Good Trick Videos For Small, Young Dog?

myraellen

Well-Known Member
Does someone know trick training tutorials where there's small dogs in them? Does anyone know other trainers besides Kikopup that has training tutorials where there's small dogs in them?
Could anyone put a list about easy tricks?

My friend has young Cavalier that doesn't know many tricks yet. She would like to know if there is some easy tricks to start with? She is not looking for obedience or some certain tricks. Does someone have good ideas for her? Does those, who have small dogs, have own trick videos? There are many videos that has big dogs or it isn't shown how to teach the dog to do them. Some of tricks may be hard to teach for smaller dog.
 

kassidybc

Experienced Member
I don't know of any trick videos that specialize in small dogs, but I could still give you ideas for some easy tricks- sit, lie down, shake, spin, and touch my hand/a target stick with their nose, are some examples. There are many more. And most tricks that big dogs can learn, so can little dogs. So don't feel like you can only watch videos for small dogs.
 

648117

Honored Member
I have a little dog and haven't had any problems with teaching her any tricks. I used to have Cavaliers (never taught them tricks though) and Holly is smaller than a Cavalier, much shorter and stockier (she's a Pug X)
You teach a little dog the same way you would a large dog, there is no real need for seperate tutorials (just sometimes crouch or sit on the floor when you could stand with a larger dog).

There really hasn't been many tricks that I haven't been able to teach Holly due to her size. The main ones that I can't teach are the sort of tricks used in disc dog (eg, jump onto my back) because her little legs don't let her jump high enough.
Also, she can't cross her paws, she never does it naturally and when I tried to teach it it didn't work that well because her arms are too short (although she did try, it was more of a "put one paw on top of other" rather than them crossing), but even a Cavalier should manage that one (Holly has very short muscular arms, a Cavs should be longer and more slender than Holly's).

Good luck :)
 

Mutt

Experienced Member
I actually find the oppossite to be true, I have quite large dogs (for tricks training): 30 and 35 kg and almost all tricks are suitable for smaller dogs, where I sometimes have to be creative (having a dog jump in my neck for instance isn't such a good idea :D).
Like pointed out above whether a dog is small/big or a shepherd/toy dog doesn't really matter.
 

ackerleynelson

Well-Known Member
  1. Sit Command - Get some of your dog's favorite treats. Hold one treat out to your dog so that he/she can smell it, but not eat it. With the treat in your grip, just above his/her nose and say in a clear tone, "Sit". Your dog hears it first time, you need to show the dog what to do. Once the dog finally sits, say Good boy/girl.
  2. Take a bow – While your dog take a small treat in your hand and place it right in front of his nose. Very slowly lower the treat towards the ground between his front paws as his nose follows it his front end will go downwards while his back end stays in the air, making it look as though he’s taking a bow. Praise and reward him.
 

myraellen

Well-Known Member
We have not been able to write in this forum for a while but now we are back. In the previous message we had told that:
My friend has young Cavalier that doesn't know many tricks yet. She would like to know if there is some easy tricks to start with? She is not looking for obedience or some certain tricks. Does someone have good ideas for her?
My friend would still need ideas of what to teach to her dog, Lotta. First of all, one of you had told that:
I don't know of any trick videos that specialize in small dogs..//.. most tricks that big dogs can learn, so can little dogs. So don't feel like you can only watch videos for small dogs.

So, you had told that it doesn't matter what is size of the dogs that are in tutorials, but size affects on what is possible to teach for a dog. They don't always tell that if there are big dogs in tutorials, what can you do if you have a small dog. All of the tricks cannot be teached to small dogs. For example this one:

or how to teach your dog to fetch drinks from the fridge.
When we are talking about tricks, Lotta already knows how to sit and lie down, but not to bow or what was suggested here:
I could give you ideas for some easy tricks- sit, lie down, shake, spin, and touch my hand/a target stick with their nose, are some examples.
You can of course give also other suggestions.
 

myraellen

Well-Known Member
One of the things my friend would like to teach to Lotta is this frog trick. See more below.* My friend didn't know before that this is an actual trick. Lotta doesn't do it by herself but her previous dog would often lie in that position.

My friend doesn't even know where to begin in teaching that trick. It should be teached one part at the time to Lotta because of this: Lotta often acts silly and when she is acting silly, it helps when the wanted behavior is divided in small parts and she's always rewarded after taking just a little step to the right direction.

*You can see what trick this is in the following video. It's the only one that shows all the stages:


However, Lotta doesn't for example know how to back up onto something. Besides that is advanced behavior and Lotta has not been trained much. So, this trick should be teached to Lotta in this way:



Does someone have a video/tutorial or could someone make one where this trick is teached in stages in the same way as in the picture? This is probably how to start teaching this frog trick:
Regardless of how you teach this, first stages are: the dog looks at the pillow/goes near it, next s/he sniffs/touches the pillow, then the dog is standing so that her/his front paws are on the pillow. If no one has that kind of video/tutorial could you at least write what to do here?:
How do you continue teaching the trick
if you use a) luring b) shaping? So, can someone tell this to my friend?
 

running_dog

Honored Member
However, Lotta doesn't for example know how to back up onto something. Besides that is advanced behavior and Lotta has not been trained much. So, this trick should be teached to Lotta in this way:
For this method of training this trick I don't think you can simply replace the hind paw targeting stage with a front paw targeting stage. The reason a hind paw target is used in the first place is because it means the dog is actually reminded that it has hind legs. An awful lot of dogs simply don't seem to know they have hind paws at all! Hind leg/paw awareness is very important for this trick. If you are worried that backing up onto an object is too advanced for this dog then this whole frog trick (trained this way) is far far too advanced.

If you want to work on shaping then choose a simpler trick to work on (like "paws on", "pivot", "back up"), if you want this particular trick then a much simpler way of teaching it would be to teach a hind paw touch of your hand (like teaching a dog to shake a front paw) and then with the dog lying down get it to paw target your hand further and further back.
 

648117

Honored Member
We have not been able to write in this forum for a while but now we are back. In the previous message we had told that:


My friend would still need ideas of what to teach to her dog, Lotta. First of all, one of you had told that:



So, you had told that it doesn't matter what is size of the dogs that are in tutorials, but size affects on what is possible to teach for a dog. They don't always tell that if there are big dogs in tutorials, what can you do if you have a small dog. All of the tricks cannot be teached to small dogs. For example this one:

or how to teach your dog to fetch drinks from the fridge.
When we are talking about tricks, Lotta already knows how to sit and lie down, but not to bow or what was suggested here:


You can of course give also other suggestions.
I have a small dog (Pug X) and there are honestly very few tricks that I have wanted to teach her but can't due to her size.
Yes, disc dog stuff is one example (she can't jump high enough to rebound off me or do a back stall etc). We have also had little success with "cross paws" as her arms are too short to cross over each other comfortably. But I can't think of much else where her size has been the limiting factor.
So, although there are some tricks she can't learn because of her size, there are an aweful lot of tricks that she can and has learn't. I teach my dog tricks the same way as everyone else, her size does not change the method used.
There are also tricks that she can learn that a big dog can't and she finds some tricks a lot easier to learn than big dogs do.
For example, she can do a trick where she puts both her back feet on one of my feet and both her front feet on the other and I walk around with her there - this would be harder with a heavier dog and impossible with a dog over a certain size. Really large dogs also have trouble learning tricks, for example some are too tall to learn a leg weave or cop-cop etc without knocking their owner over and would also not be able to learn jumps for disc due to their size and weight.
I think large/tall dog's have more limits on what tricks they can learn than small dogs do.

Also, I can pick my dog up with one hand ;), I can pick all three of my dogs up at the same time :X3: (two in one arm, one in the other) - people with medium+ size dogs can't do that :LOL:
 

myraellen

Well-Known Member
I have a small dog (Pug X) and there are honestly very few tricks that I have wanted to teach her but can't due to her size...
We made that comment because my friend would like to answer to similar messages.


The reason we have asked about this frog trick is that my friend has not found any information where she read about it the first time or anywhere else, for that matter.

I don't think you can simply replace the hind paw targeting stage with a front paw targeting stage.

My friend had seen a video where this trick is teached by that other way except they don't use actual targeting there. it says that "Here is mine and Lo's first try" where she saw it and read about this trick the first time:

that video doesn't show all the stages. My friend means that it goes too fast because that dog is fast to learn. At the beginning the dog is sitting near the pillow but next she is already lying on the pillow. At the end of the video she almost does the whole trick.

Whereas:
It should be teached one part at the time to Lotta because of this: Lotta often acts silly and when she is acting silly, it helps when the wanted behavior is divided in small parts and she's always rewarded after taking just a little step to the right direction
However, you are saying that this trick can only be teached by this way:
The reason a hind paw target is used in the first place is because it means the dog is actually reminded that it has hind legs...//... Hind leg/paw awareness is very important for this trick. If you are worried that backing up onto an object is too advanced for this dog then this whole frog trick (trained this way) is far far too advanced
The questions are now: How did that little dog learn that trick? Did she have some skills already that were needed for this trick? If it is possible to teach it by that way, then how to teach it?

Does someone have a video/tutorial or could someone make one where this trick is teached in stages in the same way as in the picture?...//... If no one has that kind of video/tutorial could you at least write what to do?
 

myraellen

Well-Known Member
My friend was looking for a list of easy tricks. She saw in this thread: http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/forum/threads/good-tricks-for-beginners.4309/
this trick: "peek-a-boo (dog stands between your legs)". She would like to ask about it. She was looking for tutorials of it. In the tutorials my friend saw, they show it with dogs that know how to stay behind you without getting up... The questions are now:
1) a. How do you teach the dog to do things behind you?
b. Should the dog have some skills before teaching that?
2) Is there a way to teach this trick to a dog that doesn't know how to do things behind you? So, can it be teached so that at the beginning the dog is in front of you? It would be difficult to use luring or hand targetting with Lotta because she is a small dog.
 

running_dog

Honored Member
If you want a systematic list of tricks and what groundwork you need for each I suggest you buy a book such as Kyra Sundance's 101 dog tricks, Although she does not use a small dog as a demo nor does she use an old dog, a short legged dog, a long backed dog, and arthritic dog, nor a dog with liver problems, each dog has it's own limitations and most of them are not to do with size. As you are very focussed on the small dog aspect you might find it instructive to look at the youtube channel of New Bear, a currently dormant member of this forum.

Okay now let's focus on the frog trick. I was not intending to say that the trick can only be trained by backing on to a cushion, I am sorry if I gave that impression, I was trying to point out that if your dog is not advanced enough to understand the back up cue then it probably will struggle to understand that it can do a trick with it's hind legs. Cricket is a dog that is very used to being trained, in fact I rather think I recognise Cricket as belonging to a dormant member of this forum, a really gorgeous dog that has probably been free shaping for at least 3 years. The other video you showed is a dog that is also very clearly used to being trained and as you rightly point out is has a lot of groundwork already laid down, I also suspect that it naturally takes up the frog position so what the video shows is capturing rather than training the trick. If you want to train this trick using a pillow targeted by the front paws that is fine, you have decided the method you intend to use so go ahead, work it out, there will be a way and you will learn a lot through the process.

If you want advice on how you could train the frog trick then based on the fact neither you nor the dog are experienced I suggest training the dog to target your hand/an object. Here is video of how to train paw targeting, it makes NO difference what size or age the dog is for this trick.

after the dog is comfortable with paw targeting then with the dog in a down position on a soft surface offer it the paw target, click and treat, then repeat but moving the target slightly further back each time. When the dog is comfortably extending it's leg each time slip the target just out of reach as the dog tries to touch it, click and treat. Repeat until the dog knows it is the movement of the leg not the touching of the target that earns it's reward.
 

running_dog

Honored Member
My friend was looking for a list of easy tricks. She saw in this thread: http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/forum/threads/good-tricks-for-beginners.4309/
this trick: "peek-a-boo (dog stands between your legs)". She would like to ask about it. She was looking for tutorials of it. In the tutorials my friend saw, they show it with dogs that know how to stay behind you without getting up... The questions are now:
1) a. How do you teach the dog to do things behind you?
b. Should the dog have some skills before teaching that?
2) Is there a way to teach this trick to a dog that doesn't know how to do things behind you? So, can it be teached so that at the beginning the dog is in front of you? It would be difficult to use luring or hand targetting with Lotta because she is a small dog.
1) a. This is called proofing - making sure a dog understands the commands no matter what the circumstances are. You can see Southerngirl, one of our very experienced members proofing both her dogs to sit behind her in this video, this was as groundwork for the Stand tall back to back challenge. You can also see the difference between Missy who is used to Danielle asking her to do odd things and Piper who is young and relatively new to training :LOL:.

b. No, you can start proofing as soon as your dog thoroughly understands it's first cue.

2) If you are asking "Are there other ways to train this trick?" then the answer is Yes, here are a few examples...
  • You can train the dog to come round to heel on cue - then you could stand with your legs apart but right next to a wall so where your dog usually finishes is wall, likely your dog would come between your feet then and you could reward in place.
  • You could stand behind the dog and teach it to walk backwards into peekaboo position between your legs.
  • You could train paw target and then use that to free shape the right position.
  • You could train the dog to be very competent and confident with shaping and then free shape without a target.
  • To overcome your targeting problem you could train target stick (video available on kikopup channel) and use that as a target.
  • To overcome the luring problem you could kneel on the ground and use luring and then when the dog is clear with the cue you could proof the dog so it understands it is the same cue when you are standing up.
But if you are really asking "is there a way to train this trick without doing any groundwork, proofing, luring, or targeting?" Then unless the dog does the behaviour naturally and you can capture it, in my opinion the answer is, No.
 

running_dog

Honored Member
The questions are now: How did that little dog learn that trick? Did she have some skills already that were needed for this trick? If it is possible to teach it by that way, then how to teach it?

I'm confused, why do you want to teach that trick only by "that way"?
 

myraellen

Well-Known Member
When we are talking about this peekaboo trick, Lotta doesn't know how to stay behind my friend. Therefore the question is this:
"Are there other ways to train this trick?" then the answer is Yes...
  • To overcome the luring problem you could kneel on the ground and use luring and then when the dog is clear with the cue you could proof the dog so it understands it is the same cue when you are standing up
You gave a list of ways to teach this trick and that is the easiest. My friend can try it.

My friend didn't know before much about this frog trick and that there would be several ways to teach it. This is one:
the trick can be trained by backing on to a cushion....//.... Cricket is a dog that is very used to being trained, in fact I rather think I recognise Cricket as belonging to a dormant member of this forum, a really gorgeous dog that has probably been free shaping for at least 3 years.

The other video you showed is a dog that is also very clearly used to being trained and as you rightly point out is has a lot of groundwork already laid down, I also suspect that it naturally takes up the frog position...
That is another. In that video the owner says to the dog: "Hop up" and she rather gets onto the pillow. It's different than what you are suggesting which is the third way to teach it. My friend can try that:

If you want advice on how you could train the frog trick then based on the fact neither you nor the dog are experienced I suggest training the dog to target your hand/an object.....//......after the dog is comfortable with paw targeting then with the dog in a down position on a soft surface offer it the paw target...
I'm confused, why do you want to teach that trick only by "that way"?
My friend meant that if/when the pillow is used, it should be put in front of the dog. So, the questions are now:
Should the pillow be used with dogs that doesn't know how to do this trick?
If so, how would you use it with what you are suggesting above?
 

running_dog

Honored Member
My friend meant that if/when the pillow is used, it should be put in front of the dog. So, the questions are now:
Should the pillow be used with dogs that doesn't know how to do this trick?
If so, how would you use it with what you are suggesting above?
I suggested that your friend trained her dog on a soft surface because I would hate the dog to graze itself on the floor in some way. To me the frog trick looks like it could be a bit uncomfortable, especially if you are repeating the movements quite lot while training.

A soft surface for training could be a cushion, or a thick rug or maybe lying on the settee if the dog is allowed on there. I don't think I would make the dog have to learn getting onto the soft surface as part of the trick I'd just make sure it was on one.

For the method of training I outlined once you've chosen the safe surface you want to use you could cue "on", lure the dog on, or pick the dog up and put it on, it doesn't matter as long as the dog ends up in a safe comfortable position to do the trick. When the trick is trained you would then only cue it when the dog is in a safe place to do the trick - like when I ask my dog to roll over I have to make sure the surface and space is safe for him to do that before I cue the trick, sometimes I will call him into a safe place, sometimes I'll lure him, sometimes he'll be in the right position anyway!

All that said, teaching a dog to get on an object on cue both forwards and backwards are really useful foundations for other tricks in the future - they are well worth training.
 

myraellen

Well-Known Member
My friend thought she would tell that she has started to teach the peek-a-boo -trick in the way you've suggested.

My friend needs to do what you are suggesting here before she can teach the frog trick:
If you want advice on how you could train the frog trick then based on the fact neither you nor the dog are experienced I suggest training the dog to target your hand/an object. Here is video of how to train paw targeting, it makes NO difference what size or age the dog is for this trick.
 

running_dog

Honored Member
My friend thought she would tell that she has started to teach the peek-a-boo -trick in the way you've suggested.

My friend needs to do what you are suggesting here before she can teach the frog trick:
That's great, I'm really pleased that your friend has been able to start training these tricks. I hope she has a lot of fun and do please let us know how she gets on!
 
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