Dog Trick of the Day

8/ 19/ 13

Hey guys!  Katie here.  Sorry about my lack of posting, but haven't you loved Allison's posts?!  I've just been busy with school and schoolwork, but now I'm back so no fear!  Today's trick is pretty difficult, but with a lot of work it will be perfect!  It comes in three parts, so technically three tricks in one.  Cool, huh?  Today's trick is (drum roll please)... Get me a Water Bottle!

Supplies:

Bottle of Water

A dog

Yourself

Treats

Clicker

Refrigerator

Strap

Getting Me a Bottle of Water: Part 1

Getting the Water Bottle:

1. Hand your dog a bottle of water and tell him/ her to Take It.  Click and treat your dog for holding onto it for a few seconds.

2. Move away from your dog and have him/ her come to you over greater and greater distances, so your dog gets used to bringing the bottle to you wherever you are in a room.

3. Place the bottle of water on the floor and tell your dog to Take It, then Bring It to you.  Click and treat him/ her for retrieving it, then gradually withhold the click until the dog is on him/ her way back to you.

4. Put the bottle of water on a low shelf on the refrigerator and practice having him/ her Take It.  Click and treat your dog for approaching, then taking, then bringing the bottle of water to you over short training sessions.

Opening the Refrigerator Door:

1. Put a strap on the refrigerator door to make it easier for your dog to open it easily.

2. Starting with the refrigerator open, hand him/ her the strap and tell him/ her Take It.  Click and treat him/ her for taking the strap.

3. Once your dog is taking the refrigerator strap easily, delay the click for an extra second or so and click and treat your dog for holding it.

4. Standing slightly behind your dog, call him/ her back to you while he/ she holds the refrigerator strap.  Try making him come to you much like a fetch, but without letting go of the strap at all.

5. When he/ she can hold onto the strap while backing up, click and treat him/her for actually moving the door.

6.  Gradually close the door until the door's almost clicked shut, so that your dog has to pull a bit harder to open it.

7.  Once your dog can open it when it's shut all the way, try letting him/ her retrieve the strap on his/ her own.  At first, click and treat any attempt that your dog makes to take the refrigerator strap.

8. Gradually add a little distance from the refrigerator so that your dog is approaching the refrigerator from greater and greater distances.  This helps your dog find his way there without your help.

9. Eventually delay the click and treat so that your dog is taking the strap and starting to back up away from the refrigerator to pull open the door before you click.

I know this is only two parts, but I'll get the next to soon!  I'm just tired from writing.

Lizard Trick of the Day

Hello! It is Allison. And are you ready for another lizard trick of the day?! Lets hope so. Now lets start with the basics of training. First, you want to male sure you are doing an okay time frame. Lets say, you are approximately supposed to train in three, five minute sessions.  Want to get started? Well... hang on! We need to announce the awesome trick! This trick is a glorious trick, which any animal can do with the right training... Target!!!

Supplies

A target, that your lizard can touch his/her nose on.

A lizard.

An awesome trainer... you!

Your lizard's  favorite treats.

A clicker.(Optional, although helpful!)
Make sure your lizard knows how to follow your hand

Target!

1. Start by holding the target in front of the lizard, and say target. You always want to start by teaching your pet the word.

2.Now, put some treats on the target. Something you can slather on, a bit sticky and liquidy is usaully a good choice for target training. 

3. Hold out the target in front of the lizard. A treat is on the target, so your lizard will go for it, right? Well, it hopefully will!

4. When your lizard's nose touches, say appraise the lizard, and give it a treat from the other hand. you can even take a slight bit of the treat from the target.

5. Keep repeating step three and four. Gradually, keep wiping a tiny bit of the treat off for rewards, whenever your lizard's nose touches. Just make sure your lizard isn't eating stuff directly off the target. That is bad for training because the lizard starts to think it is just a food station.

6. When you do this procedure, move the target around in different places. This way, the lizard can learn new spots, and doesn't get attached to one spot.

7. Keep repeating procedure until your lizard it targeting sharply.. 

8. Is your lizard targeting sharply? If so, congratulations! You have trained your lizard to target!

Do you have an all-star lizard? Have you thought you could do something super cool with them, along with training? Maybe that something could be entering in Mydivapets contest! All you have to do is send us some photos of your lizard, and me and Katie can see if it is Mydivapets materiel! If so, maybe it can appear in the lizard photos on the lizard pages! Also, if you have a pet we don't write about, please tell us! We will get started right away! Thanks! Happy training!

Dog Trick of the Day

Hello everyone! It's Allison. And today I will be doing another dog trick. Well, I hope you enjoy! Remember about how long to train- three five minute sessions! Now to announce the dog trick... how to make them give!

Supplies

A dog that noes how to fetch, play ball, Frisbee, ect.

Yummy dog treats.

You!

Clicker( It would be helpful, but not everyone uses one even though it is slower!)

Give it!

1.Start by throwing your item, and having the dog fetch. A lot of puppies don't drop the ball at first when they fetch.

2.Start by saying give. Yes, the puppy is most likely not going to give, but you want the puppy to learn the word.

3. Carefully tug the ball from the puppy, and say give again.

4. Repeat the throw.  Then try again getting the ball back, without chasing the puppy. If you chase the puppy, the puppy will think you are playing a game! You really are trying to train!

5. When the puppy comes to you, repeat step three.

6. Keep repeating steps 4 and 5.

7. As you move through this progress, slowly start tugging less and less.

8. You know you have it when your dog drops it when you say give, without any tugging.

9. Congrats! You have taught your dog to give!

If you start getting bored, chances are your dog is getting bored. Remember the approximate time limits! Also, Mydivapets wants to hear from you! If you have a pet we are not posting tricks for, make sure we know! Also, if you have a good-looking lizard, can you please send us his/her pictures? We need a star Mydivapets lizard. Hey, your lizard could become a Mydivapets star! Good luck, and happy training!