Sit, come, lay down ...... and what next

[SONYSW]

My chelsea knows how to sit, lay down and fetch. What else can you teach her. She is 6 months old. I would like to teach her to roll but do not know how. Do you have any other tricks that I can teach her ? The other problem is she is afraid with "clicker" sound when I try to train her with a clicker. Is there a way to overcome this problem. She seems afraid of any high pitch sound (either clicker or bell). Thanks for your input.

[Tiger's Mom]

An easy one would be "crawl" or "shake" as in hand shake.

[JeanieK]

roll over
spin
play dead

If you are just trying for tricks. if you're wanting obedience then you can work on the come and the long sits and downs and walking on a leash etc.

[FirstYorkie]

Drop it
Leave it
Stay
Quiet

[SONYSW]

While searching to how to teach her I found this good website
http://www.loveyourdog.com/tricks2.html#kiss
I thought I want to share with you

[Jaxon's mom]

To teach roll over, I would get Jaxon to lay down and then using a treat in my hand, motion a circle and help him roll over and then give him the treat. He is a total treat piggy so he caught onto it really fast.

I've taught him 'high 5' - hit my hand with his 2 front paws and also 'speak'.

[sgab80]

I hung a long pink furry strand with a bell on the bottom from the back door and taught LillyBelle to "go ding ding" when she needs to go out. I taught her at 6mos, she's a year and half now and does it 100% of the time. If I dont hear the regular ring ring....she REALLY rings it and goes in circles at the door.

[Erin]

Try a different or softer clicker? Has she figured out that a click means a treat? They usually overcome that fear when they figure that out. Try using a retractable pen click, or what I do is just use a word marker like "YES" in place of the click.

Loki has too many "commands" to count like Leave it and Drop, but his tricks are the best.

He knows:
Sit
Down
Head Down
Stay
Wave (my favorite)
Shake
High Five
Kiss (he will RUN across the room to kiss me - I taught him to touch his nose to mine, no tongues!)
Crawl (TOO CUTE!)
Roll over
"Bang" play dead
Stand
Spin
Target/Target down

I know I'm forgetting some... He's so smart. He works for buddy biscuits. Here's some pictures from today of his play dead, head down and wave. He was totally showing off. I *really* need to get these on video.

[SnowWa]

I think "stay" is one of the most important commands you an teach a dog. It keeps them from jumping on people - bolting out the door - etc. And, it could easily save their life one day.

Carol Jean

[SONYSW]

Thanks. How do you teach them to stay ? It is kind a hard for yorkie pup.

[Erin]

Puppies won't do a long stay, but you start by holding their food bowl up high and asking them to sit, then stay. SLOWLY lower the bowl. If they start to get up, lift it back up again, put them back in position and try again. They only get their bowl if they stay seated. If you practice this every time you feed them they will pick it up quickly!

Then you can make it part of their "tricks". I put Loki in a down-stay (he can't do a sit-stay, he always lays down) and then walk backwards. Take a step or two then walk back and reward while they are STILL down. I can get about 20-30 feet away, especially if we are doing it in class at the trainer's studio - because he is "working" and then I walk back and act all excited just like I would if he rolled over!

[feminvstr]

Fun Behaviors to Teach Your Pet




Okay, so you have the basics down such as sit, stay, down and come. How about taking it to the next level? Do you know someone whose pet knows a cool trick and wonder if your pet has the aptitude to learn more? Well, it's all in the training. Here are a few fun behaviors to teach your pet and to wow your friends with.

CRAWL
Teaching your dog to crawl is a fun activity that extends from the "down" behavior. Start with your pet in the down position. Place a treat directly in front of the pet's nose and pull it straight out in front of the animal. It is important to keep your hand parallel to the ground to avoid luring the dog into the standing position. Slowly pull the treat away from the dog, stopping if the dog stands up. Remember, we are only reinforcing the dog and stopping if the dog stands up. If the dog stands, simply replace the dog in the "down" position and start over. As you achieve success in the dog crawling 1-3 feet, immediately treat and praise. With more consistency in the behavior you can then add the verbal cue "crawl" and soon the dog will associate the "crawl" command with the behavior, thus diminishing the need for luring with a treat.

COVER EYES
Cover eyes is a fun behavior for both canine and owner. As a trainer, one has to be creative in approaching how to train new and innovative behaviors, and cover eyes is one of those. With your dog in a "sit" position, place a small piece of tape on the dog's muzzle (household tape works best - no heavy duty tapes please). The dog will most likely raise either front paw to remove the tape. At the time the paw comes in contact with its muzzle, immediately treat and praise. Repeat, until the dog associates the command with the cover eyes behavior. Again, once consistent, add a verbal cue such as "cover your eyes," or "are you shy?" This behavior is one that is unique and a sure hit at your next party.

PUT TOYS AWAY
Teaching a dog to put its toys away happens in several steps and it may take a period of time for each level of succession. The first and most important step is to begin with is getting the dog to fetch and return with an object. Start by throwing your dog's favorite toy and waiting for the pet to return with it in its mouth. This is the point where the struggle usually happens between dog and owner, almost to the stage of wrestling with the pet to give up the toy. It is very important at this point that we train the animal to easily and freely give up the toy for praise. Instead of pulling at the toy while still clenched by the dog's teeth, have a treat ready so that when the dog returns and drops the toy for the treat, you can then safely pick up the toy. Use a command such as "drop," "give," or "release." In addition to the dog learning how to give up objects, it helps reduce the chances of the animal becoming possessive of toys or other objects.

The next step is to have the dog place the object into your hand. When the dog returns from the fetch, position your hand to underneath its mouth so that when the object is dropped out of the mouth it lands directly into your hand. Again, treat and praise heavily so that the dog understands that the next step of progression is to return the object to your hand. This can be its own behavior by incorporating the command "in my hand" or "palm."

After successfully training "in my hand," the next step is to have the dog place the object into your hand while partially placed in a basket or toy bin. Make sure to have a different command when incorporating the basket so that the original behavior of "in my hand" is not lost or confused by the training of the new behavior. "in the basket," "toys away," or "clean up" are a few options for the last portion of this behavior. Again, have the dog return to you with an object in its mouth. With consistency of the dog dropping the toy into your hand, which is in the basket, add your desired command. Slowly remove your hand and the dog will then completely drop the toy into the basket upon command.

Keep in mind while training this behavior that each step must be successfully completed before moving on to the next step. It can take a period of time for complete success, however, in the process; you are gaining three behaviors in one. Each step can be used at isolated times and when combined, provide you with a wonderful behavior and one more helper around the house!

By Yasmin Tajik

[izzy816]

Great tips! So far Izzy can sit, stay and lay down. I was trying roll last night but couldnt figure out how to do it. I saw the tip about taking the treat and moving it in a circle. Im going to try it tonight. We are working on "shake" everytime I grab his paw, he licks my hand!