this several times introuduce the word "through" or any other word you are going to use. Then put left foot forward right foot back, and have the dog on the right side, and use your left hand with a piece of food just under your left leg, and lure the dog through. Do this several times, and then put it all together. Gradually phase out the food and reward intermittantly, so the dog never knows when it gets the reward, also make less exaggerated foot steps and hand signals through the legs. This is the method I have seen used in videos and read in books, and the method I have used on my own dogs. ADVANCED You can teach your dog to go through your legs from behind and sit when he gets to the middle. You can recall your dog, with legs apart and have him run through your legs. Throw the food through the middle just as he gets to you, or he might cheat and go around.

I don't mind you quering me, thats fine, we are all hear to learn and I am still learning. Thats why I am only teaching tricks that I have taught my own dogs, and telling the way that I taught them. I taught my dog food luring, and I only clicked him when he finished the roll over and was back up on his feet. I think if I had of clicked him in the middle of the roll, he would then stop and not do a complete roll. But that is my dog, other dogs may be different. But if you were doing pure shaping then you would click for small increments and work up to the complete roll over. I have also used the clicker, to reward for two behaviours. The dog has to close two drawers before he gets the click, etc. I think if you can use the clicker and can get the dog to do the behaviour then you must be doing it right.

You need to plan, and follow a method. What did you actually do and where did you get stuck. Some dogs learn faster than others. Some dogs are more clicker savvy than others. You break up the trick into small parts, and reward the dog for that part. Don't rush the dog.

You click after he has done the roll. Click ends the behaviour.

My dog also does the open the door and drawer. But I will save that trick for other time, as you don't want to rush the dog, and get him confused and have to go back to basics again. The method I posted above worked for my dog. He did the trick in one session, but he is a very clicker savvy dog, and also very food motivated and a quick learner. I learnt the method above from the Bow Wow Videos by Sherri. They used the target and clicker for harder and harder touches and they did not touch the door at all. So horses for courses. What other assistance dog tasks have you taught? I am quite interested in these, as my dog learns very quickly compared to my other dog and is a real pleasure to teach. I have also taught another trick where the dog targets a pedal on a rubbish bin and retrieves a toy. I have also taught my dog to go out a hit a few notes on a keyboard. This week I have been working on speak.

Teach Your Dog to Close the Door/Drawer Uses - good for assistance dogs, can lead to open doors/drawers, good for us lazy people who forget to close doors/drawers. Prequisite - Dog must know Targetting - Read Up and teach this trick for a week first. http://forums.dogzonline.com.au/index.php?showtopic=8044 Method - there are three methods, you can use one or try a combination Equipment Needed Clicker, Treats, Light weight door (such as kitchen cupboard door) Target Method Get a small target that the dog is interested in, could be a yellow sticky note, piece of carboard etc. Stick this to the cupboard door. Dog is off lead in distraction free environment. Dog is in front of the cupboard door and it is slightly open. 1. When the dog sniffs the target, click and treat do this about 20 twenty times. 2. Now hold back and don't click for sniff the target, wait for a harder nudge. Then click and treat the door moving slightly about 20 times. 3. Now hold off and click and treat the harder pushes. 4. Now only click for the door closing. Do this twenty times. 5. When the dog is successfully opening a slightly closed door, open the door a bit further and repeat the above steps. Once he has been successful add the cue word, I use DOOR 6. Now cut the target to a bit smaller, and repeat the above steps, then cut the target smaller again, and repeat above steps and then phase out the target. 7. You can now teach the drawer using the same method, but choose a drawer at the dogs head height or lower. Use a lightweight empty or near empty drawer. Shaping Method Put dog in front of slightly open door, (lightweight small doors work best, kitchen cupboard, laundry cabinet door etc) 1. When the dog looks at the door click and treat. Repeat this 20 times. 2. Now wait for the dog to offer something else, such as a harder nose push, click and treat this 20 times. 3. Keep repeating step 2, and click for harder and harder nose pushes. 4. Once the door is being closed, only click for door closures. 5. Once successful add the cue word "DOOR" Food Lure Method This is similar to the shaping method, except you put a little bit of mince on the door, so the dog will nose the door and click that, then repeat the above steps. Trouble Shooting My dog actually ate the sticky note, so I did a combination of shaping and luring methods. My dog also tends to push the door the wrong way, making it open more. I just let him keep trying and he pushes the door hard enough the wrong way that it actually bounces back and closes. Dogs don't generalise too well, so when you go to practice on another door, you may need to go back a few steps. Don't click for paw touches only nose touches. You don't want the dog slamming that door, or scratching the door. Make sure you add a cue word. I didn't and now when my dog sees an open door/drawer he has to go and close it. Some dogs can get fanatical about open doors/drawers. Also I have taught my dog to open doors and drawers and when I first taught him he would open it, and then immediately close it. It was very funny to watch, so make sure you add a cue word. Open doors/drawers will be taught later down the track. ADVANCED Once your dog is successful at close the door, you can add in the drawer using the same methods. You can also open several cupboard doors and click the dog only after he has closed two doors, then three doors. You can also open several drawers and get the dog to close all of them. Let me know how you go with this trick.

I would go back to basic. Go back to step 1, start teaching roll over like she has not learnt it before. I keep working on that, for maybe a week, until she is doing rollover really well, before I went back to the advanced moves. The advanced moves are for a dog who has a really good grasp on roll over for quite some time. I would teach her do an entire roll over first. If you want to do a roll over the other direction, I would wait until she has done a full roll over and not stop in the middle. Once she has a grasp on roll over, get her to do a roll over before she is fed. Get her to do a roll over before she gets her ball, (if she likes ball) before she goes for a walk. This is known as the premack principle. The dog has to do a behaviour before it gets to do what it wants to do. I use this on my flatcoat retriever who is not food motivated. He has to do a trick before he gets his retrieve.

Thanx Sam that was great to hear. The more you train your dog, the more you bond with him. I am putting up the trick on closing doors next week. I wanted people to have a good handle on targetting first. I have 3 different methods for teaching close the door/drawer. At the moment I am teaching Moses to open a drawer.

Sam, you seem to be having great fun. Thanx for sharing, gives us other ideas as well. Forgot to add, that for those first starting with this trick, watch which way your dogs are hips are, it is easier to get them to roll the opposite way to where their legs are lying. If legs rear legs are lying to the left get the dog to roll to the right. Teaching two dogs at once is a big challenge, that why I put it under advance. I have even tried getting one dog to do a stand stay while I call the other dog underneath. Have also had one dog in a drop and called other dog to jump over the dog in a drop. Both dogs have to be really steady, and know there stuff.

Roll Over Uses - Handy at the vets, when you need to look at the dogs tummy, great show off trick, Equipment - food Method - Dog is taught off lead in distraction free area. Reason for off lead, if frees up both hands, and trick looks better off lead, saves you having to phase out the lead later. Dog is in drop position. (lying down) Gets some food and slowly move food from the dogs nose, towards his hips, his head should start following his nose, and his body should follow. You need to be on your hands and knees to do this. Once his head is near his hips, move your hand towards the ground and lure him into a full roll. Once he has done this a couple of times, add the word, "roll over". The dog might get a bit confused and only go part of the way. Just keep practicing and keep the sessions short. Keep it happy and fun. Gradually phase out the food reward, so the dog only gets the reward once he has completed the roll. ADVANCED Try multiple rolls, rolls in either direction. You can add the word "bang" and give the hand signal with thumb and fore finger pointing at him. If you have two dogs, see if you can get them both rolling in the same direction. You can also have the dog in a drop at your side, and get the dog to roll over underneath you, you have to jump so the dog has room to roll over looks quite flashy. PITFALLS I got a bit carried away with this trick with one of my dogs. Everytime I said, drop the dog anticipated and rolled over every time. So when the dog has the idea, you might just do some simple drops with out the roll over. DROP If your dog does not know drop, might be handy to teach this first. Just get down on hands and knees and slowly lure the dog down with the food and say drop. Dog can be either in sit or stand position. Then phase out the food.

Alpha great to hear you are going so good. The more time spent at an easy level for the dog the better, it builds up confidence, and there is no need to rush. I have edited my original post to include target stick work. Clicking Mad, great to hear about your success too. I have also taught my dog to close the door using his nose, and I did it first using a sticky note, but he ate it so I then shaped him. Firstly clicking for him looking at the door, then expanding on that. I also tried putting a little bit of mince on the door to encourage him to sniff it. I will posting how to do this trick in more detail in a future post. I like your idea about the keyboard, I might try that. I am on dogtalk as Jules. I recently taught my dog to go out to a poof, and sit on it facing me and also give me a high five whilst sitting on it, I will also post how to do this in a future post. Thanx for your informative reply I am always after new ideas and tricks and we can all help each other.

I agree with Helen, go back a couple of steps where the dog is successful and slowly increase the distance, try doing possibly 10 reps at each inch. Work on one side at a time. It may seem to take time, but will save you time in the long run. We try to set the dog up to succeed. Do a lot of reps at a small distance. Gradually increase. Don't rush. Check out the clicker site too.

I didn't know that burying an animal your back yard is illegal? As a kid my mum ran over my pet cat and killed it, and we buried it in the backyard and I even put up a cross. We took a rat to the vet that needed to be put to sleep, and I think the vet charged us $2.00. Also my mum had a dog put to sleep who had been sick for awhile and I don't think she was charged either.

Trick - Teach your dog to target your Hand/Target Stick Uses - Can be used in heeling, used to teach more advanced tricks, such as closing doors, can be transferred to other objects such as target sticks, can be useful to teach your dog to go out to a certain object. Used in agility for contacts. I have also taught my sheep this trick and am working on the cats at the moment. Equipment Needed - clicker and treats, can be done without clicker, but clicker is preferred. Firstly charge up the clicker (this only needs to be done once for the dogs whole life, you do not need to do this everytime). To charge it up, click then treat (in that order, just one click and one treat). Do this 50 times, the dog should now be aware that the click means food!! If your dog is not food motivated you can try click and toy, but food is preferred as it is quicker. You could try when dog is really hungry, before meal time. You can also charge up with a behaviour, watch dog, when dog turns head, click and treat, do this about 50 times. For more information on clicker go to these sites. http://www.clickertraining.com/home/index.htm http://www.k9events.com Teach your dog to target. Dog is off lead, in distraction free environment. For little dogs you may need to place them on a couch, bed or table or some where where they feel comfortable and you can save your back or you could sit down on the floor. For medium/big dogs just leave them standing. Step 1. Place two fingers (the ones next to the thumb on the same hand) in front of dogs nose, when dog sniffs nose, click and reward. Once dog has been rewarded, take fingers away from nose to set up for next trial. Very important to remember this part. If you are not using a clicker, you can try a reward word, such as Yes instead. The reason for two fingers, is that this is a thing you rarely do with your hand, unless you are into saluting and it feels more comfortable than a fist, and you can point and target at the same time. Step 2. Repeat several times. Then make it a little bit more difficult by slowly moving your two finger target around move it a couple of inches in front of the dog, at the side of the dog. The dog should start moving towards your fingers. When he does this you know he has the idea. Click and treat every nose touch. Step 3. Now move the two finger target slightly over the dogs head, he should get up on two legs to try and touch your fingers. You could even try placing the finger target between your legs and see if he will follow. Step 4. Add cue word "touch" just before showing the dog the target. If dog is progressing well go to step 5. ADVANCED ONLY Step 5. Do this step at least session 3. Dogs needs to have a strong grasp on "touch" before you attempt this. Put a small item in your hand such a cut out square piece of cardboard, photo frame, margarine lid, etc. Hold it in your hand and say touch. Do this about 10 times in different positions, each time clicking and treating for successes. Then put the target a very small distance from your hand and see if the dog will go and nose this target. Then gradually expand on where you place the target. Pretty soon dog will run out to target and back to you for treat. You can also put a target stick into your hand with the stick just sticking out slightly out of your hand, then gradually get the target stick further and further out, until it is fully extended. This will take a few steps. Once you have this try only clicking when the dog touches the end of the target stick. Trouble Shooting - If the dog is not touching your fingers with his nose, you could try putting some treats in between your fingers. Also Make sure that dog is going towards the fingers, and not you taking the fingers to the dog. Make sure that you remove your fingers straight after the dog has touched them. For quicker touches, remove fingers if dog is too slow, so he learns he only get rewarded for quick touches.

Thanx everyone for telling about their successes. Nice to read this. Nice to see photos as well. I am planning on teaching targetting next, I am in the middle of teaching my cats to do this as well.

Sounds like you are going great. Some tricks require much longer than a week to teach. Sometimes you can give the dog a break and then go back to the trick. The spins sounds really fantastic. Next trick I am thinking about putting up is some targetting both (nose) and (paw), so stay tuned. I am quite happy with the posts, mainly positive and everybody sounds like they are having fun.

Helen, I taught Josh that way, and I taught Moses with the chairs. I found I had to put the food near the chest, otherwise he kept sitting.

Clicker and shaping is good, but for teaching shake hands can take quite a while. I have a food motivated dog and a toy motivated dog. One dog I click and treat, and the other I click and throw toy. With my toy motivated dog I told him that he had to shake hands before I threw his toy, I did this about three times. Now when he wants me to throw his toy he sits in front of me and keeps pawing at me until I throw his toy. He will also paw other people too. Better than barking though (I hate barking dogs). So those of you with toy motivated dogs you can try doing this as well.

I am absolutely hopeless at whistling, I have to use a man made whistle. )

My Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever also does this. When I taught him as a young puppy he would always try and use his paws as well to catch. He does not do this as much now. When you think about it, it is quite smart. The dog wants to catch so much that he is using his paws as well. Would like to see your photo. Here is Moses in preparation for the catch, see his interested face. It is like a border collie stare.

Shake Hands, High 5, High 10 Uses - for checking the dogs paws and clipping nails etc, can lead to more advanced tricks such as high five, targetting. Doggy Dancing Movement 1. Get your dog to sit and kneel down in front of him (he is off lead) 2. Lift up his paw and give it a shake, and then reward the dog. 3. Introduce the command "Paw", or "Shake", "Give me some skin" 4. Start saying the command and see if the dog give his paw, if not keep practicing. Don't expect the dog to learn this in one session. There is another method of having some food in your hand and waiting for the dog to paw at your hand, then click and treat, but I just used the above method because I think it is good for your dog to get used to you handling his paws. Advanced Once the dog knows this trick well, you can change the signal and raise your foot slightly, and say your command. You can also before saying paw, tap the paw lightly that you want the dog to give. I would use my left hand to tap the dogs right paw and vica versa so he can give alternate paws. You can also then stand at the side of your dog and as you raise your foot you get the dog to raise his paw and do alternate steps. (This is very advanced) You can also teach your dog to do high five. I taught my dog to cover his eye, by lightly blowing near his ear, and then clicking and treating straight away. Scroll down to the end of this thread for the photo, he looks like he is saluting. I also had a problem of when my dog retrieved he would anticipate the give, he would run up to me and spit out the ball, so I taught him that he had to sit in front and then shake hands with the article still in his mouth. Patta Cake Teach the dog to give the paw to whatever hand is held in the air, start having your palm facing upwards as if you are doing a stop signal. Then add the clap in the middle. High Ten Once your dog knows patta cake well, then add both hands, at the same time. Make sure the dog is in stand position to start with.

Try sitting down in front of him and throw the food towards his mouth, if he does not catch it, he does not get to it. You could try getting him excited before throwing the food.

Have you tried leaving the dog in a wait while standing, then stand behind the dog and say back, and get the dog to walk backwards through your legs? Then start leaving the dog further and further away, till it can do it from across the room? This is an advanced move only to be done when the dog know the command back really well. You can try getting the dog to go back whilst at your side, as well. With one of my dogs I when I hold my hand up I get him to curve left and curve right.

Teach Your Dog to Walk Backwards Uses - dog can now walk backwards to get out of your way, doggy dancing movement, can lead to more advanced doggy dancing moves Equipment - chairs, or hallway, treats, and or clicker Methods - Food only method 1. Start with your dog and you standing and facing each other. Dog is off lead and in a hallway. Or you can set up some chairs to make a narrow chute. We want the dog to learn to walk backwards in a straight line. 2. Take a small step towards your dog and he should move backwards, if not take another little step. Don't say anything. give him a reward, give the reward low enough so he does not confuse it with a sit signal but not too low that he thinks he has to drop. 3. I then take a step backwards myself so that the dog comes forwards and we set up to do another trial. 4. Do this about 10 times, then add the word "back" and start saying "Back" before you move toward the dog. Once the dog has the idea he should start moving back, before you move toward him. I also introduce a hand signal, which is both of my hand at my sides, at waist height moving together with my palms facing outwards. 5. Now gradually increase the number of steps that the dog takes backwards before rewarding him. If the dog starts to go crooked, you have pushed him too far and need to back up a step. It takes a while for the dog to get co-orindated. I used the two lines of chairs forming a chute for quite a while. Once the dog has moved backwards a couple of steps you always then move backwards yourself, to set up another trial, as the dog gets the idea move backwards more yourself. Clicker Method - Same method as above, except as the dog moves backwards you click and treat. Toy motivated dogs - You teach the beginning steps using food, then start to use toys instead, when the dog moves backwards, he is rewarded with a game of catch using a toy, but you still have the chute set up. Advanced - You can add in a spin, then back, or a catch then back for another catch. I have also taught my dog to do a stand, I then move behind him and say back, and he walks backwards through my legs. But this is very advanced and the dog must know the back command with you at his side, with you in front of him, and you behind him first. You then have the dog a few more paces in front of you before you say back and increase the distance. You also need to teach the dog to move forwards through your legs first so he is comfortable with going through your legs.

To find out which side your dog likes to turn. If he likes to retrieve then roll a ball a short distance. Do it about 3 to five times and you will then find out which way they turn. We do this in flyball. Some dog also prefer some paws to others.