I teach my dogs pretty much everything they need to know via tricks. Afterall, agility, obedience, tracking, disc dog... - it's all just another dog trick.
Tricks train them to think, to use their body and mind. Tricks teach them that there is no difference between working and playing and gives them the right attitude. Teaching tricks teaches them that they’re the smartest dogs in the world, that there are no mistakes and no failure, that trying things is good. Tricks give them confidence in their thinking abilities and moves, improve their strength, balance and coordination. Tricks build a bond between me and them and create a deeper understanding for them how I think and for me how they think. Tricks make them feel important, smart, confident, needed and bonded with me.
Tricks are very important for young dogs as they learn to use their body and mind that way. They're also great for cross training of competing dogs, it keeps all the muscle active and strong and prevents injuries. And it's especially great for old dogs, as tricks keep them mentally and physically active and that's what keeps them young and healthy.
AND they don't take much time, space or equipment, so you don't have any excuse not to teach some tricks to your dog!
Here is the right place to post your videos to give us some ideas, to ask questions on "how to" or ask for a suggestion if you get stuck somewhere on a way.
Here comes one of my favourite videos:
To learn more about tricks, please see my training DVDs on tricks.
Several videos with tricks of my pyrshep and springerspaniel:
Urgh, I’m struggling with the “show your teeth” trick. It’s very hard to get the showing of the teeth with no licking. Any ideas, how did you teach it to Bi?
It’s a hard one to shape if you have nothing to capture… With Bi, I captured her snapping in the air, she does that when she doesn’t know what to do. She likes to express herself in many different ways, so it was easy with her:).
She’ll snap towards a toy I hold in front of her, I’m currently trying that. First I tried clicking the weird thing she sometimes does with her mouth immediately after she licks herself, but all I got was more licking. You know Tani, she’s a passionate kisser 🙂 It’s hard for her to do something with her mouth, but not the tongue.
I lure my golden in showing his teeth by blowing on his nose (he just hates that!) Then I shape a move with his paw and when he does that he just look like a tiger! It’s his favorite trick!
You need to post a picture of that!!!
Here is the beggining of the training: the last try is the closer to what we have now.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xboos0_volt-voudrait-etre-mechant_animals
And this is what we have after some time…
Still lot of work with culling barking during this tricks 🙂
Wouh that’s impressive!
That’s really awesome. Wish my sweetheart would offer something like that.
I have been watching your videos and reading your posts for a long time now, and I am very inspired by you and your wonderful dogs!!! I have a 6 yr old and 2yr old dog, and have tried to start teaching them more tricks (inspired by you and your dogs). I am having some troubles with both my dogs and would appreciate any advice you might have.
My 6 yr old golden already knows lots of things, and since starting clicker training (unfortunately not until he was 4 yrs old) has learned some great tricks. He is ALWAYS ready and willing to learn anything new, and he always tries hard and LOVES to learn… but a lot of times I struggle a bit to find the best way to teach him a new trick. Since he was trained for 4 yrs by luring and directing him what to do, he does not understand shaping really well at all. Poor guy doesn’t know it’s OK to offer behaviors, and always looks to me to direct him as I always did before. I feel very sad for this and want to know if there is any hope for him to learn by shaping!
My 2 yr old BC is a rescue. I think she is a lot like your Bu, probably somewhat autistic, very sweet but always anxious (she lived feral in country until being rescued at 4 months old). I have always said she is not a “real” BC either. She is definitely brilliant but unable to stay focused & little desire to interact during training. I have actually been able to teach her several tricks but she will only ever engage with me for very very short periods of time. She was raised with clicker training and shaping, but doesn’t seem to want to learn or work with me very much. She is VERY driven for toys and play and not as much for food. She will play ALL day long if you just play with her… but ask her to do tricks or learn new things during play and she often decides she would rather not play at all then have to interact with me to get her toy. This is very very sad for me and I don’t know what to do!!!
Hm, hard to diagnose the problem without seeing it in live, but my guess would be you take tricks too seriously. Try to NOT have a plan what to teach and just go with whatever you get first. For your Golden, it’s probably the easiest if you give him an object he might want to try to interact with. Put a box on the floor and see if he will go sniff it, nose or paw touch it and then go on from there, either getting him to push it around with his nose if you went with nose touches or for him to step in with two or four paws if you started with paw touches. With your BC, try to be VERY generous with rewards. Take a toy, wait if she does something and click&reward for ANYTHING she does. She needs to realize that she is the one who is leading the game and that SHE can make YOU give her a toy by doing that or another thing -- whatever. Once she knows that, you can start to let her guess for some more time before rewarding, but you should do it VERY gradually.
Hope that helps a little!
Thanks very much!!! It helps a lot. I been having some progress lately after realizing I try to jump ahead way too quickly. I get so excited and forget to take things slow at first during learning new things. I realized I add too much expectation too fast. I been having much more patience and rewarding any offerings, both dogs doing much better. Since last posting, both dogs are learning well to back up, spin right and spin left, and a few other paw tricks. I will keep at it 🙂
I was teaching my dog to stand on his front feet, he understood it fast and has quite good balance. My question is how do I get him to strech out his back feet. Because right now he pulls them towards his stomach and I gues that’s the reason he can’t keep the position for long.
Actually, the dogs that I saw being able to hold it the longest were those with hind feet folded… But it does look more spectacular when they’re stretching them up. If he never does anything in that direction that you could capture and then shape from there, then you need to do it with hind foot target. Teach him to touch your hand with hind foot (as he knows to put it on an object, just hold your hand right there) and then hold it higher and higher until he has to go into head-stand AND still reach even higher with the hind foot. Should be very easy as he already knows most of this.
There we go with some balance stuff. Really impressed by the jay sisler video I thought that’s something for Yoshi. Well I was right. He really seem to like it. It was quite easy to clicker in first time. He already knew what I want (from climbing on the gymball?!) I’m curious where this will lead us.
ps: maybe something for your girls too. (If they not already know how to do it. ^^)
I really love that!:)
Great work…glad the jay sisler video inspired you too. Silvia was saying how she was running out of ideas so I thought she might also find some in that video. I’m going to have to have a go at this one with mine as well. Keep up updated as to where you take it…perhaps making a little contraption like what Jay’s dogs balanced on?
That is sooo cute! I have to start teaching that to my Isla-bc.
And I really love that face -- when he is really concentrating hard, tongue tip out and “a smile” on his face! Isla has that exact expression when she is really trying her best <3
Here’s a new video of Sleet learning a new trick…just a work in progress right now. Wren is also learning but I’ll put her vid together soon.
Love it! I see we are all in the Jay Sisler Mode.
I look forward to watch the complete trick.
Watching this I really want a second dog (of course not only for trickdogging ^^). There are so much cool tricks you can only do with two dogs accepting each other. Well I need to put some money aside before getting a friend for Yoshi.
I did some more training the day after I got this footage and both sleet and wren managed multiple jumps with the rope going all way round without breaks….I was well impressed. Wren seems to be getting better at holding the rope when treats are used as opposed to her tug toy.
Even though I really am a Border Collie person, I’m so absolutely in love with La! Her enthusiasm is irresistible, and so is her always smiling little face. 🙂
Hi there!
Have a short question. I really like this ‘jump on my feet while I’m with my back on the floor’-trick. I started some prework to get there, but now I get the impression that Yoshi (weight 20kg) is a little bit to heavy for me (weight 52kg).
How heavy are Bi, Bu, Wren and Sleet (or other dogs doing this trick)?
Jumping on my back is no problem for Yoshi (and me) but down on the floor, legs straight up is much more difficult for me. So what do you think?
ps: Is it possible, that we are all women in Lolabu-web-land? And also most dogs are female? Mystically coincidence? 😉
Wren must be about 17kilos or there abouts. She was 16.9kilos before she was spayed in december and that dropped her down to 16.4kilos after losing the ovaries etc… but she’s filled out very slightly since then. She’s about that sort of weight….once on my feet, she doesn’t feel all that heavy really…the main problem is her making my legs go to the side when she jumps on if she doesn’t do it right.
Sleet weighs less than Wren so she shouldn’t be an issue at all…probably about 14 kilos…but she daren’t do it yet. Need to do more prep work. Wren learnt like most dogs don’t….
Love this trick too and I’ve always wanted my Be could do this! But she is almost 32kg so… I’m not sure it is possible to do it 🙂
Bu is 13kg and Bi is 15kg. It is a hard trick for the handler, I can hold Bu, but not Bi. For 20kg, you need quite strong legs:).
Damn,
seems to be more training for me than for Yoshi. ^^
And I thought he is a lightweight with his 20kg (with 56cm).
We’ll see, if I’m capable for this trick. I’m sure Yoshi is.
(Otherwise my boyfriend has to go for this one) 😉
Yes, boyfriends are much better for that trick, mine got his share of dogs on his feet too:).
I’ve been swindling the owners of other pairs of legs into this too for Sleet to practise on. I don’t have a BF so a mate of mine usually cops for it but somebody at our agility club also volunteered on one occasion…although I’ll have to rope her into it again, haha. She’s much taller than me and has longer legs so if Sleet can jump on her feet, she should have no issues with mine:D
Hello Silvia,
I have a quastion. I have heard that you train the body feeling of your dogs. But how?
I have a 6 month old Border Collie and he is a klutz *g*
We also have a pryshep (and a tibetan terrier):D
Here is a little video from us, nothing special but i like it 😉
Greetings from Germany,
Vivi
Very cute! And the answer is: TICKS, of course! Any trick helps with body awareness, hind leg tricks are especially good. I’m preparing a video on this subject too:), I think it’s very important for agility dogs.
Yeah, more german dogs ^^
How solid is this ladder? I would love to see your PyrShep upstairs with all paws. Looks like he could do this easily.
And it’s really funny how the same trickname could be such a different trick (back, home).
Greetz from germany to germany 😉