Need to name a trick...

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
Okay, so I recently started teaching Mudflap how to hike her leg. I worked on it a couple of times a looong time ago but for some reason abandoned it and got busy working on other things. Started up again not long ago and she's really catching on. It's very cute. I'm not sure what to call it though....
I know Clickertrickdog with Border Collie "Savvy" calls it "Do the boy dog trick!" Might end up calling it that, but just thought I'd ask for some ideas. Not going to use hike--her football trick is, "Hut, hut, HIKE!" And well...lol, hiking a football and then HIKING isn't what I'm going for, lol. Although the sequence is interesting...gender confused BC, lol!

This is the next thing I'm going to try with Zeke as well because I just happened to touch a certain part of his leg randomly the other day and he stretched his leg up and out. Lol...silly. But what to call it with him??? After all, he's a boy...so do the boy dog trick sounds silly.

Ideas anyone?:dogwub:
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
But at the same time, if I'm teaching her to lift alternate legs, should I avoid using a cue that isn't directed at just lifting legs? Or should it be something that she'll do only on hand sign, like answering questions(barking, shaking head, etc no matter what you say--hand sign only)? And what hand sign should I use for this? :dogblink: Hmm....it seems the actual teaching of the trick is easier than naming it. Lol!
 

fickla

Experienced Member
I'm in the process of teaching this to Vito and Lance and in the same boat as you! Right now they need a book behind them to get it started, but when I transition to the other leg I get some dancing with both legs :) I have no idea what to call it either! I do know that i want a separate cue for each leg though. Even though I probably won't ever do this as an actual "trick" for people, so I may not bother with a verbal cue, and just have me sitting on the floor pointing at what leg I want be the cue. Who knows!
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
I think it's Kikopup who just uses her leg... I'll see if I can find a link for you. She would sit cross-legged in the floor with Splash in front of her, rear legs just about even with Emily's right knee. Splash kind of used her knee as a target and it worked great. Mudflap didn't particularly like that position so she just faces me.

I'm at a loss for commands, lol.
 

yvonne

Well-Known Member
tx_cowgirl;17506 said:
I think it's Kikopup who just uses her leg... I'll see if I can find a link for you. She would sit cross-legged in the floor with Splash in front of her, rear legs just about even with Emily's right knee. Splash kind of used her knee as a target and it worked great. Mudflap didn't particularly like that position so she just faces me.

I'm at a loss for commands, lol.
Dude does this but I have never really taught it. I say 'lift it' and his back leg lifts up really high. Makes everyone laugh I have to say :doglaugh:
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
Ha, i am using some political stuff for Buddy's tricks, even though this limits the people to close pals only that i can show those tricks to. But it brings down the house around here!!

So, Maybe you could say, "Mudflap, What did you think of _______?" and the dog lifts his leg? Just a thought!:msngiggle:

Or, a lil crude here, "Mud, are you pissed off?" and he lifts his leg...oh, i'm bad! Sorry! (This is crude slang for 'angry' in America for international readers.):msniwonder:

Or, if you are bikers, you could say, "Mud, you wanna ride the bike?" And he lifts his leg..? With a cue as long as that, you would probably have to use an eyebrow lift, hand gesture, or something else for Mud to associate with the trick. Oh, wait, you are horse riding fans, how about, "MUd, you wanna get in the saddle?"..or, "MUd, you getting in the saddle?" or, "Mud, did riding in that new saddle hurt your leg?" or something like that...
Or if you are Aerosmith fans, "Mud, you back in the saddle?"
 

fickla

Experienced Member
tx_cowgirl;17506 said:
I think it's Kikopup who just uses her leg... I'll see if I can find a link for you. She would sit cross-legged in the floor with Splash in front of her, rear legs just about even with Emily's right knee. Splash kind of used her knee as a target and it worked great. Mudflap didn't particularly like that position so she just faces me.

I'm at a loss for commands, lol.
I found the videos of her doing that with Splash, but Vito also has to face me to do it like Mudflap. But I have just started him facing me and reaching out with my hand to point at what back leg I want. Sometimes he gets distracted by my hand moving, but if I have treats in my other hand near his head he isn't bothered by it. However we're not really at the point yet where he knows what leg to lift. He generally does a little dancing spaz with his back feet until he figures out what foot I'm clicking. I think it would be cute to reward the spaz (is it Silvia and Bi who have the "put out the fire" trick?) but I think he needs to get what leg I want first. And unfortunately I haven't done much of this at all with lance, he only lifts his left leg and needs a book behind him.
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
Yvonne--
Cute. ^^ Before teaching leg lifts I had planned on "left left" and "lift right" or something to that degree as I already have cues for the front legs, but then I decided to gear it more towards hiking her leg so now I'm not sure what to stick with, lol.

Tigerlily--
Lol, or being football fans..."Mud, what do you think of UT?" "What do you think of the Miami Dolphins?" But yes long cues.... Lol back in the saddle. Cute!

Hmm..."Mud are you a bad dog???" Lol she never hears this so it's not like she would have any negative association with it. xD That one's cute...


Fickla--
Yeah at first Mud tried to focus on my hands too much but doing much better now. Haven't seen that one with Silvia and Bi but then again I haven't looked for any of her newest videos except Bi's 7-month vid I think it was, and Winter Tricks II. Started this trick with Zekers and he's doing great too! I think he'll get it quicker than Mud will. He's always been much more aware of his rear end than Mudflap, lol. She's a natural born klutz! Much like myself I suppose, lol.

I could use the "bad dog" for Zeke, and the "boy dog trick" for Mud I guess...hmm...gonna have to brainstorm some more. Guess for now we'll just get the behavior perfected.
 

storm22

Experienced Member
sounds like a fun trick to have, have to try it with my dogs at the moment im teaching koda to shake hands and her heel work more when im not busy
 

maven

New Member
Hmmmm... Macho man :)

Oh, I know! Whaddya think of... Leave it so that the name or activity you put in as the last word doesn't matter -- that way you can always have a political statement at the ready.

Like:
Whaddya think of Osama? (lift leg)
Whaddya think of Cesar? (lift leg)
Whaddya think of the going in the crate?

You get the picture -- could be a fun trick, especially enjoyable for kids who love bathroom humor anyway.

Edit:
That's what I get for not reading the whole thread before posting. Sorry.
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
LOL whaddya think of Cesar....good one! Hmm. I suppose I could just get it good on a hand signal and just have them do it no matter what I say. Not sure but we're still not quite there yet so I guess we still have some time to figure that out.
 

snooks

Experienced Member
:doglaugh:I think of SADDLE-UP dunno why. However long the sentence is remember the dog only need to be trained to ONE word. the rest is noise. so "cesar" would be all u needed to teach cue to for example. it ends the sentence so bam! :dogtongue2: also dunno why i think of that song honky tonk badonkadonk (SP?) too many c&w songs.
 

storm22

Experienced Member
you could make it a car or drink name

what do you think of "CATS"
what do you think of "HOLDENS"
what do you think of "BUSWEISER"

lol im thinking of going with the holden idea lol
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
Thanks everyone!

Boyfriend suggested "Put Out the Fire" as Fickla suggested. I still don't know what I want to call it. Ah well. Guess we'll see.
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
I like "Mud, you a bad dog?" BAH HAHA !! Like, "bite me":msngiggle:

I've started teaching Buddy to growl on cue, only is third day today, he is getting it. It'll be hilarious once he's got it.
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
Lol yeah that's one of my faves. ^^ For Mud I think it's between the boy dog trick and the bad dog. For Zeke I'm not sure. Maybe the bad dog.

Mud's not vocal at all. >< I wanted to teach the growl trick but the most I've ever heard out of her is some Border Collie mumbling. (See Dat123's Easter egg vid with Talin.) Once in a blue moon she'll bark, but most of the time all I hear is mumbles, and that's usually when we're training and she's trying really hard to get something down. Lol! It's uber cute. She'll growl if we're playing tug and I growl at her, but without the tug she just kind of looks at me like, "Hey that's a neat sound, wonder what she's doing that for." Silly girl. Zekers isn't vocal either, unless he's extremely excited...and then he just has a weird yip. If he's feeling extremely lonely once in a while he'll howl. But no growling or anything.

Can't use saddle up because one of these days I'd like to teach her to jump on my horse's back. I've already got the horses desensitized to this, and I have a horse short enough that Mud could make it. Zeke could probably jump on any of them just because he can jump so dang high.
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
Yeah, my growling with Mr. Buddy, he only growls during tug of war, too. So far, i have not been able to get him to growl without tugofwar.
I give the cue, and when he growls during tog of war, i click, treat, and praise. so far, i can see in his eyes, he is beginning to understand the point, but i am sensing, Buddy isn't keen on growling at me. so far. He instead offers a strange lil vocal noise that is probably a mumble...

Love the description of border collie mumbles. BAH HA HA!!
Buddy never barked for the entire first month he was here, we weren't sure if he could. I "taught" Buddy to bark, and i remembered seeing someone, was it Jean or CollieMan, who said something like "Be careful about what you wish for" or something along those lines, about encouraging/rewarding barking can have drawbacks...
But so far, he isn't too bad, just with that rottie, and MAYBE that is solved...maybe.

Hey, how did you teach lift the leg, just click when he was urinating?
 

fickla

Experienced Member
tigerlily46514;17739 said:
Hey, how did you teach lift the leg, just click when he was urinating?
With some dogs you can try touching their back leg lightly and they'll lift it a little bit. That didn't work with my dogs though.

So I started with a object behind them, like a book, and clicked them for backing onto it. My dogs already knew the 2 on 2 off position so this was easy. But then I moved them so that the book was at an angle so they would try to back up but just one foot would touch it (or if you're fast, you dont have to move the book but just click for the first foot that touches it). I consistently click for the one leg on the book, and then gradually start moving them further from the book so when the leg goes out to touch it the book isn't there, I still click and reward the lift. Once the dog understands to lift his leg, then I only click for longer time of the leg being lifted.
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
Mud couldn't catch on that way, Zeke either. With Mud I kind of poked around(very gently, not prodding lol) on the inside of the leg until she lifted it. Started out with very little pressure, just enough to feel weird but not hurting at all. Once she understood that pressure=lift leg, then I started just putting my hand there. Then putting my hand an inch or two further forward, not touching her leg at all, but touching her side. Then further forward, etc. The purpose of that was to make sure she would do it without my hand being there.

Start out just asking for a split second leg-lift. Once he's got it, then keep your hand there and if he starts to drop it just kind of tickle him to remind him you're still there. He should hold it up. Don't ask for a long one, just click and treat for him holding it longer than normal. Slowly ask for more and voila. He'll be holding his leg up forever, lol. This is something he does all the time anyway so muscle memory should kick in. He should pick it up faster than Mudflap lol, since she doesn't have to hike her leg. With Zeke I didn't have to poke around, I found it entirely by accident so I started teaching it.
 
Top