Tricks
 

what tricks do your babies do? So far we've mastered sit, give paw, jump, lay, and roll over! Oh and update on my foot I did end up needing an orthopedic shoe

Lu so far can sit, twirl, give the paw, high five and when I say 'foot' she puts her front paws on the foot I hold out. She also stands on her back legs when I say 'up-up' but I might need to change that command since it's the same we use when telling her she can go up on the couch.

She very excitable when her favourite treats are out so her sit doesn't last too long :D Working on it! I would love to get roll over sometime, need to get her to lie down first.

We've mastered sit, down, stay, come, spin, and are starting to ring a bell on command at 19 weeks. New to Yorkies and they are a smart little breed.

so far.. mine does....
sit, sit pretty, down, roll over, stay, come, stand, paw, high five, kiss kiss.. :D
i think that's it unless i forgot some.

I'm totally amazed at all the commands your babies can do, wow!

Wylie does a trick we call "touchdown!" -- where he goes up on his hind legs and puts both front arms up in the air, like a field goal sign. It's too cute.

We are working on come and stay now to prevent another foot injury when he escapes lol!

We rescued Toto two years ago at 8 years old and am surprised at how much an "old" dog can learn. He didn't seem to know any commands in English when I first started fostering him. He now knows sit, beg (he's a pro at this), left/right handshake, high five, lay down, roll over, play dead, chase tail/spin, leave it (so surprised he even listens to this). Still can't get him to bark on command or stop barking once he gets started though.

Monty is just over a year old. He really enjoys doing tricks with me each night. He's learned quite a bit. Most recently he's learned to jump skipping rope with me and say his prayers on the footstool. He also will throw a toy if I point at it, roll over both directions, run around me jumping through hoops, do high-fives, wave bye-bye, sit up and beg, weave through my legs as I walk, jump through my arms, play dead, roll around a basketball with his front paws and take a bow. There are a few others as well. I'm starting to look for what to teach next, since he really enjoys the sessions. If I could find a toy piano, I'd love to teach him to hit the keys.

Linda

That's impressive! Have you tried to get him to actually dunk a basket? Uni can "slam dunk". We got her a toy basketball hoop from Target. Should be a natural next step for him if he's already comfortable with a basketball.

Interesting -- Thanks! How big is the hoop and where do you attach it?

One thing I've found difficult to train has been "hold" or "fetch" by the way -- Monty is so focussed on the treat that he just will not hold a toy in his mouth. Hence the ease of teaching him to throw a toy -- it now goes arcing across the room. I haven't managed to get him to use any direction to his toss, but at times it seems as if we're almost pkaying catch.

Linda

I have been searching for a small basketball and goal for Barney. I want him to learn to do this so bad. He loves learning new tricks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YFKjtKFihU
Here is Uni playing basketball. I haven't watched this in years! Her ear hair is so short.

Anyway, I'm almost positive we got the hoop at Target. It came with a plastic ball but we threw that away and she used her favorite ball. We hooked it on the back of a carry on size rolling luggage. It was the perfect height. So ideally you would want to teach drop it before attempting the slam dunk.

https://www.google.com/search?q=huff...LkkBcZqnbxI%3D
The hoop is by Huffy but after a quick search seems like it is now discontinued. I'm sure another company makes it. It is the kind that young kids put on the back of their bedroom door.

Are you actually rewarding with a treat or just kibble? I used plain kibble to train Uni when she was a pup. Actually I still do only use kibble. If you use too high value of a treat they won't really pay attention to what you want. The treat is too exciting for them.

That video is adorable. Barney could be Uni's twin brother. He is built exactly the same. I found some over the door goals on Amazon just now. Thanks for the idea. Sadly, I bet my youngest son went through at least a dozen of those but they have all been lost/thrown away over the years.

We did find one flaw in the hoop. If too much weight or pressure is put on the out edge of the rim, it will pop out of the slot and fall down. This scared Uni when we first started training and then she didn't want to touch the rim. Eventually she got used to it but you'll notice she doesn't really touch the hoop/rim but more drops the ball in.

I ended up ordering a toddler size goal. Barney is so weird about training and I didn't know how I would get him to do his training by a door. By the way, Amazon has a hanging door one that will hang very low. I assume for toddlers.

Barney isn't very treat/food driven but loves to please. I'm concerned because he loves toys and gets very distracted. Any ideas for getting him to concentrate on the goal and to not run off and hide the ball?

He knows these commands: sit, stay, down, speak (can even appear to be counting because he barks by following hand commands), play dead, roll over, pray, shake and give me 5.

I am so excited about this goal.

Hi,

I'm using Cheerios. I used to use kibble but was worried that Monty would gain too much weight. And he liked the kibble actually a bit more than the Cheerios :D

Linda

Gosh I've been sooo lazy w/ trick training lately, but I used to love it, and watching my old videos makes me want to get back into it. It's such a great bonding experience with your pup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj9F-V6hWUg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPcYdqFJZzE
Working on handstand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZLgftfBjEA
backwards circles around my legs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK25foQBN1k
teaching cross paws

Good idea with the Cheerios then. I suggest to use a less value treat, so if he likes kibble more, then stick w the Cheerios.

Jax is awesome and I wish Uni could do some of the tricks that he can. She's not a water dog, and never got weaving. No way she can handstand either. Seems like she doesn't have a strong enough core. Even when she begs, she has to keep her hands moving and can't hold a beg. Toto can hold it forever and funny thing is when we first starting teaching it, he couldn't hold it for even one second.

the one we have is for over the door but of course that is way too high. We put it on the back of a carry on size luggage. Some dogs just never want to fetch and bring the ball back. Some will just always hoard the ball and unfortunately won't learn a slam dunk. Toto is like that. I gave up trying to teach him.

First time puppy & Yorkie owner!
 

My baby Ellie just turned 4 months two days ago. We've had her for a little over a month, and she was with her parents and two siblings until then. My parents have her sister Gina Mia and live nearby so they visit every day if possible. Ellie learned within the first week with us to fetch, names of certain toys, sit, stay, how to find & give toys to her brother (a 1 yr old cat), after two weeks she used the puppy training pads, and now comes to us when she needs to go outside, only barks or growls when she hears the door or sees someone coming near the house. In just one walk, she learned to heel, stop and go. I've been so surprised and we're considering trying some agility classes! Yet her sister is the complete opposite - still not housebroken, is a runner, bites/fights/growls when being groomed, chews everything (though she has tons of toys), and barks constantly, LOL.

First time puppy & Yorkie owner - I confess I may now be addicted! My baby Ellie turned 4 months three days ago, and we've had her for just over a month after being with her parents and siblings until then. My parents who live very close took her sister Gina Mia and they see each other almost every day. Within the first week she knew her new name, how to fetch and played hide & seek with her 1 yr old feline brother Buddy, give kisses (even to the cat), and slept through the night with no potty breaks. By the second week, she could identify toys, would take toys to her brother, would use either the puppy pad or would come to us when she had to go out, and identified mommy, daddy, Buddy, grandma, grandpa, Spike (parents Min Pin), and sister Gina when told to "find" each, barks only when house is approached. Now she knows heel, stop & go, come, sit, stay, up, locations - bathroom, bedroom, couch, window, front door, back door, our walk path, path to Grandma's, "pate" time (wet food, lol). I have been amazed!!! We are considering agility classes. Yet her sister is the complete opposite - can't seem to get the hang of potty training, bites and fights with every ounce of her 4lb body like a pitbull when being groomed, chews absolutely anything, and thinks every moment is play time, lol!