tricks for small dogs?

[lulababy]

i got a training book.. well several... one of them has a lot of tricks and stuff... but how they want me to teach her doesnt seem to work because she is so small/short/close to the ground (she is almost 13 weeks and is 1.8 pounds). for example... i cannot get her to lay, because putting the treat to the ground (which would work for a larger dog) does not get her to crouch down. she just moves her neck down and gets the treat and because i cant get her to lay.. i cant do a lot of other tricks. so far she does sit, stand, come, and im working on "sit pretty." does anyone know any other things i can teach her and how to do it with a really tiny dog?

[tjdmom]

I got Zoe to lay down by putting the treat in my hand in a fist and then putting my fist on the ground. She would work at getting the treat and eventually lay down and then she'd get the treat. We also do dance and bang bang which is basically laying down and turning on her side like she was shot. Good luck. I have to say I think yorkies are fast learners as far as tricks go.

[yellowmellie]

I had the same problem with Kaba!!!

I did two things

1)Same as the poster before me, I would try to make a fist and get her to lay down. I gave up for a few weeks all together because it was so aggravating.

2)I hold treats sitting down on the ground with her and wait for her to lay down, and then praise the hell out of her "GOOD LAYDOWN!!" and give treat. After a few sessions of this, she started to catch on what I wanted.

But then...she totally forgot about sitting. We had to re-learn that. And make sure you don't always do sit, laydown, treat...mix it up. or they are training you.


but lay down is as far as we have gotten. what does your book say is the next thing to teach? Stay?

[Ashley V]

I'm having the same problem with Smokey... sort of. He's a bigger yorkie (13 lbs) but when I try to get him to lay down he just bends his neck to get the treat and he doesn't exactly... pick up on things very quickly (I'm not being mean I swear!) so I'm having a difficult time as well. I know at the training place we take the dogs to, they say to squat down with one leg extended to your side. Put your dog in front of you and put a treat in your hand, behind your leg and they should lay down under your leg to get the treat. This still doesn't work for Smokey, but it may work for you.

[lulababy]

lol i just tried the holding the treat in the hand thing and she just sniffed my hand, licked it and wandered away. she is getting too smart. she knows when she is not getting a treat immediately

the next thing to learn after lay is "crawl" which you have to do from a laying down position.

im having trouble with "sit pretty". she hears the "sit" part and is like.. im SITTING give me my treat! she doesnt want to jump up to get it. ill wait till shes really hungry

[lulababy]

Originally Posted by Ashley V

I'm having the same problem with Smokey... sort of. He's a bigger yorkie (13 lbs) but when I try to get him to lay down he just bends his neck to get the treat and he doesn't exactly... pick up on things very quickly (I'm not being mean I swear!) so I'm having a difficult time as well. I know at the training place we take the dogs to, they say to squat down with one leg extended to your side. Put your dog in front of you and put a treat in your hand, behind your leg and they should lay down under your leg to get the treat. This still doesn't work for Smokey, but it may work for you.

ill try this during her session tomorrow.. i have a feeling she will get bored with it, give up and walk away though

what are you guys using for treats? maybe she needs better "motivation"

[Ashley V]

Originally Posted by lulababy

ill try this during her session tomorrow.. i have a feeling she will get bored with it, give up and walk away though

what are you guys using for treats? maybe she needs better "motivation"

Well I tried again after I posted and he did it!! I'm so excited. I just think it takes him a little longer to catch on to things for some reason.

[LucyNTuckersMom]

I have to confess, I gave up on lay down. It was just too hard with little dogs. And really, it's not that entertaining of a trick. Is there any cute behavior that your dog already does? For example, when Lucy gets really excited, she bounces up and down. I was able to put a verbal cue to that (and then eventually just a hand motion-like dribbling a basketball) to get her to do it on command.

How about this Yorkie's bag of tricks:

YouTube - Smartest yorkie ever!...

(though the humans could use to crack out the vacuum!)
Teresa

[racheldawn]

lol, I thought the same thing when I watched that video, but definitely a smart pooch!

[lulababy]

Originally Posted by Ashley V

Well I tried again after I posted and he did it!! I'm so excited. I just think it takes him a little longer to catch on to things for some reason.

Oh yay!! that gives me hope

[lulababy]

Originally Posted by LucyNTuckersMom

I have to confess, I gave up on lay down. It was just too hard with little dogs. And really, it's not that entertaining of a trick. Is there any cute behavior that your dog already does? For example, when Lucy gets really excited, she bounces up and down. I was able to put a verbal cue to that (and then eventually just a hand motion-like dribbling a basketball) to get her to do it on command.

How about this Yorkie's bag of tricks:
YouTube - Smartest yorkie ever! "Shorty"
(though the humans could use to crack out the vacuum!)
Teresa

LOLL about the vacuum!!!! yes that floor is really dirty hahaha.. that dog does some cool tricks though. those youtube videos make me feel I have some kinda inferior dog lol. this one woman had her dog completely trained with sooo many tricks @ only 3 months!

[Ashley V]

Originally Posted by lulababy

Oh yay!! that gives me hope

I worked a little more and I'm now able to do it without my legs! YAY! I'm so excited! lol

[Knockz]

We are trying to teach Dim Sum to spin. Any tips on how i can do this. He doesn't seem to like being spun around by our hands.. hah

[lulababy]

UPDATE! i tried the under the leg thing to get her to lay and it worked!! she kinda crawled under there but it was a start!! i was like YES! she is also picking up sit pretty a little better.. she jumped so high once that she fell on her back haha it was so funny

oh and i too would like ot know how to spin. that sounds really hard haha

[Ashley V]

Originally Posted by lulababy

UPDATE! i tried the under the leg thing to get her to lay and it worked!! she kinda crawled under there but it was a start!! i was like YES! she is also picking up sit pretty a little better.. she jumped so high once that she fell on her back haha it was so funny

oh and i too would like ot know how to spin. that sounds really hard haha

YAY! She layed down! I would just be consistent with a little bit at a time and do it maybe about 10 minutes a day for each trick and she'll get it. Smokey is already starting to lay down really well and he just learned it yesterday!