You smell like liver treats.
1 Show your dog that you are placing a treat between your fingers.
2 Hold your hand out at your dog’s nose height and say, “Touch!” If your dog doesn’t notice the treat, wiggle your hand and use your other hand to point to the treat.
3 The instant your dog’s nose touches your hand, say, “Good!” and release the treat.
4 Once your dog gets the hang of this, try it with no treat between your fingers. When your dog touches your hand, say, “Good!” and give him a treat from behind your back.
TIP:
Dogs love this game and catch on quickly. Avoid moving your hand toward your dog’s nose, but rather make sure he comes to you.
It’s all natural, you know.
1 Dab a bit of peanut butter on the end of your target stick. Your dog will be tempted to sniff your hand, so hold the stick with the ball more toward your dog. When your dog touches it (with either his nose or tongue), say, “Good!” and give him a treat.
2 After a few repetitions, try it without the peanut butter. The target stick will probably still smell a little like peanut butter, which should be enough to get your dog to sniff it. The instant he touches the target stick say, “Good!” and give him a treat.
3 Once your dog has the hang of this game, place the target stick at different elevations, both high and low.
4 Have your dog follow a moving target by guiding the target stick away from him.
TIP:
Dogs learn this game pretty quickly and take to it eagerly. The biggest hurdle often is finding the right target stick, which is visible for your dog to see yet not tempting for him to bite.
EQUIPMENT:
Professional target sticks are telescoping rods with a small plastic or metal ball at the end. Some target sticks have a clicker on the handle. If you make your own target stick, use a ball on the end that your dog won’t be tempted to bite (no tennis balls!).
1 Dab a bit of peanut butter on the bell and point it out to your dog. When he goes to sniff it or lick it, use your finger to make it jingle softly.
2 Immediately after the jingle, say, “Good!” and give your dog a treat.
3 After a few repetitions, your dog will probably have licked all of the peanut butter off, but don’t add more. Simply touch the bell or point to it and say, “Jingle.” Give your dog a treat if he makes it jingle.
4 Whenever you are about to let your dog outside, have him jingle the bell and then immediately open the door.
TIP:
In the beginning, be very responsive to your dog’s jingling and open the door for him every time he does it. Dogs, even puppies, catch on pretty quickly and learn to jingle the bell when they need to go out.
EQUIPMENT:
Choose a bell large enough that your dog cannot accidentally swallow it. Hang it from the doorknob at your dog’s nose height.
Watch me bounce it up to the ceiling!
1 Get your dog excited to play with a plush toy. Toss it around and squeak the squeaker to get your dog’s interest. Don’t push it toward him, but rather draw it away from him to make him chase it.
2 When your dog is focused on the toy, toss it in the air in a slow arc toward him. When he catches it, say, “Good!” and give him a treat.
3 While your dog is still feeling playful, switch to a lightweight ball. Toss the ball in a high arc so that it comes down rather vertically above your dog’s nose.
4 Because of the large circumference of the ball, your dog will be unable to catch it, and the ball will instead bounce off his nose and back to you!
TIP:
This game is often easier than it looks, and your dog could be bouncing a ball off his nose within ten minutes. A balloon will be easier for your dog, as it falls more slowly.
EQUIPMENT:
Use a lightweight ball or balloon (be sure to pick up the pieces if the balloon pops so that your dog doesn’t eat them). A regulation volleyball will be too heavy for your dog.
Sometimes I like to push it real hard and run after it!
1 Construct a chute for your ball to roll through by setting up two rails or by placing a sofa parallel to a wall. Put the ball at one end of the chute and place a treat at the base of the ball. As your dog reaches for the treat, he will bump the ball forward.
2 Repeat this exercise, but this time set a few additional treats in the chute behind the ball. After your dog bumps the ball, he will see the next treat.
3 Don’t set any treats on the floor this time, but encourage your dog to “push!” When he pushes the ball, even a little, say, “Good!” and toss a treat at the base of the ball.
4 Remove the training rails. Wait for your dog to push the ball twice before saying, “Good!” and tossing a treat near the base of the ball.
TIP:
Some dogs will get very excited and bite and pop the ball while learning. It is important to deliver your treat near the base of the ball to encourage your dog to poke under the ball instead of biting it.
EQUIPMENT:
Use large 22 to 34-inch (55 to 85 cm) exercise balls. Initial training can done with smaller and more heavy-duty balls (piglet balls, Jolly Balls, Ferkelballs, or Enduro Balls). Training rails can be made from wood beams or rain gutters.
TIP:
Some dogs go nuts for this game! Other dogs have little interest in the bubbles. Oftentimes breeds that were bred to chase small vermin (such as terriers) take most readily to this chase.
EQUIPMENT:
Children’s toy soap bubbles are nontoxic and work just fine for dogs. However, specialty meat and peanut-butter-flavored bubbles are also available for dogs!
EQUIPMENT:
A carpet runner gives your dog a good, long roll; however it may be too heavy for small dogs. A small rug works well, and a bath mat is very light weight and easy to unroll.
I maybe went outside the lines a little.
1 First teach your dog Touch My Hand (page 148). Practice having your dog nose-touch a flat object, such as a paint-can lid. You may have to tap the lid or even put a dab of peanut butter on it for the first couple of times.
2 Tape or hold the lid against your easel. Say, “Touch!” and give your dog a treat for nose-touching it.
3 Remove the lid and instead use colored tape to mark an X on the canvas. Tap the X and tell your dog to “touch!”
4 Hopefully your dog enjoys holding things in her mouth or has learned to Fetch (page 144). Have her take the paintbrush in her mouth and then cue her to nose-touch the canvas. Because the paintbrush extends in front of her, she will end up stabbing the brush into the easel.
TIP:
Tap the canvas to guide your dog to it, especially if the paintbrush is not perfectly straight in her mouth. Many dogs drop the paintbrush immediately after touching it to the canvas, so you may need to reset the brush after every stroke.
EQUIPMENT:
Use nontoxic, washable kids’ paint. A wooden-handled paintbrush will be the most comfortable for your dog to hold.
