Favorite Tricks?

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#1
Chaz is waaaay to boring lately so I'm taking Devan's lead and just making threads (Come on people, join in! Get off the giant clump threads!).

What are your favorite tricks/cue/behaviors to teach your dogs?

What's the first thing you like working on with a new dog?

What's your most used trick?

What is your dogs favorite trick to do?

What trick has been surprisingly useful?

What trick haven't you taught but you would like to?

PS: I kinda just use the word trick for any and all behaviors I teach my dogs because it really helped my frame of mind while I go into it, so don't think this is only aimed at things like handstands!
 

Fran101

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#2
What are your favorite tricks/cue/behaviors to teach your dogs?

High-five. It is both simple and glorious, it just represents dog ownership in a moment of perfection because I feel like dogs GET IT haha like you look at them and something awesome has happened and you are like "HIGH 5!!" and they are like YES!!!

I dunno it just makes me happy

What's the first thing you like working on with a new dog?

touch! It's simple and there are endless ways to play with it. Targeting I think is just endlessly useful and you can do it anywhere

What's your most used trick?

high five :rofl1: everybody loves it.

What is your dogs favorite trick to do?

high five. Oh god. There is something wrong with us LOL

What trick has been surprisingly useful?

Touch. I never thought it would come in handy in the world of recall or heeling or anything but it never fails to come of use. I use it to teach everything

What trick haven't you taught but you would like to?

walking backwards! I feel like it would be so handy for when we play fetch
 
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#3
What are your favorite tricks/cue/behaviors to teach your dogs?

Sit Pretty-I don't know what it is about this stupid trick but I love it. So much.

Perch work-I like having my dogs jump onto things. I just can't help it.

Rebound-It's just, fun. It really is. I love the multiple steps involved in teaching it and I love how once they have it down you can put it to all parts of your body.

What's the first thing you like working on with a new dog?

Same as Fran, Touch! It's SO simple but so useful. And it really seems to get the whole idea of training and shaping started with dogs which I love.

What's your most used trick?

Probably a toss up between Touch and Sit Pretty. Though, Sit Pretty probably wins since I make them do it instead of sit.

"Want to go out? Sit Pretty!"
"Want food? Sit Pretty!"
"Want to stare at me? Sit Pretty!"

What is your dogs favorite trick to do?

Didgie: Sit Pretty with Spin and Rebound a close second.

Rebound has been interesting since she likes to throw it at random moments. Then again, so does Traveler. My reflexes have gotten pretty good.

Traveler: Sit Pretty followed by Fake handstand/Pee! Basically, I worked waaaay too much on hind end awareness so you likes to back up onto anything near him if he gets frustrated or default to lifting his leg doing his Pee! Trick.

Oh, and he's pretty fond of Limp Dead Dog trick. Which, is really useful actually. He throws himself to the ground and goes limp when we're in crazy environments and I want him to chill.

Fergus: PAW! Paw according to Fergus should get him EVERYTHING he wants. You're eating? Paw. You have a paper towel? Paw. You look at him? Paw.

He's also fond of Leg Weaves and barreling into my legs whether or not they are closed.

What trick has been surprisingly useful?

Well, I would say Touch but it doesn't surprise me anymore. So I'm going with Perch work. Having them be able to get up onto ANYTHING as soon as I say and stay there has come in so useful.

Like, at a Festival I was at a few weeks ago. I used it to have the dogs sit on chairs at our booth while I talked to people.

What trick haven't you taught but you would like to?

Traveler: Foot rebound. I haven't worked a ton with him on it but I want him to learn it like Didgie

Didgie: One footed Foot Stall. Curse my small feet. I will prevail!

Fergus:Jump into my arms! But first I'm working on a rebound.
 

Elrohwen

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#4
What are your favorite tricks/cue/behaviors to teach your dogs?

Whatever they most enjoy doing! If the dog likes it and it comes naturally, and is cute, then I like teaching it. If it's hard and the dog isn't thrilled about it, I lose interest quickly.

What's the first thing you like working on with a new dog?

Nose touch, and paw stuff (shake/high five) are easy and fun. Obviously nose touch is useful too. Spinning left and right.

What's your most used trick?
What is your dogs favorite trick to do?

The tricks I ask for the most are the ones Watson enjoys the most. He loves to high five, and I can use that as a reward. I also use it to gauge his mood - if he won't high five, he's probably really tired or stressed. Basically what Fran said about high five - it feels like he really "gets it" and we're sharing a moment when we high five.

I also love "circus", which is just standing up on his hind legs. This is one he does naturally all the time when hunting and trying to see things off in the woods, so I just put it on cue. Little kids always get a big kick out of it.

What trick has been surprisingly useful?

I taught him to pivot on a bowl for heeling, and the resulting rear end awareness has been useful in so many small ways. Does that count? It also taught him an easy cue to put his front feet up on just about anything.

What trick haven't you taught but you would like to?

So many. I'm a lazy trick trainer. I really want to teach him to pick up and hold anything - it would be cute, practical, and useful for actual obedience. He's getting the hang of the picking up, but we're stalled at the holding (impulsive dog and lazy handler are not good at duration behaviors)
 

Southpaw

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#5
What are your favorite tricks/cue/behaviors to teach your dogs?
That's a good question hahah. I wanna say touch because it's easy, the dogs love it, and it's a nice behavior for them to have in their toolbox.

But I kind of enjoy the process of teaching a rebound too. It's more complex than just simple luring, without being TOO complex. And of course the finished product is just really cool. I feel like it is becoming one of those things that every single dog I own from here on out is going to learn.


What's the first thing you like working on with a new dog?

Touch!

What's your most used trick?
Touch :rofl1: I use it a lot when out and about to keep my dogs engaged with me, to get them comfortable in a new environment, and if we're stalling out during a training session I'll throw in some touches to keep the frustration down.

What is your dogs favorite trick to do?
Okay, I won't use touch this time (although they do freaking love it). :p Cajun loves anything that might earn a reward but lately her favorite is SCOOT. I never know when she's just gonna whip around and try backing between my legs (whether there's room or not!). She thinks it's pretty fantastic.

Juno is a sit pretty kind of gal. :) Her favorite desperation move, though, is bow. Which cracks me up because I think a couple years ago I maybe sporadically tried teaching it to her without much success. But yeah if she wants something, she gives me a bow.

What trick has been surprisingly useful?
Cajun's obsession with scoot lent itself nicely for teaching her to swing into heel lol. She's just always been impossible to lure into that position, she'd never get very close to me and her back legs would be swung off to the side etc etc. Well with her throwing herself at me and trying to back through my legs, I was able to start rewarding her for ending up next to my legs... and now she has like THE MOST ENTHUSIASTIC swing ever lol and she's straight and tight against my leg. Go Cajun.

And touch. Always touch.

What trick haven't you taught but you would like to?
Reverse leg weaves would be cool. I've never attempted it, Cajun might actually pick up on it but I don't think Juno would be into it.

I am bound and determined to get Juno to do a rebound, we actually worked on it today and made A TON of progress so it might actually be doable (vs. when I first tried it with her a month ago and she wouldn't even put a paw on me!)
 

BostonBanker

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#6
Fun topic!

What are your favorite tricks/cue/behaviors to teach your dogs?

I don't know that I love it most when I was teaching it (although I found it incredibly fascinating to work on), but the 'hug' we taught as TOTW is still my favorite thing Gusto can do.

I mean, really? How is that not the best thing ever?




What's the first thing you like working on with a new dog?

I haven't really had many "new" dogs to know! Nose-to-hand touch, probably. And down, because I like down.

What's your most used trick?

'Collar'. It basically started as a misunderstanding - my agility trainer at the time suggested teaching Meg to let me grab her collar using the collar grab game (grab collar, give cookie, release). For some reason I thought I was supposed to teach Meg to give me her collar. I loved it so much I taught Gusto as well. Basically, if I hold my hand out and down with my fingers spread, they slam the side of their neck into my hand.

I use it constantly. If my dogs are sitting looking at me like they want a pet, I put my hand down so they move into it, rather than me reaching for them. It has taught both of them to move into a hand like that, so when people tentatively try to pet them, they don't flinch away or anything. And by moving their neck into the hand, they don't scare the person by reaching with their mouths/nose (okay, Gusto sometimes does it with open mouth, but only to me, and when he's wound up).

The best part about it is that it basically eliminated Gusto's very good game of keep away. I could follow him around outside reaching for his collar for 10 minutes while he skirts away, staying just out of reach. But the second I put my hand down and say "collar" he slams right into it, and I can reward and catch him.


What is your dogs favorite trick to do?


Meg - stick 'em up. A sit pretty with her paws stretch above her head. It is adorable, she knows it always makes me grin and treat her, so it makes her incredibly happy to be asked!

Gusto - bark. Good lord. It was the best and worst thing I ever trained.

What trick has been surprisingly useful?

Gusto's bark. He never used to bark outside an alert situation. I taught it as stress relief, and it works brilliantly for that. When he is stressy and shutting down, it is the last behavior that he loses the ability to perform. When he can't sit and can't do a hand touch and can't make eye contact, he can bark. And then he can get a cookie and re-orientate. I was using it like that at an agility seminar in the spring, and the instructor was very complementary about how it works and suggested it to others with the same issue.

Granted, now he barks when we are shaping, but alas.

What trick haven't you taught but you would like to?


Holding stuff in his mouth. I've played with it a tiny bit, but quickly get stuck. I love the dogs that can hold a flower stem or basket or something like that in their mouths. I have no good way of teaching it that I've learned.
 

krissy

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#7
Yay! Hopefully I'll get some ideas for fun tricks to work on.

What are your favorite tricks/cue/behaviors to teach your dogs?
Pretty much anything. I like tricks that they pick up on quickly since I tend to be an impatient, imperfect person. ;) I really like complicated behaviours that can be broken down into really easy tiny steps... so the trick isn't done and taught in 5 minutes and I'm stuck looking for something new... but the dog is making good progress so I don't get frustrated.

What's the first thing you like working on with a new dog?
Eye contact. It's easy and it's necessary for all further training. It's also a great way to load the clicker. Other than Kili, almost any dog I'm working with is newly off the racetrack and has no concept of how to learn or offer behaviours, and some don't even make eye contact with us (not because they're afraid or abused... just because it's never really occurred to them).

What's your most used trick?
Well, technically that would probably be "come", but for a true trick... probably "sit pretty" for Kili and "spin" for Summit.

What is your dogs favorite trick to do?
Ha! Anything that results in food. I don't think they have favourites. I think Kili prefers moving tricks to stationary ones.

What trick has been surprisingly useful?
I taught Summit to shake paws, so now I use it to get him to lift his feet when I'm putting his sweaters/coats on. Back up is also really useful because they don't turn around well in tight spaces.

What trick haven't you taught but you would like to?
I would love to have a dog catch with Kili... but I'm not sure that'll ever happen since I have a hard time lifting her period... never mind catching her. I just so love watching agility competitors at the end of their run have their dog jump into their arms. It's so sweet.

Oh, and ultimately MY favourite trick now that it's done and taught?
[YOUTUBE]RUIdp2GAQ48[/YOUTUBE]
 

Finkie_Mom

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#8
What are your favorite tricks/cue/behaviors to teach your dogs?

Pivoting and touch

What's the first thing you like working on with a new dog?

Touch for sure, then down (mostly because I love teaching DORs)

What's your most used trick?

Touch, meerkat for Jari, play dead, handstands, perching

What is your dogs favorite trick to do?

Jari - Meerkat, touch, rebound, perch

Kimma - Wave, high five, handstand, retrieve, bow is becoming a fave

What trick has been surprisingly useful?

Pivoting is useful, as is hold

What trick haven't you taught but you would like to?

I really want to get them both doing shin stalls, but I feel like I never have time
 

Dex

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#9
Great question!!

What are your favorite tricks/cue/behaviors to teach your dogs?
I love scoots and rebounds.
Scoots because they are so versatile and seem really complex (but aren't too hard at all). They're one of my favorite set up moves too. I've used my scoots to teach backwards leg weaves, scoots from the sides, under my leg scoots when I'm on the ground, etc.

Rebounds because c'mon... rebounds are cool as s**t!!!

What's the first thing you like working on with a new dog?
Focus on me. Really failed on that level with Dodger, Codex was a little better, but Next Dog is going to have laser eyes that bore into my face from all the focus they're going to give me..

For tricks.. maybe ones that work on body awareness. Backing up, targeting with feet. I think the first trick Codex learned as a wee little baby was spin.

What's your most used trick?
Sit Pretty with Dex. That's our go-to trick in busy situations when I need her to focus and do things for me. If we're in class, she does sit pretty in between exercises while the trainer is talking. She likes to make bad choices if I don't keep her engaged, and sit pretty gets that job done. This has only come back to bite me once, when she started to default to sit pretty after Front during Rally. We fixed that real quick.

Touch for Dodger. Same reason as above :)

What is your dogs favorite trick to do?
Codex gets jacked when I ask for a Go Around. To her that means it's go time, and she turns ON if I ask for it. After that, probably a rebound or anything that involves jumping off me.

Dodger's favorite tricks (in order) are spin, spin again, turn, pause... roll over.. drool a bunch and be adorable to get the treat/attention/ball/etc. In all seriousness, scoot has totally clicked with him lately and he really seems to love that one.

What trick has been surprisingly useful?
I'm going to say all of them, because who knew roll over would be useful in a disc routine? Or back it up? I'm finding all of Dex's little tricks are great to have for disc.

What trick haven't you taught but you would like to?
I wish Codex and I had a dog catch that involved a disc catch too. She hates being touched by me if she has the disc or is going for the disc. Dog catch w/o a disc is no problem. Add a disc... no go. I'm jealous of all the amazing dog catches I see that involve discs.

If Dodger could do a foot stall.... it'd be amazing. I just need bigger feet. And he needs smaller feet.. and more balance... and less crazy..
 

Julee

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#10
What are your favorite tricks/cue/behaviors to teach your dogs?

Paws up and shake! Bow and sit pretty are also fun.

What's the first thing you like working on with a new dog?

A solid sit, a solid stay, and a solid recall.

What's your most used trick?

I use stays a lot.

What is your dogs favorite trick to do?

Bloo LOVES to do things. Jumping into my arms has to be her favorite. She also really enjoys shake, spin, and play dead.

What trick has been surprisingly useful?

Em knows how to get a drink out of the fridge, and open/close doors when I have my hands full!

What trick haven't you taught but you would like to?

I haven't perfected Bloo's rebound. I would very much like to, and vaulting off of my back.
 

JacksonsMom

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#11
What are your favorite tricks/cue/behaviors to teach your dogs?

- Oh god, I love so many. 'Saying your prayers' is a really cute one that a lot of people seem to get a kick out of. Jumping on my back is another 'impressive' one to other people, but I find it fairly easy to teach. 'Limp' is another 'flashy' one that people always seem to be amazed he can do. hmmm I am sure I am missing a lot. So many are my faves with Jackson! Oh I had a lot of fun teaching him to walk backwards circles around my legs and he loves to 'reverse' between my legs too, it's one of his 'go to' moves.



What's the first thing you like working on with a new dog?

- I don't have any other dogs of my own, but my family's dogs, I typically go for a 'spin' trick.


What's your most used trick?

- probably 'bang bang you're dead'. He loves to play dead.


What is your dogs favorite trick to do?

- playing dead, backwards reverse through my legs as well as backwards around my legs, roll over. Jumping on my back is another he loves to do and has done it at random times when I bend over lol.


What trick has been surprisingly useful?
- 'take my socks off'. Very useful.


What trick haven't you taught but you would like to?
- I want to perfect his handstand a lot more, where he can do it without leaning against objects. Also a rebound. And foot stall!
 

Oko

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#12
What are your favorite tricks/cue/behaviors to teach your dogs?
Anything, I'm not really picky. I do like working on the more specific ones with tiny details.

What's the first thing you like working on with a new dog?
I've only had one new dog, I taught her to get in a suitcase first thing :rofl1:

What's your most used trick?
hop up (jump on this), go hop up (go hop up on that yonder thing). Mhmm.

What is your dogs favorite trick to do?
Probably down. She loves slamming to the ground.

What trick has been surprisingly useful?
Hop up/perch for photo ops (LOL)
Go between my legs or paws up on me for when she's unsure in a situation


What trick haven't you taught but you would like to?
....wave...like high five. SO HARD.
Footstall
Something backchained like get a drink from the fridge
reverse circles around me
handstand
front leg lifts
stand up on hind legs
shake/nod head
cover your eyes with your paw
cross paws
side step (started teaching it, still shaping it)
 

Sekah

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#13
My answers sound eerily similar to those posted above...


What are your favorite tricks/cue/behaviors to teach your dogs?

Uhm. All of them?

Rebounds are big crowd pleasers and they're super fun to cue.

Beg is one of the few tricks that Mega also knows too, so I probably enjoy teaching that one. I love the core strength that it develops, plus cute.

Perch work was my first foray into pivoting and rear end awareness. Rear end awareness opened up the floodgates for what was possible with Cohen. Scoots, rebounds, handstands oh my.

What's the first thing you like working on with a new dog?

Hand touches! Hand touches! Hand touches! It's so easy to teach, easy to reward, easy to comprehend and easy to use day-to-day. It's a great tool for recall if your come cue has been poisoned.

What's your most used trick?

Rebounds and begs. When I'm not paying sufficient attention to Cohen (as far as she's concerned) she'll pop up and down into a beg while sitting beside me. I reward her because I think it's hella cute.

Rebounds look so flashy but are so easy so I cue them a lot.

What is your dogs favorite trick to do?

Rebounds and begs are big ones, again. I have a thing where I ask Cohen "what can you do?" and she'll cycle through her tricks for me. The ones that pop up most often are beg, bow, back up, spin, limp, wave, down and the occasional rear leg lift. I imagine she goes to these since they're relatively easy for her to do and have long history of reinforcement.

Mega really likes to lie down. It was the first thing I taught when she came to live with me. Then I expanded on it further to capture her clawing at the floor when she's excited (I call it "play the drums"). When I'm working with Cohen and Mega is nearby she'll down when I tell Cohen to down and if I don't reward her she'll start barking and scratching, her tail wagging like mad. Again, it's easy to do and has a long, long history of reinforcement with me.

What trick has been surprisingly useful?

Retrieving random objects has been pretty useful. I'm pretty lazy so I can just ask Cohen to pass me my sock, or pick up the quarter I just dropped, etc. She'll hold Megatron's leash if I need to stop to do something since she has a far more reliable stay.

Hop up/perch has been pretty helpful with both dogs. It's like an insta-stay.

What trick haven't you taught but you would like to?

For some reason I absolutely cannot teach a shy cue. Each time I go to work on it I end up with something totally different (and hilarious) so I admit the problem lies with me.

Other than that, I'm not too sure. Most of what I see I teach, at least half way. I'd like to get my Japanese dog catch back (it became a back rebound). I'd like to get a handstand during a foot stall, but this may never be possible.

Oh, and I'd really like to teach a back vault with a disc catch, but I don't really know what I'm doing so I've not had much success with it.
 

*blackrose

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#14
So....my dogs haven't learned much. Cynder is just inherently good and she shuts down extremely easy during training, so I don't really work with her at all. Abrams' current training really involves a lot of proofing and impulse control type exercises, so I've been lax on actually teaching him actual commands.

What are your favorite tricks/cue/behaviors to teach your dogs?
House manners. This may not be a "favorite", but it is very much needed. My dogs know "get back", "move", "off", "get out", "go away", "wait", "leave it", "no", etc., etc. when in a household setting. I never really understood how well they listen until I visit a friend or family and I'm trying to get the dog to get out of my way and go do something unobtrusive and the dog just looks at me like, "Huh? Move? Get back? What are these words of which you speak?" Granted, maybe my dogs need to now these things more so than other dogs because they're ALWAYS in the way, but, whatever. :p

What's the first thing you like working on with a new dog?
Sit to say please, and I start working on wait/stay almost immediately to help curb bowl rushing/door rushing behaviors. I love working on it, because it is so easy for them to grasp and then I'm able to see their, "AH HA!" moment and heavily reinforce it, which just lays the groundwork for other training.

What's your most used trick?
For Abrams, probably "go away". ROFLMAO No...not really. Probably a combination of sit/stay/wait.

What is your dogs favorite trick to do?
He doesn't really have a favorite. Everything is done with equal enthusiasm. LOL

What trick has been surprisingly useful?
Sit Pretty. He's started to offer that behavior instead of jumping up and punching you in the chin with his face, for two reasons I think. The hand gesture I use to get him to "pretty" is holding my hand up above his head, and when he's being crazy and I'm trying to pet him, that is what I do. He also knows that he's really supposed to be sitting, and he tries to contain himself long enough to sit, but he gets so excited that it's natural for him to rear up on his hind legs and just raising his forelegs off the ground is a happy medium for us both. I'm trying to heavily reinforce him when he "pretty's" instead of jumping up.

What trick haven't you taught but you would like to?
Everything. Hahaha

Crawl, roll over, play dead, walking backwards, formal retrieve, a moving down, bow, "boing" (jump straight up in the air), shake, high five....basically, everything.
 
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#15
What are your favorite tricks/cue/behaviors to teach your dogs?

Cute, silly, and completely impractical. I mean, tricks aren't really impractical, they're good shaping practice and good for stimulus control and lots of concepts training that is more about the idea than the specific behavior,

But also Marsh is really really cute when I hold him up and then shoot him dead.

What's the first thing you like working on with a new dog?

Pilot's very first things were recall, kennel, and touch. His first shaped tricks were stand between my legs (safety), spin, and captured air snaps

For most dogs I would suggest touch and zen, but I start dogs in class with sit and leave it (we do touch week 2). In clicker class I have people shape go around a pole as their first shaping behavior.

What's your most used trick?

Most used is definitely touch. I use it at least a dozen times a day, even when we're just hanging around the house. I use it to check in with Marsh, keep Pilot out of trouble, it just makes me happy.

What is your dogs favorite trick to do?

Marsh looooooves roll over. He loves it. Sometime he gets so excited about it he forgets to lie down first and just spins in a circle really fast.

Pilot's favorites are safety and air snaps. Hahaha he snaps when he's mad people aren't doing what he wants. It's adorable.

What trick has been surprisingly useful?

Walk between my legs. It has been really useful to move Pilot around in public, and it will be more useful soon since he's almost too big for me to carry around!

Shake it off has been really useful too. I use it when Marsh comes in and it's raining outside, so he doesn't get water all over the living room.

What trick haven't you taught but you would like to?

LIMP DEAD DOG LIMP DEAD DOG LIMP DEAD DOG wow I want to teach it so bad. Cute! Silly! Impractical!
 
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#16
LIMP DEAD DOG LIMP DEAD DOG LIMP DEAD DOG wow I want to teach it so bad. Cute! Silly! Impractical!
It's SERIOUSLY easy once you start it! It pretty much is a practice at stay. I taught it the same way and we progressed super fast. The hardest part is getting Traveler not to roll over on his back for pets when I walk over.

But seriously, fun to teach, looks sooo funny and is really pretty easy.
 

Taqroy

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#17
It's SERIOUSLY easy once you start it! It pretty much is a practice at stay. I taught it the same way and we progressed super fast. The hardest part is getting Traveler not to roll over on his back for pets when I walk over.

But seriously, fun to teach, looks sooo funny and is really pretty easy.
Can you pick Trav all the way up? I've been sort of working this with Mu still but I switched to doing whatever I wanted to her (flipping ears back, lifting lips, opening mouth, rolling her from one side to another, playing with paws, really WHATEVER I want to do). I want to go back to working on picking her up but I think we have some trust issues to work through. Lol.
 
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#18
Can you pick Trav all the way up? I've been sort of working this with Mu still but I switched to doing whatever I wanted to her (flipping ears back, lifting lips, opening mouth, rolling her from one side to another, playing with paws, really WHATEVER I want to do). I want to go back to working on picking her up but I think we have some trust issues to work through. Lol.
I haven't worked on it in awhile other than just staying down and limp over all. I was honestly a little worried about hurting him if I picked him all the way up, just seemed like he was on the large side for it.

This is as far as I ever got with it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSYwif5VTIg

But I might have to revisit it and see what I think doing it again!
 

Taqroy

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#19
I haven't worked on it in awhile other than just staying down and limp over all. I was honestly a little worried about hurting him if I picked him all the way up, just seemed like he was on the large side for it.

This is as far as I ever got with it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSYwif5VTIg

But I might have to revisit it and see what I think doing it again!
Egads, your blooper. *dies* Traveler is so absurdly adorable. I'm kind of in the same boat with Mu - I mean she's way smaller than Trav but she's so long that I worry about picking her up like that.

Also, I love the foot nudging. Mu expires in our agility class constantly and I'll just poke her with my foot and announce that my dog has died. It's hilarious.
 

Kootenay

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#20
What are your favorite tricks/cue/behaviors to teach your dogs?

Heeling has been the funnest ongoing thing that I've taught, for sure, I find I get weirdly obsessive about it and find it way more rewarding than it seems like I should, haha.

Otherwise I guess it just kind of depends on the dog and what they are into learning, teaching most stuff is fun! Jumping over legs/back etc and rebounds and stalls are definitely fun.

I like hug and backwards leg weaves just for the crowd-pleasing effect, oh and also "put it away" (usually socks into a basket) seems pretty impressive to people.


What's the first thing you like working on with a new dog?


Probably hand touches and eye contact. And I like getting rear end awareness pretty quick too, so teaching a mark and then pivots pretty quick as well. I seem to just throw tons of stuff at once at new puppies, so we usually start on all the basic stuff right away.

But as far as tricks go, probably spin because it's so simple!


What's your most used trick?

For Onyx, definitely Beg. But the one she offers the most is what I call "legs", where she stands between my legs with eye contact. She just does this all the time, like seriously ALL the time. And she begs all the time, often instead of sitting when that's what she's asked to do, probably something I should work on (I've definitely had her beg instead of sit during heeling....)

Yarrow likes to high five/wave, and Jasper likes leg weaves.


What is your dogs favorite trick to do?

Onyx - beg and rebounds and spin.

Yarrow - high five!

Jasper - weave?


What trick has been surprisingly useful?


Hmm, useful tricks, what is this you speak of? Lol, I don't know, I use beg a lot for Onyx when I just want her to do something out in public, and I like heeling also when she just needs something to focus on. I suppose I could actually use her "put it away" trick in real life, but never seem to!

OHHH wait actually, I just taught her how to sniff out pine mushrooms, so that is definitely the most useful thing I've taught.


What trick haven't you taught but you would like to?


Limp, get a beer out of the fridge, back vault, and just a hold, which seems simple but doesn't seem to click that fast for her (granted, we haven't worked that much on it)

Oh and my newest silly idea is that I want to get simultaneous horse and dog tricks, so tandem jumps and spins, and maybe weave poles and something like pole bending for the horse? I have no idea if this is feasible at all, but I think it would be pretty cool if I could ever do it.
 

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