dog tricks book
- Thread starter ladyearl
- Start date
LittleWildOne
Well-Known Member
I have "Dog Tricks" by Mary Ray and Justine Harding, published by Hamlyn Books.
I bought this at a Mary Ray demo a few years ago but by googling the title, I see it is available on Amazon.
It takes you through the basics, such as sit, stay, wait etc and then moves on to easy then more challenging tricks. It is a good book for teaching you how to ask your dog for a wanted behaviour. You can then progress with your trick training from learning how to use the methods shown in the book.
When I rehomed my Staffie at 18 months old, she was VERY hyperactive. I needed to find a way to channel her excess energy, and the mental stimulation given by teaching her tricks has changed her into a relaxed and contented dog.
Clicker training with high value food rewards (cheese, chicken, sausage, etc.) was the best way I found to teach my dog tricks.
I have found that by teaching my dog tricks, it has really opened up her mind. You can actually see her trying to work out how to get a treat, and she has me in stitches laughing at some of her attempts
.
Other than basic training (e.g. sit, stay, down, give a paw, etc), she now has a list of tricks as long as my arm. She often works now mostly from visual cues rather than spoken commands.
Some of her tricks include -
Head Down - in a down position but with her head up, I say "head down" and she puts her head on the floor between her front paws.
Touch Your Face - touches face with her paw.
Hide - puts paw over her nose.
Walk Back - facing me, I say "walk back" and she walks backwards.
Spin - she turns around in an anticlockwise circle.
Twist - she turns around in a clockwise circle.
She knows far too many tricks to list here, but all have been taught using a clicker + reward and have then moved on to visual cues.
Other tricks she does include - "left paw", "right paw" (she lifts whichever paw I ask for), "bring it " (she picks up and fetches ANY object I ask her to), "pick it up " (picks up ANY item I drop on the floor...this one is especially helpful to me as I have arthritis of my spine and bending down can be difficult at times), "find it " (she loves this trick - I hide something, e.g. my purse, keys, money, etc. I say - "Missy, I've lost my keys. Find it." She will then hunt around the entire house until she finds the item I've asked for, and bring it to me.)
"Swap" is a good trick, where she already has something in her mouth (e.g. she has picked up the TV remote to get attention and is wandering around with it in her mouth, or, we are playing fetch and she won't release the ball (I always have 2 balls when we play fetch), I ask her to swap the item she has, in return for either a treat or a good scratch (or the second ball when playing fetch).
On command, she can wag her tail, lick her lips, "speak" and "quiet", "cry" ,"look away", and one I've recently taught her which I call "Tip". For this one, I noticed that when I have some training treats and Missy is sitting facing me, she will try to work out for herself how to get a reward. I noticed that after she had tried tricks that I have taught her, she would then start to make other movements to try to get the reward. One thing she kept doing, was quickly jerking her nose up slightly (nose up, head back) then looking at me with expectation. I decided to reward her for this behaviour and use it as a new trick. She now does it on command.
I am currently teaching her to "blink" on command, as while I am doing a training session I have noticed that she deliberately makes an exaggerated blink while looking at me and working out how to get her reward. We are making good progress with this as I ignore everything else she does and only reward when she blinks, with lots of praise in addition to her food treat.
I bought this at a Mary Ray demo a few years ago but by googling the title, I see it is available on Amazon.
It takes you through the basics, such as sit, stay, wait etc and then moves on to easy then more challenging tricks. It is a good book for teaching you how to ask your dog for a wanted behaviour. You can then progress with your trick training from learning how to use the methods shown in the book.
When I rehomed my Staffie at 18 months old, she was VERY hyperactive. I needed to find a way to channel her excess energy, and the mental stimulation given by teaching her tricks has changed her into a relaxed and contented dog.
Clicker training with high value food rewards (cheese, chicken, sausage, etc.) was the best way I found to teach my dog tricks.
I have found that by teaching my dog tricks, it has really opened up her mind. You can actually see her trying to work out how to get a treat, and she has me in stitches laughing at some of her attempts
.Other than basic training (e.g. sit, stay, down, give a paw, etc), she now has a list of tricks as long as my arm. She often works now mostly from visual cues rather than spoken commands
.Some of her tricks include -
Head Down - in a down position but with her head up, I say "head down" and she puts her head on the floor between her front paws.
Touch Your Face - touches face with her paw.
Hide - puts paw over her nose.
Walk Back - facing me, I say "walk back" and she walks backwards.
Spin - she turns around in an anticlockwise circle.
Twist - she turns around in a clockwise circle.
She knows far too many tricks to list here, but all have been taught using a clicker + reward and have then moved on to visual cues.
Other tricks she does include - "left paw", "right paw" (she lifts whichever paw I ask for), "bring it " (she picks up and fetches ANY object I ask her to), "pick it up " (picks up ANY item I drop on the floor...this one is especially helpful to me as I have arthritis of my spine and bending down can be difficult at times), "find it " (she loves this trick - I hide something, e.g. my purse, keys, money, etc. I say - "Missy, I've lost my keys. Find it." She will then hunt around the entire house until she finds the item I've asked for, and bring it to me.)
"Swap" is a good trick, where she already has something in her mouth (e.g. she has picked up the TV remote to get attention and is wandering around with it in her mouth, or, we are playing fetch and she won't release the ball (I always have 2 balls when we play fetch), I ask her to swap the item she has, in return for either a treat or a good scratch (or the second ball when playing fetch).
On command, she can wag her tail, lick her lips, "speak" and "quiet", "cry" ,"look away", and one I've recently taught her which I call "Tip". For this one, I noticed that when I have some training treats and Missy is sitting facing me, she will try to work out for herself how to get a reward. I noticed that after she had tried tricks that I have taught her, she would then start to make other movements to try to get the reward. One thing she kept doing, was quickly jerking her nose up slightly (nose up, head back) then looking at me with expectation. I decided to reward her for this behaviour and use it as a new trick. She now does it on command
.I am currently teaching her to "blink" on command, as while I am doing a training session I have noticed that she deliberately makes an exaggerated blink while looking at me and working out how to get her reward. We are making good progress with this as I ignore everything else she does and only reward when she blinks, with lots of praise in addition to her food treat
.Dobiegirl
Well-Known Member
Not a book I know but if you go on youtube and look up kikopup she is amazing with her Chi.