(no subject)
I bought the dogs a few goodies today: Reba got a toothbrush and some toothpaste, Tai got a new stretchy toy since his others got all ratty and I threw them away, Noa got a Knot Nibbler (a puzzle ball made of wood sticks with a walnut locked in the middle) and Pinksy got some cage balls with bells.
I also bought each of the dogs a little Natural Balance roll (Turkey for Reebs, Beef for Tai) for training. I know she'll gobble that up. Reba doesn't seem too all about treats anymore...when she was pregnant, she ate anything I tossed at her, but now I actually have to hype her up to get her to eat a treat: she seems to eat it more to be polite or because I asked her to than because she actually wants it/likes it.
Reba used hers earlier strengthening her "Bang!" (play dead) and learning to crawl. She also learned sit-up at the park (though the sit-up is more of a stand than anything...I'll take it for now and we can refine it later).
A little while ago, I decided to bust open Tai's roll while Reba was sleeping in her crate after a big meal. Just for fun. The dog acts so dumb sometimes that I wasn't really expecting him to learn much: just to have a bit of fun since I think he feels left out a bit when Reba and I go on our long hour+ walks. I guess I didn't really realize it before because Tai learned his basics (sit, down) so easily that there was no time to dwell and dawdle on it.
That pekingese is just as big a food hound as Nemo.
I cut his roll and decided to try and teach him "shake" just for fun. So I started out with "sit" and just grabbing his paw, telling him "good shake!" when he didn't pull away and shoving pieces of roll at him. After a while (probably four or so pieces of the roll), I stopped grabbing his paw and just held the piece of roll in my fist, telling him "shake". When he pawed at my hand, I'd grab his paw with my free hand and tell him "good shake!" and shove more beef roll at him. Another four or five pieces of this, and he was free-shaking on command. By now, we've only gone through a little less than half the roll.
I decided to take a chance and try to see if he was in the mood to learn something else (I was going to stop there, but he knew there was more roll left and wasn't about to let it go). So I thought it would be fun to teach him "Bang!" (play dead) like Reba. But then I thought I'd go in order, and teach him to "stick 'em up!" (a sit-up with both paws raised) first. So, I held the roll slice in my hand and moved it up and over his head while he was sitting. He was a natural at that one, since he wanted to sit up and paw at my hands at the same time. It only took four roll slices to learn "Reach for the sky!" (gotta say it in the cowboy Southern drawl, too).
That kind of thing seems to make for a massive difference in training. He and Reba learned the same trick. I used the same technique both times, but Tai still learned it some crazy amount of faster than Reba. I would be most uncertain saying that Tai is just plain smarter than Reba...both of them have their moments of idiocy and their flashes of brilliance. It just seems like a food-driven dog has a little more motivation and incentive to learn than a praise-driven dog.
But it seems no matter what drives your dog: they can learn shake. I'm damn sure a lobotomized dog could learn shake. And it's so much fun to teach. And no matter what, it impresses non-dog owners (and all children, regardless of status of dog-ownership) to high hell for some reason. If your dog doesn't know shake, teach it to them! Tricks=fun for you and dog=happytime bonding!
I also bought each of the dogs a little Natural Balance roll (Turkey for Reebs, Beef for Tai) for training. I know she'll gobble that up. Reba doesn't seem too all about treats anymore...when she was pregnant, she ate anything I tossed at her, but now I actually have to hype her up to get her to eat a treat: she seems to eat it more to be polite or because I asked her to than because she actually wants it/likes it.
Reba used hers earlier strengthening her "Bang!" (play dead) and learning to crawl. She also learned sit-up at the park (though the sit-up is more of a stand than anything...I'll take it for now and we can refine it later).
A little while ago, I decided to bust open Tai's roll while Reba was sleeping in her crate after a big meal. Just for fun. The dog acts so dumb sometimes that I wasn't really expecting him to learn much: just to have a bit of fun since I think he feels left out a bit when Reba and I go on our long hour+ walks. I guess I didn't really realize it before because Tai learned his basics (sit, down) so easily that there was no time to dwell and dawdle on it.
That pekingese is just as big a food hound as Nemo.
I cut his roll and decided to try and teach him "shake" just for fun. So I started out with "sit" and just grabbing his paw, telling him "good shake!" when he didn't pull away and shoving pieces of roll at him. After a while (probably four or so pieces of the roll), I stopped grabbing his paw and just held the piece of roll in my fist, telling him "shake". When he pawed at my hand, I'd grab his paw with my free hand and tell him "good shake!" and shove more beef roll at him. Another four or five pieces of this, and he was free-shaking on command. By now, we've only gone through a little less than half the roll.
I decided to take a chance and try to see if he was in the mood to learn something else (I was going to stop there, but he knew there was more roll left and wasn't about to let it go). So I thought it would be fun to teach him "Bang!" (play dead) like Reba. But then I thought I'd go in order, and teach him to "stick 'em up!" (a sit-up with both paws raised) first. So, I held the roll slice in my hand and moved it up and over his head while he was sitting. He was a natural at that one, since he wanted to sit up and paw at my hands at the same time. It only took four roll slices to learn "Reach for the sky!" (gotta say it in the cowboy Southern drawl, too).
That kind of thing seems to make for a massive difference in training. He and Reba learned the same trick. I used the same technique both times, but Tai still learned it some crazy amount of faster than Reba. I would be most uncertain saying that Tai is just plain smarter than Reba...both of them have their moments of idiocy and their flashes of brilliance. It just seems like a food-driven dog has a little more motivation and incentive to learn than a praise-driven dog.
But it seems no matter what drives your dog: they can learn shake. I'm damn sure a lobotomized dog could learn shake. And it's so much fun to teach. And no matter what, it impresses non-dog owners (and all children, regardless of status of dog-ownership) to high hell for some reason. If your dog doesn't know shake, teach it to them! Tricks=fun for you and dog=happytime bonding!