GOODOGZ training

puppy pre-school & dog food

WAVE

Dog in sit stay. Offer food to your dog in a closed hand. Dogs will mug your hand with their mouth and then lift a paw to try to dislodge the food. CLICK and treat any foot movement. You can teach left and right paw. I say "shake" for right paw and "high five" for left paw!!  

HIDE YOUR EYES

The dog can be in a sit or down for this one. The idea is to get her to cover her eyes with one paw on command. It will take some practice to find out the best method for your dog as we find they all respond to different signals. I prefer to do it in a down (I use the bang command). Then with treat in hand, I tell my dog to "cover your eyes". I physically lift her paw over her muzzle and reward. I have also found that if I blow gently on her nose, she will swipe at her face. You can also put a small piece of selotape on their nose - they will try to wipe it off! When she does this I reward. You have to just repeat the command and movement until the dog realizes what is needed to get the treat.

COOKIE ON PAWS/ NOSE (Extension of Leave it Game)
Hold dogs muzzle and give "stay" or "leave it" command. Place a cookie on top of nose and continue to say "stay" or "leave it". Let go of muzzle. Dog must hold the cookie     until you give a release command - "take it". Then she must catch the cookie in her mouth. This is a fun way to give treats and looks cute.

FIND IT

The idea is to have the dog use her nose to find a hidden object.   First start with simple exercises. Show the dog a treat (strong smelling ones work best).  Then let the dog see you place it under the edge of a  towel or a plastic cup/cone about 6 feet away.  Let the dog smell the scent of the treat on your hand. Send dog and say "find it".  Reward with praise when she finds the treat.  The reward is the treat. Start to move farther back from the hiding place and move the location of the treat - put it further under the towel so it is harder to get out. Then leaving towel in same place, put the treat a few feet away from the towel and send the dog.  The dog will have to sniff out the location. Eventually, you will place the dog with her back to the location and have someone make sure she cant see where you put the treat.   Then when that level has been achieved, move the dog to another room, hide the treat, let dog sniff your hand and send to "find it".  Give lots of praise.   You can eventually move from food to solid obstacles such as keys, toys, etc.  This makes the exercise into a retrieval.

GO THAT WAY

The object is to tell the dog to go in a certain direction and she will move wherever you point.  First use a bait (can be food or toy).  Place three baits - one directly in front of you about 10 feet away, one along the same line (10 feet away) to the right and one to the left.  Dog is in sit or stand beside you on long line (or flexi). On command "go that way", point to the treat you want the dog to go to.  If dog has trouble, toss a treat in that direction to get her started.  Reward when she moves correctly.  If the dog goes wrong way, stop her with the long line and direct again.  Continue to give the command until there is success.  Once dog picks up first treat point to the next one and say "g that way", and so on.  The dog must pay attention and move in the direction you are pointing to.  Eventually you will start to give commands when the dog is in a position.  For example, I will send my dog to the left (may have to toss a treat) When she gets there I tell her to "down" or "sit".  If she does it, I walk in and reward. Alternate commands until your dog will obey from longer distances.

 
SPEAK

This is usually a simple one to teach if your dog likes to bark at you. Trick is to get her to do it on command and from distances. First decide on a hand signal that is not similar to any other.  I use a motion of opening and closing my thumb and fingers (facing the dog).  I think this looks more like a mouth opening and closing.   Other handlers use a closed fist, twisting motion. Tell your dog to "speak" at the same time.  When she does, reward with treat immediately and say "good speak". If your dog doesn't bark readily, continue to give command until she gets really fed up with you and barks.  Then quickly reward.  She wont know why but if done enough, she'll get the message.  Tasha learned this in less than 10 minutes (she is not a barker).  Gradually give the command verbally only and then hand signal only.  Increase distance to the maximum comfort zone.

JUMP OVER DOGS
 This is an interesting trick to do once you have a group of dogs that meet certain qualifications:
1. Get along (ie non aggressive with each other)
2. Keep a still down stay
3. Good at jumping low obstacles

If you have this combination, this trick can look very impressive. First start with pairs.  Have one dog in a down stay with the handler holding the leash short and a treat in hand if required.  The other handler gives the "over" command and while on leash has the dog jump the one who is down.  Repeat in opposite direction to get dog used to jumping on both sides of handler.  Then switch dogs. When the pairs are reliable, put up to 6 dogs in down stays about 3 feet apart (depending on size of jumper).  One dog (on leash to begin) jumps all of the other dogs.  This is repeated several times for each dog and then they change places until all dogs have had a turn jumping.

PLAY DEAD/BANG
With dog in sit or stand stay, point finger and pull hand up while saying bang.  This action is similar to the down hand signal.  Dog must lie down on side with head down.  You may have to do in stages - down and side.

CIRCLE:
With dog in stand stay in front of you, give "circle" command and entice dog with food treat or toy to turn in circle.  Don't encourage to "chase tail'.  Give reward when dog turns fully.  Gradually give command from greater distances.  For distance, it helps to put reward on end of pole and use to get dog to turn in circle.

BOW
With dog in stand stay, handler in front of dog, with reward (food treat) in hand.  Move both hands in towards dogs front paws (above paws) while saying "bow".  As dog extends head down for treat in a bow position, reward.  This trick is eventually down at a distance and can be down from the side with a single hand command.

CRAWL
Dog in down stay. Hold treat in right hand with left hand on dog's withers (farther back on large dogs).  Move hand with treat up and down (short movements) while saying crawl.  As dog moves forward, hold him/her down with hand on back.   Move treat hand away from dog so dog has to follow to get treat.  Reward initially after any movement and then require longer distances.  If dog has trouble crawling, this can be down under someone's legs or under a solid chair or low agility table.