Rover knows when you are preparing for a trip. Fido hears the word “bath” or “vet” and takes cover under the bed. Spot senses when you’ve had a bad day and lays his head in your lap, and Buster nudges your arm as you sit on the couch trying to find the motivation to go for a walk. These examples of human/dog communication illustrate the familial relationship dogs play in our lives. And this relationship, as with any positive relationship in our lives, requires nurturing to keep it alive and flourishing.
Trick training is a way to build upon this relationship, establishing communication methods, trust, and mutual respect. It offers a way to bond with your dog as you strive toward common goals and delight in your successes. It deepens paths of communication, built through repetition and effort.
If you’ve ever tried to communicate a message to a person who speaks a foreign language, you’ve probably tried a combination of pantomime, pictographs, sound mimicry, and other tactics quite hilarious to onlookers. But when that message finally gets communicated… “Ahhh! The goat cheese pizza!”… there is a feeling of mutual success and bonding. That same joy and bond can be achieved by you and your dog as you work together on dog tricks!
Trick training does more than teach cute party tricks to entertain your friends. Trick training offers an opportunity to better understand how your dog thinks and have him better understand your cues. The trust and cooperative spirit developed through this process will last a lifetime.
Start anywhere! Each trick displays a difficulty rating and prerequisite skills. You can work on several new tricks within the same training session, and you may wish to keep a list of all your dog’s tricks to train each session. Reinforcement is a constant process and just because your dog has mastered a trick doesn’t mean you should stop practicing!
Sure! You’ll find that the more tricks your dog knows, the quicker he’ll pick up new ones. In a sense, you’ve taught him how to learn.
Teaching a trick comprises three parts, the first being a verbal or physical cue to your dog, signaling the desired behavior. The second part is the action performed by your dog, and the third is the reward. Do not attempt to bribe your dog by offering the reward before he has done the action, and do not expect your dog to perform an action before you have given the cue.
Your job as a trainer is to guide your dog in a consistent and motivating environment.
Guide your dog through the process of executing a new behavior, rewarding baby steps along the way. The goal of each training session is to get better results than the last time.
Know the behavior you are looking for, and don’t be wishy-washy. Use the same voice and intonation each time you give a verbal cue and enunciate clearly.
Think about an athletic coach. Is his job merely to plan the training schedule and tape it to the locker room door? No! He inspires, motivates, and encourages! He is upbeat when you are discouraged and slaps your shoulder with a “good job!” when you need it. You serve the same purpose for your dog. Every bit of enthusiasm you inject into your dog training will speed up his learning. And when your dog does something right use your high-pitched “happy voice” (yes, men, you have one too) to exude your delight!
Imagine you are searching for something and are being guided by feedback of “hot” or “cold.” But now imagine this feedback is being delayed before you hear it. You may actually be receiving “cold” feedback as you approach the object or vise versa. Not only is the object not being found, but you are getting frustrated at the inconsistency of the feedback. Imagine how much easier this task would be if the feedback were given with correct timing.
In trick training, it is imperative that you mark (with a word, treat, or clicker) the exact moment that your dog performed correctly. Don’t reward 10 seconds later, as you may be rewarding a completely different behavior.
A common timing mistake is in rewarding too late. For example, you tell your dog to sit, and he does. You fish for a treat in your pocket, and he stands up to receive it. What did you just reward? You rewarded him for standing up! The treat should have been given while the dog was in the proper position—sitting. Always reward your dog while he is in the desired position.
“Shouldn’t my dog want to learn tricks merely to please me?” Dogs do, in general, want to please their owners—but learning is hard! Would you expect your child to do his homework every night merely to please you? Maybe, but a reward sure makes work more enticing … whether it be a half hour of TV, or a nice liver treat!
A motivator, or reward, can come in different forms—a food morsel, favorite toy, clicker signal, or praise. In this book, the steps rely mostly on food treats. Food is enjoyed by all dogs, is quick to dispense and be swallowed, and is a clear way to signal a correct response. Keep your dog extra motivated when learning a new trick by using “people food” treats such as hot dogs, cheese, pizza crusts, noodles, meatballs, or whatever gets his mouth watering! During the beginning stages of learning, a toy can be a distraction, as it takes a while for you to take it back and get your dog to regain focus. Praise is great, but can be arbitrary and unclear … “Good! No, wait, you moved, sort of….” Use a small but tasty food treat to reward the desired behavior.
New dog trainers are always stingy with rewards. They attempt to reward with praise or regular dog kibble. Trick training, however, is dependent upon the dog’s motivation and you want to make this activity the most fun thing he does all day! Go ahead, give ’em the good stuff!
For those experienced in the technique of clicker training, a clicker signal may be used to mark the correct behavior, followed by the treat.
Before worrying about emptying our pockets of treats, we need to make the behavior an automatic response. No matter how it is achieved, if you tell your dog to “sit” 500 times, and he sits, it becomes an automatic response. For the first 500 times, he was sitting because you were tempting him with a treat. Later, however, his muscle memory just hears the word “sit” and does it! It is at this point that you can start weaning your dog off his expectation of a reward. Rather than weaning completely off treats, however, use them as sporadic rewards.
The purpose of a treat is to reward a good effort. In kindergarten, a child gets a gold star for printing her name. In first grade, she only gets a gold star if she prints it neatly, and in second grade cursive is required for that same reward. What may have earned your dog a treat in the past, may no longer be enough to earn that treat today. We call this “upping the ante.”
When first learning to shake a paw, reward your dog for barely lifting his paw, or for batting your hand. Once he has the hang of this, withhold the treat until he lifts his paw higher, or holds it longer. Every time your dog is achieving a step with about 75 percent success, up the ante and demand a higher skill to earn the treat.
We all know the lure of a jackpot. Having achieved it once, we will sit at the slot machine all night in hopes of being rewarded with that elusive prize. The jackpot theory, when applied to dog training, can be a more effective motivator than consistent rewards. Here’s how to use it: ask your dog to perform some behaviors he is working on. If he does them fairly well, give him no reward or a small reward. When he performs a behavior very well or better than he has in the past, jackpot! Give him a whole handful of treats! Wow, will that make an impression on him! He will continue trying extra hard in hopes of hitting that jackpot again.
Along the same lines, using several different types of treats during a training session can keep your dog motivated—“maybe I’ll get the hot dog this time!”
The key to keeping your dog motivated is to keep him challenged, achieving regular successes. Try not to let your dog be wrong more than two or three times in a row, or he could become discouraged and not wish to perform. Instead, go back to an easier step for a while.
When teaching a new trick, it often appears that your dog is not getting the concept and has no idea what the desired behavior is. He’ll be squirming and pawing and obsessing over the treat in your hand. You might feel as if he will never understand. Don’t stress it. Go through the same motions day after day, and one day you’ll see a lightbulb go off in his head. That’s the moment that truly bonds you with your dog.
Picture this failure scenario: you tell your dog to spin, while luring him in a circle with your treat, just as this book instructs. Your dog squirms and nips at your hand. You raise your voice and say in a more firm tone, “spin!” Your dog scratches himself, ignoring you. You grab his collar, yelling this time “spin!” while you drag him in a circle. He cowers down, while you grumble about your dumb dog.
The single most common reason people fail teaching dog tricks is their lack of patience. Even trainers with bad timing, poor coordination, and lack of common sense can manage to teach tricks better than an impatient trainer.
Picture this success scenario: you tell your dog to spin, while luring him in a circle with your treat, just as this book instructs. Your dog squirms and nips at your hand. You try again, luring your dog in a circle, as before. Your dog scratches himself, ignoring you. You try again, and your dog performs a lopsided sort of spin. “Yeah! That was great!” You try again, and again, and again, and a few hundred more times … and one day … you have it! How lucky are you to have the world’s smartest dog?
Progress can be slow and frustrating—keeping an even temper and consistent training method requires patience.
Practicing new tricks is mentally tiring for your dog. Keep it fun and end the session while your dog is still wanting more. End on a successful note, even if you have to go back to an easier behavior to achieve this.
There are two obvious ways to get a dog into a desired position: you can lure him by guiding him with a treat or toy, or you can assert physical pressure to manipulate him into position. It is tempting to manipulate your dog’s body physically because it is faster and more precise, however it can actually delay the learning process. By manipulating your dog, you are encouraging him to relinquish initiative and be led. He is not required to engage his brain and is not learning the motor skills required to position his body by himself. When possible, it is always preferable to lure your dog to position his body himself.
Trick training is the yin to obedience training’s yang. Trick training allows the dog to be silly and encourages independent action. You want to keep the enthusiasm high during training sessions or your dog could shut down for fear of being wrong. Save the word “no” for when your dog is being naughty. If your dog is giving you an incorrect behavior, it is probably not intentional. Instead of “no,” try a more lighthearted “whoops!”
As discussed earlier, correct timing of your reward is essential. When teaching new tricks, food is often used as a lure and is released instantly to mark a correct behavior. For more general obedience training, or when rewarding your dog at the end of a session, reward in this order: praise, pat on the head, and then a food reward. Not only will this serve to keep your dog in a calm state of mind, but an association will develop whereby verbal praise will be pleasantly associated with your touch, and your touch will be associated with the food reward.
Your dog needs to understand at which times he is under your control and at which times he has been released. When instructed to “down” or “stay” for example, your dog is expected to remain in that position until you release him with your release word. “OK” is the most commonly used release word. When a training session has ended, “OK” releases your dog to run and play. “OK” also releases your dog to jump out of the parked car, to pounce on a toy, and to play with another dog.
Dogs can perform a trick based upon a verbal cue or hand signal. Hand signals are extremely useful for dogs performing in movies on quiet sets, and they generally give you more options. When a child asks your dog a question, your subtle “bark” hand signal can cue your dog to answer! Most dogs actually respond to hand signals more readily than verbal cues. Try it with your dog: use a verbal cue from one trick while signaling for another trick. Most often, the dog will perform the trick indicated by your hands!
Words and signals for some tricks are more standardized than others. Basic obedience commands and many agility commands are widely used and have evolved with good reason. It can be helpful to use standardized verbal cues and hand signals, especially if your dog has aspirations of a movie career. Hand signals may look arbitrary but have often evolved from the methods used in a dog’s initial training. The raising of the hand as a signal to “sit” evolves from your initial upward baiting when teaching the command. A downward hand motion is used to signal “down” and parallels your initial baiting of your dog near the floor. The toe-touch foot signal for “take a bow” draws your dog’s attention toward the floor, coaxing his head downward. And the flick of your wrist to the right is a diminished version of the large circle you drew when teaching your dog to “spin.”
Trick training, of course, is not a life-or-death pursuit and if you want to make up your own words and signals, nobody can stop you! A word of caution though: the more tricks you teach, the quicker you will run out of words. “Left” and “right” are tempting to use in the beginning, but a time may come when wish you had saved those words for a different trick.
Some of the best tricks happen by accident! If your dog acts out a long and laborious death in the “play dead” trick, capitalize on his inventiveness and teach the trick his way. In obedience class, your job is to instruct your dog on the correct behaviors, and his job is to do exactly what you wish. In trick training you are a team—allow the training process to be a collaborative one.
This is the really fun part! Once your dog has learned individual behaviors, you can chain them together and give a name to this new set of actions. “Night-night,” for example, chains the behaviors of come, down, take it, roll over, and head down to produce an impressive trick of your dog rolling himself up in a blanket! There are many ways to use command chains, and even in practice they are a great brain exercise for your dog. Even a simple command of “target, sit” engages your dog’s brain to execute first one action and then another.
How many years does it take for a child to become educated? For an athlete to become skilled? How many piano lessons until you’re a musician? Dog training should be thought of as a lifelong process. Although at some point your dog will be able to produce a behavior on cue, he will still need repetition and refinement to maintain and improve his skills. Challenge your dog with new skills for the rest of his life, and you’ll find your bond will increase tenfold.
As you read the table of contents in this book, you may be having wonderful fantasies of lounging on the couch while your dog obediently gets you a beer from the fridge. Or perhaps you envision commanding your dog to help with the housework by gathering up all his toys into his toy box. Let me burst your bubble right now, your dog is never going do such complicated tricks completely independent of you, and certainly not without a reward. Tricks like these will require you to be within eye contact of your dog and will probably require verbal coaching and multiple commands. Remember, while these tricks mimic everyday simple human chores, they are complicated challenges for your dog.
LET’S START TRAINING!
You’re on your way to becoming the next great trick dog team. Grab your treat bag, Rover’s favorite toy, your copy of 101 Dog Tricks, and let’s get started!