New little trick.... I don't even know what to call it, but it's cute.

Basically, Jackson 'mirrors' what I'm doing. He's sitting, facing me, I lift up my right foot and he lifts up his left foot, I lift my left foot and he lifts right foot at the same time (as if I'm looking in a mirror... of course, when I really look in a mirror, it's not as cute as Jackson ;)) but anyways, I've just been saying "foot" and then "other foot." I don't know if I explained that right -- but I'll make a video soon.

I thought it was cute and he picked up on it within 5 mins. I've been using the clicker more than ever before and he really does learn sooo much faster!

Our next trick mission: OK, I don't know if this is going to be possible, but I really wanna get Jackson to skateboard. Or atleast semi-skateboard. I think, once he got the hang of it, he'd actually enjoy it... I have a skateboard in my garage buried somewhere and I might go dig it out tomorrow! I just think that'd be pretty cool. Or maybe I just have no life, ha. Either way - i'm gonna try it!

I came across a nice little tutorial that inspired me,

The mirror trick sounds really neat! Did you come up with that yourself?

It's cool to hear about your experience with clicker training. Maybe I'll try to find something that makes a super-soft noise that doesn't scare Thor.

BTW - Thor finally got spin to the left. He's an ambi-turner! :teeth: Interesting enough, it kicked up his spin to the right quite a bit. He has a pretty splashy-looking move going now. I think he finally got the difference between my right & left hands.

Now I just have to put them together for a dance move.

Also, I took Thor to our first official class yesterday - Nose Work. It turns out that neither of us are particularly good at it, but I'm interested to see how it turns out.

Hey, I just came up with an idea for a mini-clicker!! I'm off to try this right now.

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No - I didn't come up with it myself, I think I saw it on YouTube somewhere, I can't remember the particular video. I'll have to look - I probably saved it in my favorites. But it's super cute.

The 1st time I used the clicker I scared Jackson w/ it... he's not a super skiddish dog but it was my fault. It was when I was teaching take a bow and I made the mistake of clicking it when my hand (with clicker in it) was under his belly.... he flipped and didn't know what the hell the thing was and then our training session was over, LOL. So I had stopped using the clicker for a few weeks and just recently picked it back up again and now it doesn't phase him at all, and in fact, he gets excited when he sees me pick it up cuz he knows it means treats! Your idea for a clicker looks good to me! :p:D Have you tried a pen? I've heard of people using the click of a pen too.

And YAY for Thor spinning both ways now! They look super cute spinning in both directions. I really wanna see Thor in action. Where are your videos at? :confused:

And Nose Work... is that semi new doggy 'sport' where boxes are laid out and one has a treat in it? If so... it looked soo interesting. I had emailed them a little while back and they said they are coming back to the DC area in the Fall, I think, for a seminar and some classes.

I'm not video savvy. I've never even posted a video! (Blush). I'm old school, I still like photos.

People have suggested a pen to me before, but I am a huge nerd, and I am addicted to those 4-color bic pens - so I'm clicking that dozens of times a day already.

The binder clip worked, I think! I need to work on my timing. But it's definitely more precise, and I can see it being better for capturing just the right moment. That was originally why I was so excited about getting a dog - clicker training! And then Thor was terrified of it. Ooooooh, I'm so excited I finally came up with an alternative.

Keep me posted on how the clicker works for you.


Yes, Nose Work is hiding a treat in a box. It's supposed to be good for dogs that aren't good with other dogs, because they don't interact with each other at all. At the most basic level, it's just supposed to be fun for the dog, they get to sniff around and eat stuff.

It was interesting, Thor was out of his crate for ten minutes max - but he seemed really tired afterwards. The trainer says it is a big workout for the mind and body, and so far, that seems to be true.

LOL my bf wanted to use the clicker as a "no" marker! Needless to say Uni is not clicker trained. She is um, english trained, I guess. Still can't get her to go ambi though, so Way to go Thor!!!! :thumbup:

katie finally found her hands!!!!!

We finally got Katie to Shake! One of the easiest tricks and she just would not do it! her legs are so short she follows with her nose, and not her hands, she is the complete opposite of Uni. Bf noticed that when Katie goes from sit to down, her right paw goes out first, then she flops down. So he moved the kibble to the down position, and before she laid down he would grab her hand. Now she is doing it with just saying hand, and showing her kibble! Yay!!!! It took 2 sessions, now she's got it down pat. :D

I tried, but it didn't work. The boys thought the sound was interesting at first, but ignored after a few clicks.

Way to go Katie and Bf!

I'm having trouble with Teddy on this one. He works very well with his paws, front and back, and he allows me to pick up each paw for grooming. However, he pulls away whenever I try "shake." I thought he would follow Maxman's lead, but no luck.

The boys have learned to sit and stay, side by side, in unison. It is so funny to watch now that they are so close in size and appearance. I'm hoping to train them as well as the Yorkie duo in NYC, the ones with all of the cute videos. I can dream, can't I? :p

One more that was discussed recently in this thread: I think I'm going to have to rule out "sit pretty" and similar tricks. Max was trying to sit pretty and fell flat on his back. It spooked him and he doesn't like trying anymore. I'm surprised because he has powerful back legs; he can walk on his hind legs for a good distance and twirl, and he can jump high from a seated position.

Still catching up with this thread...a Zoolander walk off, yes! :sidesplt: One of the many things I have doing this week to try to cure Maxman of his leash pulling is practicing his strut in the house. We walk the "catwalk" in the house. It's a great exercise to make him stay at my side and follow my lead.

I can't get "sit pretty" for either one. Uni can sit up in the position, but her hands are still doing the "beg" motion. She can't just sit still. Hmmm, she can't sit still for just about anything, now that I think about it. :rolleyes:

Just checking in on this thread.....

Jackson had terrible balance when it came to "sit pretty" but he's finally gettin' it. He used to sit up in the position and hold his arms/paws straight up instead of curled over (if ya know what I mean...) but now he's finally doing it the right way, hehe ;) I *even* got him to hold up a paper sign in his mouth in the sit pretty position since we're working on 'take it' and 'hold it' as well. It was about 2 seconds but better than he did before! I really want him to be able to hold up a sign in a picture or a video - I think that'd be the cutest. :)

My dad's dog does the sit pretty thing like Uni with his paws waving lol. He always does that.

Maximo... maybe try getting them to sit pretty with a wall behind them so they can get more balance?

And yay Katie on shake! Took Jackson forever too :rolleyes: go figure, the dog learns how to play dead before shake!

I was working with a trainer, that uses "click method", but not a clicker.... we say"yessss", for the mark, it is easier to be perfectly timed! And you can't lose it in the couch cushions! Just do something they know, use the yessss marker, and treat, it isn't long before they realize that is the correct behavior!
I wish I had more time to work on tricks!

You Ladies just AMAZE me! :thumbup::thumbup:

Here's the 'foot' thing I was talking about, along with Jackson learning how to hold a sign in a sit pretty position... we're hoping for a lot longer obviously but for now it's good for him! lol. He hates holding things in his mouth. Oh and the reason it says 'Top Dog' on it, I was gonna make a video for the Good Morning America contest but totally forgot about it, they had a Top Dog thing going on!

ahh!! too cute! Way to go jackson! Everytime I turn around Jackson's got a new trick up his sleeve! :D