Teaching Tricks



    

 

Why Teach Tricks

·        Tricks are a great way to enforce the process of learning new behaviors.  This develops the habits of learning and problem solving and also establishes new neural pathways making your dog smarter.

·        Tricks allow you to break up the monotony of training formal behaviors.

·        Tricks can be fun for both handler and dog

·        Tricks can relax your dog both physically and mentally and relieve stress

  

The basics of teaching a new trick

 

Step 1.  Define the desired behavior:

You need to figure out what you want the end result to look like.  Then you need to break the behavior down into the smallest possible pieces.  Generally you will then start teaching the last piece first and will then teach the prior behaviors and will then link them together into a behavior chain.  Going backwards is useful in helping the dog understand what the final product looks like.

  

Step 2.  Approximate the behavior:

This is the step that requires some patience and creativity.  You need to get your dog to do something like what you are trying to teach.  There are many different ways to accomplish this:

 

·        You can wait until your dog offers the behavior naturally e.g. your dog stretches every morning so use this opportunity to turn this natural behavior into a trick

·        You can attempt to induce the behavior environmentally e.g. putting tape on a dogs foot to induce a limp

·        You can attempt to "show" the behavior e.g. jumping over a jump in the hope that your dog will follow

·        You can attempt to lure the dog into the behavior with food or toys e.g. moving food downwards to instigate the down

·        You can attempt to physically coerce the behavior e.g. stepping into them to have them back up.

 If you use this last technique, be careful because most dogs will reflexively oppose an applied force which will cause precisely the opposite of what you want, and even if you can induce the behavior, So try the other techniques!!

 

 Step 3. Reinforce the behavior:

Just like formal obedience, once you find a way to get the dog to do the behavior, you begin rewarding the behavior.  This can mean food, click, play, praise, whatever works for your dog in that situation.  You will begin by re-enforcing successive approximations and will then begin raising the criteria so that only the really excellent examples of the behavior are rewarded. 

 

Step 4. Attach a cue:

Now that your dog is offering the behavior, you start pairing a word or signal.  Every time you are going to get the dog to do the behavior you offer the cue, and then reinforce the behavior that follows.  You gradually stop rewarding the behavior if it is offered without the cue. 

 

Step 5.  Vary reinforcement:

Once the dog will do the behavior on cue, you head towards a variable reinforcement schedule, offering treats sometimes, praise or play other times, nothing sometimes, and the occasional lavish jackpot.  This keeps the dog guessing and therefore eager to play this new game.

 

Step 6.  Correct failure:

If your dog truly understands the behavior, and is fairly asked to do it but does not comply, this is the situation when you may want to remind the dog that compliance is not optional. 

 

Step 7.  Proof the behavior:

Now that the dog is reliably giving the desired behavior, you want to make sure it will do so under all circumstances.  Just like traditional obedience, this means gradually increasing the distractions and varying the surrounding environment.  Try the trick outside, in a park, at a dog class.  Make sure the dog will respond to the request if you are sitting down, or facing the other way, or don't have any food.  Remember that as you are proofing, you may have to go back to luring or rewarding approximations for a while.

 

Step 8. Think of the next trick!!

Relax and have a great time doing trick with your dog!! 

 

Step 9. Think of the next trick!!

This is really the hardest step.  Once you get through the basics, you can try to think of all the fun behavior chains you can teach your dog.  

 

 

 

Some Trick Suggestions


A note on presentation: teaching any or all of these tricks is fairly easy.  Making them look really good takes creativity and showmanship.  Come up with good cues, or hidden cues so you can say cute thing and then perform the trick.  For example:  food refusal is boring, but if you say "Here is a treat from the dog catcher" and then the dog refuses the treat, it is cute.  Same with nodding or head shaking--put them on subtle hand cues, and then you can ask all sorts of funny questions and have your dog "answer". 

 

101 things to do with a box-- open, put things in, get in, close, etc.

Answer the phone

Assume the frisking position (feet up on wall)

Attention for eye line  

Back flip Frisbee catch

Back up

Balance a toy or food on nose

Bark (speak)

Bark aggressively

Bark louder

Bark softly (whisper)

Bite easy--bite your arm and hold on, but not hard

Bow

Bring it closer/Take it further

Bring me any object--rose, ball, kleenex, wallet, etc.

Catch

Chase  

Chase laser pointer

Chase tail

Climb ladder (Home Depot has a cool ladder that is hinged at 2 point and can make a dog walk or A-frame)

Close doors

Close purse

Cover head with paw

Crawl

Cuddle up

Dial the phone

Dig

Down

Fall down

Fetch a tissue and brings it

Fetch rings, and puts them on a pylon

Figure eight between legs

Find it

Find person by name

Flush toilet

Food refusal

Get Kleenex out of box

Get off any object

Get off mark

Get things out of refrigerator

Get up on anything

Get blanket and cover something  

Go around an object (come by and away)

Go to mark

Go to sleep

Go under things such as other dogs, chairs, coffee table, etc.

Go with

Go to bed

Go to the door

Grab ball and knock down pins with it

Handoff--take any object and give to another dog.  Particularly impressive with food like a hot-dog.

Head down

Hide & seek

High/low/back fives

Hold

Hop into a bed

Jump like a bunny or frog (jump from sit and land in sit)

Jump over me as I lie on the ground  

Jump over outstretched leg

Jump sideways over other dogs

Jump-rope

Jump through a hoop

Kisses  

Leap

Lick someone's ears all over

Lie on side

Lie down to get tummy rubbed

Limp

Look away

Look Forward

Look Left or Right

Look Mean (snarl & Growl)

Look out the window

Look in the mirror

March

Mouth movement-- little open and close movements with no head movement

Open doors

Patty-cake

Paw at object

Pee on object (not really, just lift leg)

Pick up toys/socks/garbage and place in container

Place the ball in the little can

Play dead-- eyes closed, limp, no movement even if you carry them around.

Play on command

Present butt to be scratched

Pull wagon with teeth

Pull cart or sled or bike with harness

Pull and untie a bow

Pull cover off hidden object

Pull out box of toys

Pull the door open

Push shopping cart or buggy

Put away toys

Put object in wagon

Repeat previous trick

Retrieve any object

Reverse Drop-on-Recall

Ride a skateboard

Ring the bell

Rock something with paw

Roll barrel with feet

Roll over

Roll little ball with nose

Say Prayers

Scent games-- pick out person from object or object from person

Set ball in hand

Shake hand

Shake head yes or no

Shake like a wet dog

Shell game

Show me your paws (one at a time and both held up high)

Sigh

Sit

Sit up and beg

Slow

Smile

Snap

Sneeze

Spin & Twirl

Stand

Stand on back legs and spins around

Stay

Stop, Drop, and Roll

Take/Hold

Take a bow

Take anything to specified person

Target a stick with nose

Target my index finger with paw

Target my palm with nose

Target my two fingers with both paws in the air

Tilt head

Turn off/on lights

Turn on and off the TV

Wait

Weave through a set of pylons

Walk a ball with front paws

Walk between my legs as I walk backwards or forwards

Walk forwards and backwards while in the bow position

Walk on hind legs

Walk side by side with other dogs

Walk up on barrel

Watch TV

Wave  

Wear clothes (hats, glasses, etc.)

Weave through my legs as I walk forward