Training a dog to do tricks

Tricks

Clicker-training is a terrific way to train a variety of tricks.  Trick-training provides the dog with mental stimulation and you with a new way to test your training-skills and timing.  Many dogs enjoy them and the human attention they generate, so that performing them becomes a rewarding activity in itself.  You can train the dog to do anything within the scope of the dog’s physical and mental prowess and your own imagination.  Here are some tricks that are easy for most dogs to learn.  There are many ways to teach them; I am only offering a few suggestions regarding what has worked for me:

Shake or high-five:   

I personally prefer high-five because it’s “cuter.”  Let the dog sniff a treat held in your hand.  Possibly feed him a piece or two to motivate him.  Close the treat in your fist and hold it fairly low to the ground (you may have to experiment about the height).  Most dogs will try to find a way to get you to give up the treat:  sniffing the fist, licking it, maybe touching it with a tooth, etc.  If you are lucky the dog will get a little frustrated and paw at the arm or fist.  At the first sign of pawing, open the fist and deliver the treat. Repeat a few times.  Then remove the treat and offer the fist alone.  If the dog paws the closed fist, then jackpot!   

Over the course of several sessions you should be able to get the dog to paw at the fist raised a little higher, then at an open hand, then to a hand held low and turned toward the dog, and then to a hand held at the dog’s face or even higher.  Pair this behavior with a cute prompt like, “high-five” and you’re off to a great start!  If the dog won’t paw your hand, shape the behavior, instead, as described in the “General Training” section.

Wave: 

High-five, once firmly established, easily turns into a wave.  Offer your palm, and when the dog responds, move your hand away.  Click as the dog swipes his paw through the air and deliver the treat.  After the first couple of times, add the cue “wave,” along with a waving hand-signal of your own.  Shape the dog to add to the pawing-motion until you have a very convincing and energetic up-and-down waving motion.

Spin: 

This is easiest to teach to a dog that is targeting something, whether your hand or a target-stick.  Gradually fade the prompt until the dog spins readily with a spinning motion of the fingers or hands for a signal.

Speak: 

I personally don’t teach this one to mine because my husband and I prefer peace and quiet.  But it’s easy enough to do:  while the dog is barking, click.  Deliver a treat.  When he is barking regularly for attention and treats, put it on cue.  Say, “speak,” or “guard.”  Some women who walk their dogs at odd hours prefer the latter.  The dog barks frantically but harmlessly on cue, but a scary stranger doesn’t need to know that!  Once you have established this trick you will also need to teach “quiet” to save your peace of mind.  Simply reward the dog when he stops barking, paired with the word quiet.  Expect quiet for longer and longer periods (varying the actual time-length to keep him guessing) before he earns his reward.  Remember that barking or any other behavior that you are rewarding will tend to increase.  Make sure you can live with it.  If you train this behavior and then find barking intolerable, blame yourself, not the dog.

Jump through a hoop:  

Find an inexpensive hula-hoop at your local dollar-store.  Start by holding the hoop on the ground and luring him through it, either with treats or by getting him to target your hand on the other side.  Click each time the dog passes over the bottom of the hoop.  Treat as he reaches the other side.  Gradually raise the hoop up until he is hopping, then jumping, through.  Most dogs find this easy and fun, and it’s good exercise.  Train the dog to jump through the hoop (or to fetch) instead of jumping all over you at greeting-time! 

Play Dead: 

Capture this behavior if the dog likes to roll on his back.  If not, you can lure him onto his back when he is lying down .  Move the food slowly from his nose across his face, just behind his ears.  With luck Fido will follow the treat, first with his nose, and then with the rest of his body, to get at the goody.  Click and treat when he is on his back. You may have to combine luring and shaping if he is reluctant to roll on his back. My favorite cue for this is “BANG!” with a shooting motion of one hand.  It is also easy to teach Fido to roll over by encouraging him to continue his rolling motion.  Teach the second trick after the first one has been well established, however, to avoid confusing the dog.

Find the Keys/Remote: 

Dogs have an incredible sense of smell and can be trained to do useful tricks like finding lost objects.  Teach the dog to target the object, then hide it, first in easy places (even in plain sight), then in harder and harder ones.  On those occasions when you really do lose track of the keys or remote, Fido will be happy to help you locate them!

Anything else the dog does: 

Keep the clicker and some treats handy for those “teachable moments.”  Watch for cute or favorite behaviors of your particular dog.  One of mine, Terra, sheds terribly in the spring and fall.  He is constantly scratching his neck with his back legs.  I put the behavior on cue:  “Itch?”  Now he scratches heartily every time I ask him, “Terra, do you have an itch?”  People love it and wonder how he came to be so smart!  You can teach your dog to sneeze, lick his lips, cock his head, cover his eyes, etc., all on cue.