Three Dog Tricks



Posted: Monday, July 13, 2009

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You know your dog is the coolest canine on the block. Want your friends and family members to know too? Whether your pooch is 7 weeks or 17 years old, he can learn flashy tricks and enjoy performing them too. Better yet, these tricks can also help train Fido to be calm.

Bang (a.k.a: Lie on your side)

First, place the treat to the side of his nose just enough so Fido will turn his head a little. Once you give him the first treat, see if you can follow with several more before he moves his head back to a different location. This may require holding several treats in the treat hand.

With each step, lure with the treat so that he turns his head more. Once on his side, give a string of treats low enough so that he remains on his side. At first have the sequence of treats come frequently, then increase the interval between treats so that he learns to stay in that position for longer amounts of time for the same amount of treats. You can even have him lie on his side for extended periods of time.

When you get to the point that it's easy to present a treat and have him immediately lie on his side, where he stays, you can start pointing your finger like a toy gun if you're going to call the trick "bang." Then reward him once he's lying on his side.

Next add the cue word. Say "bang" and then immediately follow by pointing with your hand and give him the treats once he lies on his side. Once he's on his side give a sequence of treats spaced out as much as you can. You can then start expecting him to lie down for longer periods before he gets a treat.

Play Dead (Lie on Back)

Then once on his back give him a string of treats. The rest of the steps are the same as "bang," except that you can use a different cue word such as "play dead," "sunbathe," or your own unique word.

Head Down (A.K.A Rest Your Head or Go to Sleep).

For this trick the goal is to teach Fido to lay his head flat on the floor between his front paws. The hand closer to Fido acts as a ceiling under which you will teach Fido to place his head. The hand farther away will distribute the treats. First, place your ceiling hand parallel to the ground, in front of Fido's head and close enough to the floor so that Fido has to place his head flat on the floor to get his head under.

As Fido gets more comfortable sticking his head under your hand and keeping it there, spread the treats out more. That is, space the treats out by several seconds.

Practice this over 20-30 times so Fido thinks sticking his head under your hand so it's lying flat on the floor is fun. Then see if he gets the idea. Place your ceiling hand out flat but hide the treats. Wait a few seconds to see if Fido places his head under your hand on his own. If he does, quickly start giving him a string of treats.

Once he's immediately responding to the visual ceiling cue by placing his head under your hand even without seeing treats yet, you can add the verbal cue. Say "head down" and then place the visual hand cue out. Reward him after he lays his head down. By saying the words before you show the visual cue, the words will come to predict to him that you will show the hand cue and want him to place his head down. Alternatively you can just tell him "head down" right before you think he's going to lay his head down on his own. Ultimately when you think he might know the behavior, test by walking away a few steps, saying just the verbal cue and then waiting to see if he places his head down.

I got my english degree from Colorado State University and I have been writing ever since. I really enjoy writing and telling stories to people.
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