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Trick Training!
My feeling is that trick training is underrated.
I'm not saying that Sit, Stay, Down, and LLW aren't important -- of course they are. But here's some of the reasons why I think that trick training can be very valuable for owner and dog alike:
1) For novice trainers, you get some practice on luring, capturing, and free-shaping behaviors that don't really matter. I'd much rather mess up "Take a Bow" than something important such as recall. It's also a great, low-pressure way to learn to use a clicker. The first clicker behavior that I trained was to get my Rottweiler to march in place. It was absurd. But I learned to use the clicker. Now I can use it for behaviors like heel.
2) It keeps things light when training your dog. Raise your hand if you get all serious and stern when asking your dog to sit or lie down, but then when it's time to roll over or shake a paw, it's all smiles and fun and positive reinforcement. Now, ever notice that your dog may be more enthusiastic and yes, even reliable, about rolling over and paw shake? Hmm....
3) Used correctly, it can even help behavioral problems. If your dog hates to have his feet touched, teaching him to willingly shake his paw can give you a head start on the desensitization and counterconditioning you'll need to get him to let you trim his nails. One of my dogs was very anxious around flapping items such as rainjackets. Problem solved when we started up a game that involved us flapping a towel saying, "Torro! Torro!" and her charging it like a bull. (This game makes her deliriously happy, by the way, and I'm stoked to say she's generalized it to every flappy thing except for tarps. She'll now literally trot up to flappy things, bounce it with her nose, then look back and smile to see if we get to play the bullfighting game. When before she'd take off from fear and end up in the next county if we'd let her.)
4) Mental exercise! It's great to give dogs hard exercise -- running, playing with other dogs, etc -- but if you find yourself doing it just to take the edge off your dog so he's manageable to live with, think of adding some "mental exercise" as well. If I were to try to physically exhaust my dog, I'd be running for miles per day. But a quick bounce around the yard with a dog buddy, then a 20-minute free-shaping session and he's out like a light, satisfied and content. Along with things like interactive toys, stuffed Kongs, etc, plus of course regular physical exercise, give your dog something to think about. Tricks are great for this, because they can get your dog to puzzle his way through complex behaviors -- collecting your kid's laundry and putting it into the dirty clothes basket, for example. As Jean Donaldson says, "The process is the product here" -- it doesn't matter what behavior it is, as long as your dog's thinking.
5) Breed-related stuff: Don't you hate it when you walk your pit bull down the sidewalk and people give you frightened looks and then cross the street? Well, they wouldn't be running away if your pit bull was waving to children and giving high-fives to adults on-command. I'm a firm believer that all bully breeds should be, if physical condition permits, to do at least one charming trick that will help people feel at ease with him or her.
So, I hope to open up a discussion about trick training. What sort of tricks have you taught your dogs? Are there any tricks that you feel aren't good to train dogs? (I don't train my dogs to "Speak," I'm afraid they might find it a little too inherently reinforcing. "Spin" is another one that's controversial; it may be a bit too arousing for certain dogs.) Any awesome methods for specific tricks?
I'm not saying that Sit, Stay, Down, and LLW aren't important -- of course they are. But here's some of the reasons why I think that trick training can be very valuable for owner and dog alike:
1) For novice trainers, you get some practice on luring, capturing, and free-shaping behaviors that don't really matter. I'd much rather mess up "Take a Bow" than something important such as recall. It's also a great, low-pressure way to learn to use a clicker. The first clicker behavior that I trained was to get my Rottweiler to march in place. It was absurd. But I learned to use the clicker. Now I can use it for behaviors like heel.
2) It keeps things light when training your dog. Raise your hand if you get all serious and stern when asking your dog to sit or lie down, but then when it's time to roll over or shake a paw, it's all smiles and fun and positive reinforcement. Now, ever notice that your dog may be more enthusiastic and yes, even reliable, about rolling over and paw shake? Hmm....
3) Used correctly, it can even help behavioral problems. If your dog hates to have his feet touched, teaching him to willingly shake his paw can give you a head start on the desensitization and counterconditioning you'll need to get him to let you trim his nails. One of my dogs was very anxious around flapping items such as rainjackets. Problem solved when we started up a game that involved us flapping a towel saying, "Torro! Torro!" and her charging it like a bull. (This game makes her deliriously happy, by the way, and I'm stoked to say she's generalized it to every flappy thing except for tarps. She'll now literally trot up to flappy things, bounce it with her nose, then look back and smile to see if we get to play the bullfighting game. When before she'd take off from fear and end up in the next county if we'd let her.)
4) Mental exercise! It's great to give dogs hard exercise -- running, playing with other dogs, etc -- but if you find yourself doing it just to take the edge off your dog so he's manageable to live with, think of adding some "mental exercise" as well. If I were to try to physically exhaust my dog, I'd be running for miles per day. But a quick bounce around the yard with a dog buddy, then a 20-minute free-shaping session and he's out like a light, satisfied and content. Along with things like interactive toys, stuffed Kongs, etc, plus of course regular physical exercise, give your dog something to think about. Tricks are great for this, because they can get your dog to puzzle his way through complex behaviors -- collecting your kid's laundry and putting it into the dirty clothes basket, for example. As Jean Donaldson says, "The process is the product here" -- it doesn't matter what behavior it is, as long as your dog's thinking.
5) Breed-related stuff: Don't you hate it when you walk your pit bull down the sidewalk and people give you frightened looks and then cross the street? Well, they wouldn't be running away if your pit bull was waving to children and giving high-fives to adults on-command. I'm a firm believer that all bully breeds should be, if physical condition permits, to do at least one charming trick that will help people feel at ease with him or her.
So, I hope to open up a discussion about trick training. What sort of tricks have you taught your dogs? Are there any tricks that you feel aren't good to train dogs? (I don't train my dogs to "Speak," I'm afraid they might find it a little too inherently reinforcing. "Spin" is another one that's controversial; it may be a bit too arousing for certain dogs.) Any awesome methods for specific tricks?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Andrea Schneider on -
Deena sent this to me, it's a fantastic video of the relationship between a human and a dog! I can't quite figure out how to embed it for some reason, but everyone should watch it. It's beautiful and special!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sknEaZHHbhc
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Permalink Reply by cherish on -
Hey Andrea,
I love Canine Freestyle! Cindy at the Puppy Playhouse is going to be doing a class soon.... We can't wait!
Cherish, Naaki, Kota, and Rocky
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Permalink Reply by Andrea Schneider on
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Is that what they are doing in the video?
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Permalink Reply by cherish on
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Yep! youtube 'canine freestyle' and a whole bunch will pop up! You and Ellie would be great at it!
Andrea Schneider said:Is that what they are doing in the video?
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Permalink Reply by Andrea Schneider on
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I should ask Cindy about this. I think Ellie would love it too. It's very cool looking. Thanks Cherish.
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Permalink Reply by Deena on -
I bawled like a flippin baby during that video. They have a big contest in hershey, PA every year. dancing with dogs. It is amazing.
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Permalink Reply by Bobbie Lyons on -
Wow. Thanks so much for posting this. I am a think outside the box kind of trainer. I teach a class that incorporates core strengthening exercises with fun tricks. This class teaches valuable exercises and tricks to strengthen your dog as well as build a team work relationship with your dog. I truly believe that the hard stuff really can't work until you learn to have fun while training with your dog. If you are all serious and stern, how fun is that.
I totally agree with you that teaching tricks is an excellent way to learn clicker training. I have a dog that barks at me on the course in agility and so I taught him to "speak". This has greatly decreased his barking. The truth is in most cases, if you put the undesirable behavior on cue it usually goes away unless "cued". I also teach right/left instead of "spin". I have taught my dogs to sit, stand, down, rollover, wait, wave, high five, head down, right/left, weave through my legs, situp, and alot of variation of these on a stool, aerobic bench and a theraball. In addition they know how to jump into my arms, jump through a hoop, Jump through my arms, go to mat, go to crate, backup, crawl, and a ton more that I can't think of right now. We also do agility and they pull me on the scooter.
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Permalink Reply by Cindy Bruckart on -
This is meant for kids, but it's a great resource for simple trick training. I think tricks are a great way to reinforce basic manners, build your relationship with your dog and keep things FUN! Getting too bogged down with "serious" training can real suck all the joy out of it.
http://www.loveyourdog.com/tricks.html
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Permalink Reply by Rose and Alfie on -
Where would I look to join a Canine Freestyle class?
One of my favorite things to do with Alfie is new tricks. He catches on pretty quickly and has a lot of fun with it!
Thanks!
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Permalink Reply by Bobbie Lyons on
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Cindy is teaching this at The Puppy Playhouse in Sherwood, go to www.thepuppyplayhouse.com. There is sign up available right now.
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Permalink Reply by Andrea Schneider on
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Is anyone doing a trick training class? Sounds like a lot of fun and I'm always looking for ways to keep Ellie sharp and mentally exercised as well as physical.
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Permalink Reply by Cindy Bruckart on
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Andrea,
If you haven't taken Bobbie Lyon's Core Strengthening class, you should consider it! It's (literally) a ball! She teaches a new trick each week. You can check out the details here: www.thepuppyplayhouse.com (go to the Group Classes page). Her next class starts in January.
~ Cindy
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Created by Andrea Schneider Mar 17, 2010 at 1:37pm. Last updated by Andrea Schneider Mar 17.
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