Dog Tricks

pollyanna24 · 17 October 2007 at 10:48AM

We have a 10month staff and she seems to love learning and I quite like the look on peoples' faces when she does random tricks.

She knows all the basics, sit, down, stand, stay, come, heel etc.

and we've also taught her things like bow (which is funny), crawl (which is hilarious), turn around and weave through our legs.

What else can I teach her that will make people laugh? I want to teach her play dead, but not sure how to go about it. BF thinks it will be funny if we go "Bang" and she flops down on floor, legs in air and tongue hanging out.

WeirdoMagnet · 17 October 2007 at 12:18PM

I knew a dog that could do what your BF is after! It was pretty impressive. Do you clicker train? It's really good for teaching tricks. I'm not an expert, but I dabble in it and we're getting better and better.

I tried to find a youtube video of how to do it, but there aren't any really good ones. This video shows the basics of clicker training though, and there's lots more information on that site too.

We've also taught Tilly to go 'middle', where she comes from in front of you, round your right leg, through your legs and stops (and round your left leg which is 'centre'); give a paw, gimme 5, walk to heel then 'twist' whilst you are still walking. Oh and 'speak' and 'whisper' (a low growl). My favourite though is 'leave' - we can even get her to lie down and put a biscuit on each paw! We're working on roll over and dead, which is hard for us because she's just not the kind of dog to want to lie down!

Hope that gives you some ideas,

Good luck,

Georgie

pollyanna24 · 17 October 2007 at 1:10PM

Wow, there are some really good ideas in there! I've heard of clicker trainer, but never used it. Is it still something that I can use even though she's got to 10months.

Not quite sure how we managed to teach her so much, repitition I think. Bow was taught by everytime she did it from the day we got, we would say "Bow, good girl" so eventually after 7 or so months, it clicked and now she does it on command! Was going to try "Yawn" next, but not sure.

Might have to look into books or something for the play dead trick, just think it would look really cool!

Your "middle" trick sounds quite a lot like our weave, but our doggie isn't so hot on it yet. Don't quite under the "twist" while walking, but sounds fun. I like the speak and growl, but I'm not quite sure how to go about it. She doesn't "speak" very much as it is (only when there's a cat in the back garden), so don't really want to teach her that "speaking" is a good thing.

She knows leave to the extent where she won't pick up stuff when we're walking her, but I like your paw one, that's great! My bil's dog will have a biscuit put on its nose and won't eat it until it's told. Not sure my dog would stand for any of that, she likes her grub.

wolvesinwales · 17 October 2007 at 1:20PM

Your Dog sounds like a lot of fun ! Our Staffie is quite intelligent but too lazy to learn much more than the basics, her funniest is saying 'no' if we ask her if she wants to go out, which consists of her putting her head down and looking sorrowful.
I think the more attention they get from doing something the more likely they are to repeat it.
Not so much a trick but rather a strange habit from my Mothers Bulldog is to lean on walls and furniture which is very funny.

pollyanna24 · 17 October 2007 at 1:37PM

"No" to a walk? Hmm, nope my staffie hasn't learned that one yet. Most of the time, it's her by the front door saying "Yes" before we've even asked!!! Maybe one day she'll learn to calm down.

The tricks are quite fun, my boss thinks it's demeaning or something, but then he has a tearaway dog who knows nothing. I think it's good because it keeps their mind active and they actually know what you want from them. When I was 9, I taught my first dog to pick up her food bowl, give it to me, go to the cupboard, open it (there was a string on it), and pick up a tin of dog food. People used to find it so funny.

WeirdoMagnet · 17 October 2007 at 1:47PM

pollyanna24 wrote: »

Is it still something that I can use even though she's got to 10months.

Oh yes! Any age of dog can start clicker training. It's much like you are doing, but the clicker marks the behaviour and you reinforce it with a small reward. You can teach tricks really quickly, and it encourages the dog to think for itself.

Basically, you 'prime' the clicker - just click and treat for nothing. Once the dog is looking for the treat when it hears the click, your priming is done. Then, you can click for your desired behaviour. You don't have to wait for the 'end result' - you click for a partial movement, and then wait for the dog to offer 'a bit more'. I'm not very good at explaining it am I!

wolvesinwales · 17 October 2007 at 2:48PM

pollyanna24 wrote: »

"No" to a walk? Hmm, nope my staffie hasn't learned that one yet. Most of the time, it's her by the front door saying "Yes" before we've even asked!!! Maybe one day she'll learn to calm down.

Ahh I actually meant out as into the garden. But as to walks she is a rescue dog with some strange issues with walks, gets very excited but only gets about 2 doors away and suddenly freezes and its impossible to take her any further. But will happily go for a walk if you drive her somewhere despite shaking all over in the car.
One amusing trait is her love of chocolate (yes i know it's not good for her ) but she dislikes doggie chocs...... unless they come out of a quality Street tin !

pollyanna24 · 17 October 2007 at 3:33PM

wolvesinwales wrote: »

Ahh I actually meant out as into the garden. But as to walks she is a rescue dog with some strange issues with walks, gets very excited but only gets about 2 doors away and suddenly freezes and its impossible to take her any further. But will happily go for a walk if you drive her somewhere despite shaking all over in the car.
One amusing trait is her love of chocolate (yes i know it's not good for her ) but she dislikes doggie chocs...... unless they come out of a quality Street tin !

Aah, yes, the going outside in the rain for a wee. Oh, yeah, she's perfected that one, you practically gotta boot her outside. As for chocolate, well it's the same as anything, if it fits in her mouth, she wants to eat it!

We had a badly treated staff before her, it's horrible how people can be like that. He was terrified of the car and used to whine constantly in it. This one we've had since she was 7 weeks and we've pretty much made her like the things that we want her to like (haven't succeeded with taking a swim in the local lake yet though).

Dog Tricks

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