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

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?

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.

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. :rolleyes:

btw, Way to go Thor!!!

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!)

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!!!!! :)

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

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

What a coincidence! Uni is mastering Le Tigra.

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

LOL!

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

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!"

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


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 (:D), 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.

LOL! :sidesplt:

LOLLOL! :p:D 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! :p now if only I can come up with more hand signals...:confused:

How about this one? :doh34:

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.

Attachment 314926

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