Dog Tricks

[Kiwi_Steve]

Hi

I have run out of ideas for any new tricks to teach my boy. So far I have taught him the following:

sit, down, stand, crawl, bow, dance, shake hands (both paws), roll over, turn around in a complete circle (both ways), touch it, play dead, circle around me, do a figure 8 through and around my legs and also to face away from me. I am sure that you guys out there have dogs that have many other tricks up their sleeves, so could you please give me some ideas and how to teach them?

Thanks,

[urge to herd]

Here's a few more:

Crawl backwards, (just a little bit, it's hard!)

Relax (lie flat out on their side, head flat on ground)

Chill - rest your chin in my hand, (very good for calming down)

BC Pushups - Spring into the air from a down position, then immediately into a sit.

Heel backwards

All the regular tricks/cues with you at a distance or lying down

Speak - Sammi will do whisper, whine or shout

 

And there's a great book, you might be able to find it at Half.com, Idiot's Guide To Fun and Tricks With Your Dog. Wonderful resource.

 

Have a great time!

 

Ruth n the Amazing Border Trio

[Stacysbc]

Hows about Speak, no bark, leave-it (meaning he quits sniffing something when you need to move on, etc.). Touch it, can be branched out a bit too. I have a friend who taught her bc to "touch keys" that way when my friend loses her keys...Ginger can help her look for them...very funny.

There are some good books out there too with countless possiblities for teaching tricks.

[Stacysbc]

Oh almost forgot...Go to your bed. I like that one alot, its great for when things are just getting out of hand or too much excitement(happens a lot at my house, 3 fur kids and two skin kids)...she knows to just go lie down and take a break in her bed. Not a punishment at all...just a break.

[D'Elle]

Pick up your keys when dropped and hand them to you. Bark when asked "who's a good boy?" Jump through a hoop. (hula hoops are 99 cents these days). Walk on hind legs. Jump over your leg when held out in front of you, jump through your arms when held in a hoop (if he's small enough for that.)

 

Urge-to-Herd.........I have been trying to teach my dog to heel backwards, and he is not getting it at all, and I know I am doing it wrong. If you taught your dog that, could you tell me how it is done? Thanks.

[urge to herd]

Weeeelllll, I've sort of taught 2 of them a little bit. Definitely not ready for prime time, but here's what I did. Taught Sammi to heel by walking down a 12 ft. long hallway with her in the correct positionand got that solid. She already knew back up when I got her, so I very slowly added the back up while going down that same hall backwards.

It took a while, she's very shy of being touched w/anybody's feet, but she got it. Haven't had her do it in a long while, I'll have to see if I can dust it off. Oh, and I did a fair amount of luring her w/treats to keep her in the correct position, but was able to fade them.

Buzz will heel backwards w/me for about 2 steps, but then swings his butt out so he's facing me. I think I'll work on teaching him to stay parallel in the same manner, and then add the back up again.

Hope this was helpful.

 

Ruth n the Border Trio

[Rave]

"shame" (dog swipes nose with paw, my girl Sierra loves to do this one)

"pray" (dog puts feet on your arm and puts head down between her feet)

"scoot" (scoot backwards, not hard at all)

"dig" (dig at the ground/carpet with two front feet, good for warming up my girl Zoe w/elbow arthritis)

"back" (walk backwards away from you)

"high five"

"up" (either sit up, deep knee bends, stand up on back legs, even twirl on back legs)

"limp" (walk 3-legged)

 

let me know if you want to know how to teach any of these.

 

-Laura

[Rave]

FYI, here's "shame" demonstrated by the acting dog of the lady who taught me how to teach it.

 

[INU]

I like teaching my dogs practical tricks.

They do (well mostly by BC!, easier ones by lab) find my keys when I lost/hide. Grab the phone and bring it to me when I say "get the phone". They find each other or my bf who is hiding in closet (part of SAR training but still fun). get a cat when one of them is misbehaving. "side" - comes to me and circle around and sit on my side. Get news paper from front yard. "Show me" -she shows me what she wants me to take a look. BC doesn't do too well with those cute simple tricks for some reason. she likes problem solving like a typical BC. Lab on the other hand, easier the better for him

[karrie]

WOW! That is a lot of things for them to do. Cool! Looks like Tucker and I have a lot of work to do ( hey, he is only 8 wks this fri.). Still working on potty training with no accidents ( he has had a few) and staying in crate at night ( so far 2 1/2 hours to 3 hours without all the crying). He just discover a dinosaur pull toy of the kids. I think he likes it so that maybe our first trick for fun stuff.

[MaggieDog]

My Maggie and I have been having the same problem, so we started working on helpful tasks around the house. Here's what we've done so far (in addition to standard tricks):

- turn lights on

- unload the dryer

- pick up anything I point to

- carry things upstairs

- close doors

- guide me to the stairs/door when the lights are out (happened by accident when the power went out while I was in the basement)

 

A few other things I want to teach her are:

- get a soda from the fridge (though I'm not sure I want her learning how to open the fridge lol)

- turn lights *off*

- alert to the oven timer (run to me when it goes off)

- weave between my legs when we're walking

- walk on hind legs

- find a toy by name

- sneeze on cue

 

Tricks Maggie knows that everyone thinks are cute:

- "wave" - I just taught her high five, then gradually removed my hand until she was batting at air which looks like a wave

- "whisper" - moves her mouth but w/o sound

- "splat" - falls over on side, kinda like relax or dead dog, great for calming her down

 

Have fun!

[Deanna in OR]

There are lots of great ideas on this thread! More new things to teach the girls!

 

Someone asked:

I have been trying to teach my dog to heel backwards, and he is not getting it at all, and I know I am doing it wrong. If you taught your dog that, could you tell me how it is done?

We are training for Rally Obedience with both of our girls, and "Backup 3 steps in heel position" is one of the exercises. We're taking classes on Rally so we've gotten tips on teaching this. Both of our girls can do it--not quite as perfectly straight as I would like for Rally, but it's pretty good.

 

This is also a handy command when you're in a tight spot with your dog and you just want them out of your way.

 

Start with the dog standing in front of you with a reward in hand (I use *tiny* bits of treats--dried liver, cheese, cooked chicken). Push it gently against their nose until they take a step back--then a quick marker ("good!", "OK", "yes!" or a click) and the treat is given. Start adding your back-up word just before pushing against the nose and they will soon associate it. I still use a hand signal of moving my hand toward their nose as I say "backup!".

 

Once they understand it from in front, you can start working on it from a heel position, if you want. This also helps generalize the command so they don't think it means "backup if you are already standing in front of me, facing me"--our analytical little border collie tends to do this when learning new things.

 

Like Urge to Herd said, you can work on backup in heel position in someplace like a hallway, with a long-ish wall to keep the dog backing up straight (dog is between you and wall). A couch or a couple of chairs lined up, anything to form a barrier on the other side of the dog, will help with this.

 

Basically, repeat the original training but with the dog at your side, a reward in hand, this time pushing gently back. I'm happy with one step back for each "backup" that I say.

 

Deanna in OR

Tenaya, BC

Willow, Collie

[INU]

MaggieDog,

 

What kind of light switchs do you have? I've seen guide dog training with switches that are installed lower than usual. does she jump up and turn on?

 

I think "whisper" would be really cute too!

[Aussie_Dog]

I want to teach Jake "speak" or whisper or something like that, but I don't know how to go about teaching. Jake's a pretty quite dog, unless someone is in the front yard and "forgot" to bring him along, or if you're zipping the hose around (when its turned on) and he's barking his head off.

[D'Elle]

Thanks for the tips! The problem I have with Jes is that he heels very smartly, and the minute I stop, he sits down, of course. Now, to back up I first have to stop going forward, and so of course he sits down immediately. He gets very confused when I try to indicate to him that he should stay standing and back up, and I don't blame him. I will try to teach him "back up" while infront of me and see if that changes anything.

[D'Elle]

Laura........

I would like to know how to teach "shame" and "dig" and "limp" if you can explain it here. Thanks!

[urge to herd]

D'Elle, for the 'shame' you can put a piece of rolled scotch tape on the dog's muzzle, when they try to paw it off, you click/treat, if you're a clicking kind of person. If not, just mark it somehow and reward it. Sammi caught on to this pretty fast, I'd forgotten all about it.

For the 'dig' you could use a piece of paper on the floor with something under it that you know your pup will go nuts for, then mark/reward for the digging motion, and gradually add the cue and fade the 'props.'

I'm afraid to teach my guys to limp, I know they'd use it against me. I think I might start picking up clothing and putting it in the hamper, that would be a big help.

Oh, and you can teach them to bring you a kleenex when you sneeze, (unless you have a paper shredding monster like Sammi.) That one's really cute.

 

Ruth n the Amazing Border Trio

[Aussie_Dog]

I might try "shame" too! My idea was taking the paw it putting it over his nose, but not only would that be difficult (he'd purposely lift his head high, and then he'd pout because I'm stretching his leg too far), so the tape thing will work (hopefully). i wouldn't mind teaching "limp" too, lol (even if he wants to use it against me)

[INU]

Aussie Dog,

 

Whenever you catch him barking, mark/reward it. If you want to set it up so that you are there when he barks, you can tie him on a leash and play with another dog in front of him. He barks, you say "speak/bark" and give him attention or let him join. he will get the idea after some repetitions. I like to use "what?" it sounds more personal to me.

[border_collie_crazy]

"shame" (dog swipes nose with paw, my girl Sierra loves to do this one)

ya know misty is the same way, I say "are you a bad girl?" and she wipes her nose with her paw, she is obbsessed with that trick! heck she would rather do that trcik as her reward after a flyball coarse then take a treat! lol eveytime I tell her to lay down she does her trick a million times, I think she likes it a little TOO much...

 

well what I did with happy is I harness her up, clip on a long lead attched to the front of a scooter, go to the bike path hop on and away we go! she pulls kids on roller blades like this too,(only I lead her so she doesent go to fast)

 

other tricks:

-crawl

-fluff the pillow(happy will take your pillow shake it to death and give it back nice a fluffy)

-put it back(at flyball happy puts the ball in the bucket herself)

-kill it

-shake

-high five

-wave

-hug

-kiss

-say please

-go that way!(very handy lol I just point in any direction and say go that way and off they go..)

-flop(same thing as urg to herds "relax")

-chill(lay down when she gets to insane)

-drop(will drop and stay from any distance until I say she can go)

-go home

the list goes on I just cant remeber them all lol

[Aussie_Dog]

Originally posted by INU:

Aussie Dog,

 

Whenever you catch him barking, mark/reward it. If you want to set it up so that you are there when he barks, you can tie him on a leash and play with another dog in front of him. He barks, you say "speak/bark" and give him attention or let him join. he will get the idea after some repetitions. I like to use "what?" it sounds more personal to me.

Thanks! I would try the hose, but he's so focussed on it that he won't be hearing or seeing me. I'll say "speak" and hold out a treat, and he'll go, "What? Did you say something? Ooh! Food!" But I can use the neighbour's dog. If I so much as say her name, Jake starts panicking, and if I pay enough attention to her, he'll start barking and foaming at the mouth. I guess the one problem with "speak" would be that he'll try barking all the time, hoping for a treat (hey, he's always doing "shake a paw" when we're trying to eat, lol)

[Sally]

Oh, you make us feel inadequate, please share some training tips!!!

Sally

[San]

A useful one I have for HAZEL IS 'WRONG WAY' IT WORKS FOR LOTS OF THINGS ESPECIALLY ON WALKS AND PATHS, OR WHEN WE ARE ANYWHERE, HOME, OUTSIDE, WHEN THEY USED TO IT YOU CAN USE IT TO CORRECT ALL SORTS OF THINGS, ALSO 'UPSTAIRS AND DOWN STAIRS'

 

ROLL BALL.. she takes the ball to the top of somewhere you stay at the bottom, ie, hill or stairs, she rolls or bounces it down, you through it up.they run around at the top getting exhausted and you still have loads of energy

[MaggieDog]

INU,

 

I just went to Lowe's (home improvement store) and bought a cheap light switch and wall plate and screwed them together to start. It cost a total of about $1.50.

 

I clicker train, so I clicked for her approaching the switch, then nosing it, then nosing up, then flipping it up. Eventually the sound it makes when the switch is flipped becomes the 'click'.

 

I have one switch in my house at the bottom of the stairs that Maggie can reach with her nose - she could reach more if she used her feet, but I didn't want to risk scratching the walls, so she just works with the low switch. It works pretty well though because that's the switch I usually need turned on or off when my hands are full.

 

Hope this helped.

[Aussie_Dog]

how exactly do you teach "bow"? I would love to teach Jake that, and it sure would entertain guests (or whoever cares to meet Jake, lol)