Pawing An Object

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
I am teaching Buddy to put his paw on an object on cue.

do i want him to just touch the object with his paw,
or,
is the dog supposed to leave his paw there?
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
That's up to you. I've only just started "sustained targetting," where the dog targets something but stays there. For instance, nose targetting but keeping their nose pushed against the object. Trick for this one: "BAD DOG!" (sits in the corner with nose to the wall) Or, chin targetting, but holding their chin there--used in movies sometimes, where dog puts head on person's lap, or on a chair or something. With Mud she's recently offered targetting with the top of her head. So far it's pointless, but she'll push her head against my palm and sit there until I release her.

I didn't really intentionally teach sustained targetting; Mud just started offering it. But I assume you would reward for longer contact with the object, starting with rewarding just for touching it, and gradually asking for more time.

With Mud, she has a very solid understanding of targetting. The day she started offering sustained targets, I think it was just out of frustration.
Touch.
Touch.
Touch harder.
COME ON, don't you see me touching your hand with my nose??? SEE?? I'm doing it, I'm doing it RIGHT NOW! COME ON!

Lol, so she held it there longer and I jackpotted for it. I was just shaping, not asking for a touch. Her second or third attempt in shaping is usually to touch the object with her nose.
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
MUDFLAP ALWAYS CRACKS ME UP!!! "COME ON!! don't you see???" rolf...

THANKS!!!

So far, Buddy gets too excited, and often LAYS DOWN on the object i am asking him to paw. LIke, places his tummy on it, and looks up at me, like, "How's that? Is that it?" rofl!!

But he is getting it...by end of each lesson, he seems to be understanding it.....this isn't going to be his favorite trick, i can tell already.......

he seems surprised, like, "You're kidding right....that's IT? i just put my paw on this, THAT'S what this is all about, oh for pete's sake...give me a real trick already..."

but, once he advances along, to all over everywhere, he might find it more interesting....
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
Lol, that was Mud's reaction exactly when she first learned targetting too. Really, all I have to do is touch it with my paw or my nose?? But now, after looooots of expanding on it, she is really creative with it and tries all kinds of things with targetting. She targets with her cheek, chin, nose, top of her muzzle, top of her head, front two paws, and back left paw so far.

You could try a post-it note on your foot or leg or something else that he can't lay on and start from there until he gets the idea. Or you could hold the object you want him to paw, and slowly lower it. Once he's got the idea, it'll be easier for him to do it when the object is on the floor. I like to use plastic lids off of Tupperware containers, or butter tubs, etc. I have a few of various sizes.
Or, you could try a raised target, like maybe a small bucket turned upside down with the target on top of it or something, so he has to raise his paw a little to touch it, and then just slowly make it shorter. (A lot like one of the ways you can teach limp!)
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
Buddy does target with his nose for one specific trick, "Buddy wants ICE"
buddy LOVES ice cubes, just loves 'em.
He has zero problem from eating ice, (i'd been advised by others that eating ice can cause bloat? Not sure if that is true or not, but, Buddy is fine with ice, and i never much have Buddy do any running or anything if he's just eaten, not sure if that helps or not.) And i set up a small lil dish of crushed ice, so i can see how much ice he gets total.

I made a little sign "Buddy wants ICE"
and slipped it into a magnetic photo frame. I attached it down low on our fridge.
I rubbed meat on it, to make him sniff at it.
Soon as he did, i clicked, but gave him ICE not a "treat". Intrigqued by this, he continued on his own, pushing his nose onto the sign, getting clicked, but getting ICE instead of treat.

It did not take him long to learn, "If i push my nose onto this lil sign, i get a piece of ICE!!! Then Buddy learned the word, 'ICE', too, so if i asked, "Buddy, do you want ICE?" he'd happily run over and touch the sign with his nose, very cute to see.
To him, ice is quite delicious, go figure. I was hoping HE'D ask for ice on his own, but, nope, he never did, only if i asked him if he wanted ice.

It was a longgggg time before Buddy ever spontaneously asked for ICE on his own,
without being asked, "Buddy, do you want ICE?"

but, finally he did. He watched us making two ice teas, and saw the ice cubes, waiting..hoping we'd drop one...and THEN, he ran over and pushed his nose onto the ICE sign, and was given big praise + some ice cubes. (well, technically, it is partially crushed ice, not ice cube).
but THAT was FIRST TIME he ever asked for ICE on his own, YAY!! Now he does 'ask' for ice whenever he wants some.
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
my daughter said, "why don't you just teach him to hit the ice maker button?"
BUT
sometimes ppl leave the switch over on the "water" not the "ice" dispenser so that would bum the dog right out!!!

and
i could foresee problems if Buddy was given permission to dispense his own ice....

i want to see how much ice he gets
and
i didnt' think i want his occasionally muddy paw touching where eveyrone pushed their drinking glass...

so i liked the 'sign' set up.
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
WOW!! SO SO SO CLEVER!!! I never would have thought of this!!!
I see you had to hold basket from sliding with your foot, i bet if you attach a piece of rubber to the bottom of it, that might help.
ADORABLE TRICK!!!
 

fly30

Experienced Member
WOW!! SO SO SO CLEVER!!! I never would have thought of this!!!
I see you had to hold basket from sliding with your foot, i bet if you attach a piece of rubber to the bottom of it, that might help.
ADORABLE TRICK!!!
The basket is in my office and now she opens it to make noise when she wants attention !
We have extended the game : she opens it and I put a piece of paper in it / I open it and she throws the paper in the bin. Really funny !
 

sara

Moderator
Staff member
Oh my goodness!!! that's adorable! especially when she was trying to decide if it would be more fun to eat/shred the paper than to put it in the can! too funny! Fly is AWESOME!!!
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
the ICE one is super easy. really fast to learn, IF you have a dog who LOVES ice, that is!! All the dog has to do, is touch his nose to the picture of ice, or sign that you make, so it is pretty easy for dog to figure out...and i did cheat, and rubbed meat on the sign, heh heh.

(now i'm getting idea, to have a second sign on fridge for him...i'll have to put some thought into it, any ideas??)

ADORABLE WORK, FLY RULES!!! so so so cute!!! i smiled all the way through the video, had to show it to my family, too!!
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
ah, we do not own a video camera. We have a regular camera, that takes a soundless 30 second video....and occasionally get access to another regular camera that takes a 1 minute video with sound, too.
but, that's about it.
 

Dodge

Well-Known Member
(now i'm getting idea, to have a second sign on fridge for him...i'll have to put some thought into it, any ideas??)

"I WANT SCRAMBLED EGGS FOR BREAKFAST!!" :Dhow funny if they could create their own menu,LOL (y):ROFLMAO:
 
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