Teaching 'Spin'

[SharkBait]

Anyone had any luck with that? :confused:


I've been trying to teach 10 month old Matisse 'spin', but it's rather useless. I use a clicker, and a piece of food to lure him around in a circle, then click when goes all the way round and give him the piece of food. However, he won't do without a piece of food, and sometimes just looks round at the food and doesn't turn...

Anyone have a solution?

ALSO...if anyone has any other methods of teaching other cute tricks, i wouldn't mind knowing :D

[Zoom]

Sawyer knows how to spin in both directions, known as "twist" and "twirl". I think how I taught it was just very, very slowly luring and treating and nutso-praise for any movement that wasn't a straight line, jumping or walking away. It was probably pretty messy to watch, but he picked it up pretty quickly.

Now I'm working on pairing "beg" and "twirl" into "dance". :D

[maple]

I haven't purposely taught spin, but i've taught Kona to circle left and right, and when she's really excited (and I have supervalue treats) these have turned into spins. LOL!

[Dekka]

Dekka spins both ways. Don't lure with a treat. Use an empty hand and click treat for targeting, or following. Then start raising your hand.

[Laurelin]

I lured with treats, then gradually removed them. Beau spins on four legs either direction and Summer spins standing on her back legs either direction. Her cue is 'dance'.

[lizzybeth727]

You could also try luring with a treat several times in a row, get him really into it and excited about spinning. Then take the treat out of your hand but hold your hand the same way so that it looks like you have a treat in it. Lure the same way, and when he does it click/treat and big praise! Then do a few more with a treat in your hand, then take the treat out. Eventually he'll figure out that the treat is not the cue, your hand is the cue. Then you can fade that out too.

[SharkBait]

Thanks Guys! I'll be trying these methods out tonight!

[Suzzie]

i don't clicker, i trained luring with treats... i did it when they were super excited, and more apt to spin just for the sheer joy of spinning anyway. :) I always couple any vocal command with a hand signal (probably because I have a deaf dog) but it always seems to work better that way anyway.

[skKi]

I shaped "spin" with Pit. I clicked for any movement in the right direction (ie, I started clicking for looking in the right direction). When he understood that much, I only clicked for further movement towards the spin (ie, a side step in the right direction). After about 2 sessions, he got it. However, I forgot to throw in a hand signal as I was teaching it so he only knows it by the word "spin". Oops..

[Dizzy]

We got spin down, haven't tried twist, but I keep meaning to (opposite direction).

How do you manage beg? I'd like to do that one.

And daggnabbit crawl is going slowly..... but I really haven't put much time into it to be fair.

[RosanaHart]

I'm currently training my 16 month old Rottie to circle in both directions, luring with bits of her dry dog food before breakfast, a project from Kay Laurence's book Clicker FoundationTraining.

One of the most interesting things about this process to me is that Lola is much more coordinated when turning one way than when turning the other. Bet it has something to do with handedness. (Pawedness?)

[milos_mommy]

Also don't click when he's all the way spun...lol. Click just about the half way point.

[RosanaHart]

Also don't click when he's all the way spun...lol. Click just about the half way point.

Now that's something I never thought of. Why would you click then?

[milos_mommy]

Now that's something I never thought of. Why would you click then?

Because if you click once they're all the way around, they think you're clicking for them facing you and not the act of spinning. You want their body to be curled when you click.

[RosanaHart]

Because if you click once they're all the way around, they think you're clicking for them facing you and not the act of spinning. You want their body to be curled when you click.

Can see it exactly, will try it today. My dogs generally sit, facing me, when they are trying to please me already.

[Zoom]

Dogs can favor their left or right paws, just like we do our hands. My lab is very "right-pawed" and Sawyer seems to be fairly ambidextrious.

[SharkBait]

I always couple any vocal command with a hand signal (probably because I have a deaf dog) but it always seems to work better that way anyway.

I would couple vocal commands and signals too... so we can train silently :p hehehe

However, I forgot to throw in a hand signal as I was teaching it so he only knows it by the word "spin". Oops..

You could teach the hand signal now sure. i forgot to use a hand signal for a few tricks, so basically just said 'sit' (or whatever command you want) and doing the hand signal at the same time, and after a while of rewarding the dog for sitting after i do both, i just left the vocal command out and he caught on.

Because if you click once they're all the way around, they think you're clicking for them facing you and not the act of spinning. You want their body to be curled when you click.

Good thinking!

Dogs can favor their left or right paws, just like we do our hands. My lab is very "right-pawed" and Sawyer seems to be fairly ambidextrious.

:lol-sign:

[mrandrei]

Here's how: Pick up a treat and get your dog's attention. Lower the treat until it's almost level with his nose. Do not let him grab it from you. Tell your dog to "spin" as you make a circular motion with the treat. You should be leading him around in a tight circle. Ideally, his back legs should not move very much; he should be pivoting around on them. Keep practicing until your dog understands the trick.

Good luck! ;)