Dog Trick of the Day

4/26/12

Let's Play Ring Toss:

1.Hand your dog a ring and click and treat him/her for holding it.

2.Put the pole close to you and have the dog deliver the ring close to the post;click and him/her for releasing it over the post.

3.You may help the dog by tapping the post and encouraging him/her to drop it.  Click and treat him/her for gradually closer attempts to leave the ring close to the post.

4.Withhold the click and treat and only click attempts to put the ring on the post.

5.Fantastic, you've taught your dog Let's Play Ring Toss!!!!!

Grooming Dogs

When you groom dogs I always choose to do it myself, because it's cheaper and it's fun!  When you groom dogs I usually do everything to her such as her nails, her fur(that means sometimes I give her a bath), and her paws since her paws are so furry she looks like she has slippers on!

Dog Trick of the Day

4/25/12


Put Away your Toys:


1.Hand your dog a toy and tell him/her to Take It;when he/she has the toy in his mouth,  click and treat him/her for holding it.


2.Put the toy box between  your feet  and encourage the dog to come to you;click and treat him/her for holding the toy over the top of the box.


3.Repeat the above step, but ask the dog to Leave It as he holds the toy over the box.


4.Put the toy on the floor and tell him/her to Take It;click and treat him/her for picking up the toy.


5.Repeat the above step with more than one toy on the floor at a time.


6.Replace the Take It and Leave It cues with the new cue Toys Away by saying the new cue right before the old cue.  Gradually fade the old cue.


7.Wonderful, you've taught your dog Put Away Your Toys!

Quaffle

This is Quaffle.  Quaffle is named after a red ball in Harry Potter that they use in Quidditch.  They use the ball to get it through one of the other opponents hoops.  Quaffle is the biggest one out of the three ducklings.  Quaffle got out of his egg the quickest.  Quaffle was also dry when he came out of his egg.

Dog Trick of the Day

4/22/12


Find My Car Keys Please:

1.Hand your dog your keys and tell him/her to Take It.  Click and treat him/her for holding your keys.


2.Take a few steps back and call him/her to you.  Click and treat him/her for moving toward you with the keys in her mouth


3.Put the keys on the floor and tell him/her to Take It;click and treat him/her for picking up the keys.


4.Repeat the previous step but back away, and click and treat him/her for picking up the keys and moving toward you.


5.Put the keys in different places at varying distances and click and treat your dog for finding them.


6.Gradually work it so that your dog is actively searching for your keys.  When you are at this point, go ahead and label it Keys.  Replace Take It by giving the new cue Keys right before the old cue.  Then, gradually fade the old cue.


7.Practice this one frequently to keep your dog motivated about searching for your keys.


8.Well done, you've taught your dog Find My Car Keys Please!

Snitch!

This is Snitch!  Snitch is the only yellow one of the three ducklings.  Snitch won't be yellow forever though.  When Snitch grows up he/she will be a different color.  I still don't know what color he'll be though.  I'm hoping Snitch will end up being a boy to match his name.  Snitch is very cuddly with me.  Snitch is so cute and lucky to be alive, because when it was time to get out of the egg Snitch couldn't do it, but luckily the person we had hatching the eggs for us that that the hatching was taking to long so he broke open some eggs and there Snitch was.  Snitch was so weak the guy had to put him in a egg carton to keep him up.

Dog Trick of the Day

4/21/12

Go Get Your Dish:

1.Hand your dog his dish and tell him to Take It.  Click and treat him for holding the dish.

2.Take a step away and call him to you.  Click and treat him for moving toward you with the dish in his mouth.

3.Put the dish on the floor and tell him to Take It;click and treat him for picking up the dish.

4.Now, repeat this step but back away and click and treat the dog for picking up the dish and moving toward you.

5.Put the dish closer and closer to where you normally keep it and send him to take it over greater distances.

6.As your dog gets good at this replace Take It with the new verbal cue Wanna Eat? by saying the new cue right before the old cue, until the dog starts the behavior on the new cue.

7.Fantastically done, you've taught your dog Go Get Your Dish!

Seeker!

This is Seeker!  Seeker is named after someone on a quidditch team who tries to find the snitch!  Seeker is the smallest of the three ducklings.  It is quite funny watching them when they eat and drink.  It looks like their going crazy!

Dog Trick of the Day

4/19/12


Go Get the Phone:

1.Hand your dog the receiver and tell him/her to Take It.  Click and treat your dog for taking it in his/her mouth and holding it for a few seconds.


2.Hand your dog the phone and back away from him/her, encouraging him/her to follow you.  Click and treat him/her for carrying the phone to you.  Make sure the click happens while he/she is moving toward you, not when he/she arrives.


3.Repeat this step again, but now click and treat your dog for delivering the phone to you.


4.Put the phone on the floor and ask him//her to Take It;click and treat him/her for picking up the phone.


5.Put the phone at greater distances and have him/her retrieve it from further away.  Time the click and treat for when your dog puts her mouth on the phone.


6.Increase the difficulty by delaying the click until he/she has the phone and is turning back to you.  You can use a voice prompt like his/her name or the Come command.


7.Label the behavior Get the Phone by saying it right before the commands Take It and Come, until you can gradually fade the old commands and replace them with the new command Go Get the Phone.


8.Practice in short sessions until your dog begins to move toward the phone on the command Go Get the Phone.


9.Good job, you've taught your dog Go Get the Phone!

New Delivery!

Today we got new little ducks!  They are really, really cute, but we don't know which are boys and which are girls or are they all of the same gender?  We don't know.  They have cute names to match their cute bodies too!  The names are Quaffle, Snitch, and Seeker!  I love Harry Potter so this year I am giving my animals Harry Potter related names!  It's like these names were meant to be, because when I was in the car waiting to pick them up I thought of the names and I said," Snitch should be a boy and kind of golden."  And when I got to the house to pick them up one of the little ducks was!  If only I knew if it was a boy!!

Dog Trick of the Day

4/18/12


Go Find the Remote:

1.Hand your dog the remote and click and treat him/her for holding it.


2.Back away a step or two and click and treat him/her for carrying it to you.


3.Put the remote on the couch or coffee table and tell your dog to Take It.  Click and treat him/her for picking it up in his/her mouth.


4.Send him into the living room at greater distances and click and treat him/her when he finds the remote.


5.Call him/her to you as he/she gets the hang of this and click and treat him/her for holding it until you reach out to take it.


6.Replace Take It with the command Remote by offering the new cue right before the old cue "Take It."


7.Good job, you've taught your dog Remote!

Dog Trick of the Day

4/17/12

Get the Mail/Newspaper:


1.Teach your dog to carry nonessential letters and junk mail without stopping to shred them before you use the real thing.  ("The dog ate the mortgage bill" probably won't go over well with your spouse.)  Do this by clicking and treating your dog for taking the letter or newspaper and holding it without mouthing it.


2.Take a step or two away and have her/him bring it to you.  Click and treat the motion of moving toward you.


3.Put the letter on the floor and tell your dog to Take It.  You may want to use junk mail on this part until your dog refines her/his techniques in picking up something so close to the floor.


4.When your dog is retrieving with finesse,  begin to work her with the real mail pile or newspaper.


5.Label this behavior Mail or Paper by saying this new cue right before the current cue Take It; pretty soon your dog will be fetching with enthusiasm and finesse.


6.Well done, you've taught your dog to get the mail/newspaper!

Dog Trick of the Day

4/16/12
Teaching your dog to potty on command:


1.Go outside with your dog to wait for her to go potty.


2.When your dog starts to go say the cue that tells her to do so.  Click and treat.


3.Repeat this until you can just say the cue and he/she will go.


4.Congrats, you've taught your dog to go potty on cue!

Dog Trick of the Day

4/15/12


Play Dead:

1.Get your dog to lie down, then click and treat.


2.Use a treat to roll your dog onto his/her side, then click and treat.


3.Fade the lure by doing six repetitions in a row and then trying the seventh repetition without the lure, clicking and treating the dog for performing the behavior.


4.Reintroduce the lure to get him/her to roll onto his/her back, then click and treat.  Fade the lure after the sixth repetition.

5.Go back and put all three steps together so that he/she performs them all in one continuous motion for one click and treat.


6.Fade the lure by working with food for six repetitions then without food for two repetitions.  Go back and forth until your dog responds the same with or without food.  Note: The way you hold your hand will become the exaggerated cue that starts the behavior.


7.Change the old cue to a new cue by offering the new cue before the motion you used to get the behavior started.  Pointing your thumb and forefinger like a gun and saying "bang!" is very flashy!