Tricks Mini Demo - Ideas?

reveuse

Well-Known Member
Sunday is the final tricks class and we are all supposed to do a little demo . Ro's BIG reveal of his reading trick will be most of my demo but I'd like to add in a few more of the things he has learned recently.....

I was thinking of asking him if he is ready for the surprise and having him do "nod" (which he just learned in the past week or so) ...... And then having him read sit/down/touch ...

I cant think of anything else to do though...
 

srdogtrainer

Experienced Member
{Can he retrieve a book?} Maybe you could say...Do you want to read now? (Nod) Okay go get your book...(gets book or back pack maybe even unzips the backpack to get the book out) {Can he nodge the book oben with his nose or paw?} Open it. (Nudges book) What is the story about...Is it about cow boys? (Bang) or is it about dancers (dances) or is it about...

Do you have a list of commands he knows? I might be able to give better suggestions if I know what tricks he already knows.
 

srdogtrainer

Experienced Member
or... he gets the book and then you ask if he is ready for story time and he rolls himself in a blanket (story time right before bed).

or he could retrieve various items representing well known fairy tails, etc.
 

reveuse

Well-Known Member
I LOVE those ideas.....
However maybe I should've been a bit more specific about what I meant ... In this case "reading" refers to flash cards with printed command words on them


That said if i had the time I would soooooo try to teach Romeo the "story time" idea..... (i won't be able to by sunday I don't think) --- cowboys?dancers?squirrels?ghosts? hmmmm I know what I'll be teaching next week for sure! - actually maybe I'll give all of that a go tonight and see how he does - any tips on how to start it off?
 

reveuse

Well-Known Member
yep - that was who I actually got the idea off of from a thread I read a couple of weeks ago. He is great at reading down, sit and touch (which are the three he learned that first weekend) , but hasn't really picked up on Bed yet .
Reading three words should make for an impressive enough mini demo but still kinda want to do another trick too
 

srdogtrainer

Experienced Member
I knew what you were refering to. I just automaticly associate reading cards with dogs helping to teach kids to read. The dogs show how they can read the cards and then the kids think if a dog can do that why can't I. Then the kids read the story books to the dogs, because the dogs will not criticise their reading which helps the kids build confidence.
So in my mind the two go together. Payton a reading dog I met would always carry his little back pack with a book in it to each class room he visited and then show off his reading cards. In my mind the two concepts are linked and I thought something like that could be worked in to your intro.

As for tips to train it: If he already knows bang and you want to transfer the behavior to the command cowboy you would say cowboy and then bang so that over time he would associate the new command with the old behavior. Or you might want to find a phrase or a little skit that you would do.
Someone on the forum said they use the command squirrel for beg. For dance I would do like a beg but have the dog follow a treat in circle. As for ghost, I'm not really sure...maybe you could have him crawl under a sheet and sit in the middle LOL, actually that would make for a pretty cool trick!

If you want something more directly related to reading cards maybe after asking if he wants to show off his surprise trick, you could ask him how badly do you want to show off your trick and he could beg. You could have him carry a folder of his cards up to the front of the room.

You could also consider showing off his naming objects trick, if he is starting to get the idea of it, as a seperate trick. It is semi related in that both are working on recognizing words, one set verbally and one set visually. It might be a little bit of a stretch to say they are related, but I think both tricks would be impressive and there would be ways to relate them.

You could do a skit where Romeo is in school and is showing what he has learned. It might be too much to teach him in time for the demo but it would be cool if you taught him to count and then you could have him show what he learned in math, reading, maybe add something for gym, foreign language (basic obedience in another language) spelling (I met a dog that would respond to spelled words like s-i-t, d-o-w-n) etc.

Just a list of ideas... maybe they will help you think of others. I might start working on some of these with River.
 

srdogtrainer

Experienced Member
Oh and Charlie really is an amazing dog! He is quite entertaining, there is never a dull moment when Charlie is around!
 

reveuse

Well-Known Member
heehee - i like the school idea too - he does sometimes respond to "s-i-t" spelled out, and also knows the german word for it as well (used to also have sit in french but its been forever since we worked on that)

it was actually me that uses squirrel for beg :dogbiggrin: ...... LOVE LOVE the idea of him hiding under a sheet and sitting up for ghosts (was just thinking of him hiding on "boo" myself) .......

might need to get him an ittty itty bitty doggie backpack now too and have him transport a book! but hes sooooooooooo little it would have to be a tiny book

His objects are Great at home...... but once we are out he has zero toy interest - literally zero.
Even the magic carrot fails to get a response from him - this might have to do with the fact that (until recently) he has been on a Gentle Leader when out and couldn't actually "play" with the objects :)
 

reveuse

Well-Known Member
I can't find a small enough book ...or at least I couldn't today at Target..... this is one of the downsides of having such a little dog...
 

srdogtrainer

Experienced Member
I know I had some really small books as a youngster. One was probably about 1 inch by 2 inches. Others maybe 3 by 3 inches. Unfortunately I would have no idea where to tell you to look. I also have a tiny back pack which is a souvenir from a zoo that would fit a beanie baby teddy bear. Sorry I can’t be of more help. You might be able to make one…

Probably book stores with a large kid section would be a good place to try.
 

reveuse

Well-Known Member
those are ADORABLE!

Ro is more the size of a beanie buddy (think thats what they call the larger ones)....... --- him maybe my enteriprising super crafty and artistic friend might be up for a backpack project :)...

Orrrrrrrrrrr i saw a cute raincoat the other day that had a pocket ...

I seem to remember having a miniature copy of the cat and the hat a few years ago.... maybe its still floating around in my unpacked boxes of books...- I'll pop into the bookstore tomorrow and see if they have something small too
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
GREAT ideas posted already! ^^

How about teaching him yes/no, just to signal, so you can signal them for any question?

For instance:
"Ro, we've been working on liking people, haven't we?" (signal nod)
"You really don't like men, do you?" (signal no)
"And you REALLY don't like being away from Mom, do you?" (signal no)
"But you really like training, right?" (SPEAK!)
"Ro is REALLY smart." (shy?)
"Ro, do you know how to read?" (signal YES!)
Intro reading tricks.

The words are actually not cues at all, just your signals.
 

srdogtrainer

Experienced Member
GREAT ideas posted already! ^^

How about teaching him yes/no, just to signal, so you can signal them for any question?

For instance:
"Ro, we've been working on liking people, haven't we?" (signal nod)
"You really don't like men, do you?" (signal no)
"And you REALLY don't like being away from Mom, do you?" (signal no)
"But you really like training, right?" (SPEAK!)
"Ro is REALLY smart." (shy?)
"Ro, do you know how to read?" (signal YES!)
Intro reading tricks.
The words are actually not cues at all, just your signals.
Great suggestion!
I think your training class, and trainer would get a kick out of this!
 

reveuse

Well-Known Member
LOVE this! (and since I already have a yes nod I think teaching him no in two days is entirely doable (i actually was trying to on wednesday for a bit)....
Now I just have to figure out the best way to teach no.....(maybe park him at a street corner since i jokingly make him "look both ways" before we cross a lot of the time anyhow?) hmmmm...... dunno....... need coffee....... brain cells not functioning....
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
LOVE this! (and since I already have a yes nod I think teaching him no in two days is entirely doable (i actually was trying to on wednesday for a bit)....
Now I just have to figure out the best way to teach no.....(maybe park him at a street corner since i jokingly make him "look both ways" before we cross a lot of the time anyhow?) hmmmm...... dunno....... need coffee....... brain cells not functioning....
Here's your answer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpbAGvHFL-g
 

reveuse

Well-Known Member
I watched that a little bit ago actually! ROFL

but i don't want him to think paper = touch as a defaulty thing right now since one of his flashcards actually is "TOUCH" - if that makes sense......
any other method?
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
Mud wanted to pull the post it notes off and give them to me, lol. So I tried getting her to touch my right and left hand, holding each to the side of her head. Then tried to do the same thing Kikopup did with the chairs, but with my hand. She kind of has it; once in a while when she's at her wit's end trying to figure out what I want, she will slowly target something to her left side and then swing her head back to the left. I've been jackpotting it every time, but she's still a little bit confused on this one. We're working on it.
You could use your legs maybe. Teach him to touch anything you point to--i.e., a spot on your left and right leg. Signal each, practice a while, and then just wait him out and see if he will offer it.

Also, are your flash cards white? You could try to find a color he sees really well(with various different post-its), so he could(maybe?) associate it more with the color than the paper. This is what I've done with Mud--that's why I bought the pink koozie for my beer trick. She sees pink really well, so I use it as a target with any trick I think she might have trouble with.

Or, just two random objects on either side of him. I've done enough shaping with Mud that if I bring out a random, new item, she knows she has to do something with it. Her first reaction is to touch it, even if I don't have anything on it to target. Maybe this would work for Ro??
 

reveuse

Well-Known Member
Hmmm he has had a long enough nap , I think I will wake him up in a few min and see how that works......
(i got his "nod"/yes from us trying to teach head down in class the other week .......... He lowers his head but wanted to pick it back up so nodding bobblehead dog resulted)...

My turn to ask a "stupid" question now : how do I know what color he sees really well? his cards are indeed white (with dark blue lettering)....... but the only color type preference he seems to have is his ability to recognize the standard petsmart uniform (thankfully the uniform overrides the maneating even - he accepts new male employees rather fast usually after one cookie and a "say hi" )... his favorite toy was a pink dragon for ages . now its an orange carrot he obsesses over?

the "no" is definetly one I want him to learn without luring if possible........... he tends to get "Stuck" on food when i lure him........ still working on fading out a lot of his tricks just because he is all like no cookie = no trick mommy........ i dont work for free

i need a good hand signal.... for nod its when he is in down i just move my index finger up and down
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
Basically just try different colored post it notes and see which he responds to best. I found this out kind of by accident. I was using various post-its for a few different tricks, but wasn't using all one color. It was random, and Mud would always respond best and fastest to the pink post-its.

I suppose you could put a few different colors on something and see which he targets first, or most in say, 20 repetitions? In other words, he touches, you click and reward, (no commands, just wait him out), he touches, you click and reward, and so on. Which did he touch most? Did he touch the same one every time?
 
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