Tricks in Progress

[Britster]

Originally Posted by capt_noonie

I was working with Katie on sit, which she got in one night. Then I was trying down, she got that, and to top it off, she finished it off with a roll over! I was so shocked, she just did it on her own! My bf didn't believe that she just did it like that. He insisted I was working with her all day while he was not here, but I didn't! Wow! Now when I ask her to roll over she will do it! yay!!! This girl is so smart! All she needed was some love and attention! Whoever ends up with her is gonna be so lucky!

WOW! Go Katie!!! That is awesome. Roll over is considered a more advanced trick too.

[capt_noonie]

I guess she just learns things backwards? After her cone comes off we'll try more tricks, but I was so shocked at the roll over! She also knows jump, does that count?

[QuickSilver]

That's awesome! I've always said that little Katie is smart as a whip.

Thor is doing pretty well with Take It. I've been pairing it with fetch games and Hold It, which he has got down cold. I'll throw the toy a maybe a foot or two away, and when he attacks it, I say "Take It", and then IMMEDIATELY, "Hold It!!!!!" And it works! We had a whole Take It/Hold It/(Sit/Down)/Drop It thing going on.

Then later in the session, he's willing to take stuff from my hand. That doesn't seem to have totally clicked yet. I think I've taught him so many tricks where he is to LEAVE IT!!!! or DROP IT!!!!! that actually taking something from me seems bizarre and wrong.

I even started teaching him "Go/Halt" with his food bowl the other day. I stand near his food bowl and tell him to Come. He usually Comes at a pretty slow pace, because he knows at some point, he will have to Sit. So when he stops, I told him "Halt", and then threw the treat behind him, prompting a "Go". Then he would come back, and "Halt", which meant he could Go get the treat. It was a lot of fun.

My dastardly plan is coming together: soon I hope to take a photo of him, standing at a reasonable distance away, with something in his mouth. Little does he suspect what my true motives are. BWAhahahahahaha!

We did hit a snag. He has been doing SO well, that's he's been getting treats left and right, and some of them did not agree with his tummy. So now he's off treats for the whole week. I meant to cook up some rice and chicken tonight. Maybe tomorrow, and then I can use his meals as treats.

[capt_noonie]

Yes, I would suggest training during mealtime. That's what I've always done with Uni, and now with katie too. Plus Katie is on a diet, so extra treats wouldn't be good. she's getting "bang" too. This girl is crazy, she doesn't know the easy tricks, yet she pulls out roll and bang like nothing.

btw, Way to go Thor!!!

[QuickSilver]

Okay, question for you guys:


I have finally, FINALLY been able to teach Thor to "spin" to the left. It was super-easy to teach him to spin to the right, but then he refused to let go of turning right. I finally taught him by walking in a circle around HIM to the left. Boy, did I get dizzy.

Anyway, we are down to just hand gestures now for a "twirl" (left spin). My question is: he doesn't seem to be able to determine the difference between the hand gesture for Spin (palm facing down, two fingers pointing down, fingers move clockwise horizontally), Roll (three fingers pointing out, entire hand moves clockwise vertically), and Twirl (pretty much same hand gesture as Spin, but fingers move counter-clockwise).

Basically, how do you differentiate your gestures for the same action in a different direction? I've also been using the right hand for moves to the right, and the left hand for left moves, but to him, it's apparently one big mass of moving fingers.

I also say different words, but those mean nothing to him.

So I need the gestures for:

- Spin Right ("Spin")
- Spin Left ("Twirl")
- Roll Right ("Roll")
- Roll Left (can't imagine bringing this one into the mix at this point!)

[capt_noonie]

Funny you should mention this, bc lots of dogs can spin both ways (Jackson for one). Uni cannot. She can't turn left, just like Zoolander, she's not an ambi-turner. Wait, let me rephrase that... when she does chase your tail, up and spin, jump and spin, and roll over, it's ALL towards the right. When she circles to pee, she goes left. wtf? I have tried really hard to get her to chase your tail to the left, but to no avail. I guess if she tries to turn left she'll end up peeing?

As for the hand gestures, I think he knows, he's just not 100% getting it yet. Since you are using voice commands along with hand signals he knows there is something different. I think the final goal would be to use voice only and no hand signals. Uni's got most of the tricks down without hand signals.

Sooo,, I'd like to here from Brit about how she got jackson to turns both ways. And Brit you were asking before if "spin" and "spin the other way" were two different tricks? yes they are!!!!!

[QuickSilver]

HA! Love the Zoolander reference. Yeah, Thor is still working on his Blue Steel move.

That would be a cute doggie name. Zoolander....

[capt_noonie]

What a coincidence! Uni is mastering Le Tigra.

[QuickSilver]

One of these days we'll have to have a walk off. And yes, Thor CAN take off his belly band with one paw.

[capt_noonie]

LOL!

No need for all that! all he'd have to do is turn left!

[Britster]

Originally Posted by capt_noonie

Funny you should mention this, bc lots of dogs can spin both ways (Jackson for one). Uni cannot. She can't turn left, just like Zoolander, she's not an ambi-turner. Wait, let me rephrase that... when she does chase your tail, up and spin, jump and spin, and roll over, it's ALL towards the right. When she circles to pee, she goes left. wtf? I have tried really hard to get her to chase your tail to the left, but to no avail. I guess if she tries to turn left she'll end up peeing?

As for the hand gestures, I think he knows, he's just not 100% getting it yet. Since you are using voice commands along with hand signals he knows there is something different. I think the final goal would be to use voice only and no hand signals. Uni's got most of the tricks down without hand signals.

Sooo,, I'd like to here from Brit about how she got jackson to turns both ways. And Brit you were asking before if "spin" and "spin the other way" were two different tricks? yes they are!!!!!

LOL. I remember I laughed at your zoolander reference before, but I just laughed again!

I am beginning to have the same problems with the hand gestures, I'm running out of them!! Jackson seems to only respond to hand gestures with most of his tricks. I'm trying to figure out a better way to teach him just to listen to my words more. The only ones he will do with no hand signals are sit, down, speak, shake and high five. Maybe he just heard them enough and finally learned? But I can say "spin!" in my same high pitched voice I always do and he just looks at me, but once I lift my arm up and kinda twirl my hand, he knows exactly what I mean! So I honestly don't have many tips for ya there! Hand signals are becoming a problem for me too, ha... running out of them and sometimes I forget them!!

As for the spinning both ways, I honestly didn't think he would get it when I thought about teaching him the other way. But I taught it the same way I did for him for spinning right. I just lead him in the opposite direction with a treat. What I do is say "spin!" and he spins right, then I rotate my hand the opposite way and say "other way!"

[QuickSilver]

Ooooooh, poor Britster, her dog knows so many tricks she is running out of hand signals. Excuse me while I cry a river.


I tried a bunch of times to lure Thor with a treat in the other direction - and he would promptly spin the OPPOSITE way to catch up with my hand. It was quite an ordeal to convince him to Turn Left (), and I finally moved around HIM, and let him lay down halfway through the move (when in doubt, he figures Sitting or Laying is the right move). But once I got him to turn left a few times, I was able to shape it pretty quickly to a hand gesture. My gesture is a giant circle at the moment, and I'd like to get it more subtle.


FYI, here is the way to switch from hand to voice (or to another word, or another signal, whatever). Have the dog do the same trick 5-10 times in a row. Then just say the word. The dog will most likely sit and stare at you. That's okay. Do another few with the old way, and then try again. At some point the dog will tentatively offer the old behavior under the new word. Give PRAISE and REWARD! Continue to switch from one to the other, with a much bigger reward for the new way.

Also, it is possible for dogs to only cue to the hand gesture. This is called "overshadowing", where the animal only picks up on one cue. One of my favorite dog behaviorists, Brenda Aloff, was doing dog dancing with her super-smart border collie. After months of doing a certain move, she realized that the border collie was not watching her hands or listening to her voice - she had been raising her eyebrows every time she asked for this move, and the border collie had decided that was the signal.

And you can always go back to Zoolander. It's like Shakespeare.

[capt_noonie]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

Ooooooh, poor Britster, her dog knows so many tricks she is running out of hand signals. Excuse me while I cry a river.

LOL!

[Britster]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

Ooooooh, poor Britster, her dog knows so many tricks she is running out of hand signals. Excuse me while I cry a river.


I tried a bunch of times to lure Thor with a treat in the other direction - and he would promptly spin the OPPOSITE way to catch up with my hand. It was quite an ordeal to convince him to Turn Left (), and I finally moved around HIM, and let him lay down halfway through the move (when in doubt, he figures Sitting or Laying is the right move). But once I got him to turn left a few times, I was able to shape it pretty quickly to a hand gesture. My gesture is a giant circle at the moment, and I'd like to get it more subtle.


FYI, here is the way to switch from hand to voice (or to another word, or another signal, whatever). Have the dog do the same trick 5-10 times in a row. Then just say the word. The dog will most likely sit and stare at you. That's okay. Do another few with the old way, and then try again. At some point the dog will tentatively offer the old behavior under the new word. Give PRAISE and REWARD! Continue to switch from one to the other, with a much bigger reward for the new way.

Also, it is possible for dogs to only cue to the hand gesture. This is called "overshadowing", where the animal only picks up on one cue. One of my favorite dog behaviorists, Brenda Aloff, was doing dog dancing with her super-smart border collie. After months of doing a certain move, she realized that the border collie was not watching her hands or listening to her voice - she had been raising her eyebrows every time she asked for this move, and the border collie had decided that was the signal.

And you can always go back to Zoolander. It's like Shakespeare.

LOLLOL! Well, hey, what can I say?!

Thx for the tips though on just using verbal commands, I'm gonna try it!!!

Now excuse me... Me and Jackson have 10 tricks to learn today! now if only I can come up with more hand signals...

[QuickSilver]

How about this one?