What's your favourite trick?

[harry8]

Hi all,

I'm new to this site and am v. keen to hear from people about their favourite tricks. I have a lurcher cross alsation called Harry and i'd like to teach him new tricks.

At the moment, my all-time fav trick is Paw although i've just taught him High Five. I really want to teach him to be Shy. What's your fav and what would you most like to teach your dog(s)?

Clare:doghappy:

 

[nereis]

I love weave between the legs, because he loves doing it so much and is so eager! I also love limp, and him tidying up his toys because they were both quite hard to teach and I love how he knows them now.

 

[harry8]

I'd love to teach Harry to weave and put toys in the basket. That's on my to-do list!! He'd be good at taking all the toys out! haha

 

[Jean Cote]

There is a lesson in level 4 recorded if you want to teach your dog that! :dogsmile:

I think my favorite is tugging and play fetch. LOL. They just bring so much life into my dog Chase that it has to be my favorite.

 

[yoyopoodle]

I also love the shy trick (I use the command 'cover'), my Poodle is so cute when he does it!

For practical purposes, my two favorites are 'fix' (un-tangle leash from their legs or any other obstacle), and 'dry' (shake themselves off, whether water, leaves, snow...).

 

[fletcher]

We have just learnt the the "bang bang" dead trick and that has to be my favorite. He does a very theratrical dead with a "shy" in the middle of it and holds it for a few seconds with a quick check in the middle that I am watching. He often "drops dead" if he is not so sure what I have just asked him to do....... too cute.

 

[hockey390]

yoyopoodle, how did you teach your dog to 'fix'? And will they only do it if there is something on them, or will they do it on command anytime, clean or dirty..? I think that is pretty neat =)

 

[yoyopoodle]

'Fix' is the leash one - I taught it by hold the leash taught between my hands (about 8" wide), and putting the dog's front paw on the leash. I then slowly raised both of my hands so that it would get more and more awkward for the dog to keep their paw on, and just as they were about to slip thier paw off I'd say 'fix'. Start with only the toes on the leash, and gradually move higher up the wrist until you get to the elbow. Somewhere along the way you can substitute the leash to your dog's collar and only use one hand.
I have a funny story for teaching this one:

I originally taught it to Goldens, and when I first tried this method on my Poodle (Charlie) he was much more sensitive to me 'purposely hurting him by tightening the leash'. He quickly decided that the way he'd 'fix' was the grab the leash mid-way in his mouth and pull it to his paw - it then becomes loose enough for him to remove the paw with minimal effort. He will also do this for his back feet, though he personally doesn't care if he's tangled until the leash gets tight.

For 'dry', which is to get the dog to shake themselves off, Charlie will do it any time I tell him to, but he can only do about 3 good ones until he gets a few minutes to recuperate. This is easiest to capture during a bath, as dogs usually shake when their ears get wet. You can sometimes get the behavior by blowing in/on their ear.

 

[tanis60617]

I think my favorite trick is one I learned from my vet and then taught to my border collie. "This is a stick up" make a gun with your fingers and he stands on his hind legs with his paws straight in the air. Everyone seems to love it.

 

[leema]

Mac and my favourite trick is "scary". Because he does it so well! (He covers his face with his paw.) I also like all his jumping tricks because they're the only ones he does with enthuiasm.

Clover does EVERYTHING with enthusiasm. But I really like her "back" because Mac's fails so badly and hers is so nice comparatively.

 

[harry8]

:doglaugh: wow, i didn't realise how many tricks there are out there. Definitely would like to teach 'shake' as he does that a lot when he's had a bath or been swimming!

 

[sarhaspups]

My favorite trick is 'hide your eyes' I taught Ace to hide his eyes under my arm. He has his front paws on my forearm and he puts his nose between his paws under my arm. I will have to get video of it and post it.
Sarha

 

[tx_cowgirl]

I think my favorite trick is one I learned from my vet and then taught to my border collie. "This is a stick up" make a gun with your fingers and he stands on his hind legs with his paws straight in the air. Everyone seems to love it.

Aw, cute!! :doglaugh: Might have to add that one to the to-do list. ^^

Hmm...I don't know about my fave...I like a bunch of them, lol.

 

[fickla]

My dog doesn't do to many tricks yet, so bang has to be my favorite one that he does. However, I love the "cop-cop" trick and cover your eyes tricks, but we haven't taught them yet.

 

[fickla]

I just changed my mind, "Fetch a beer" has to be my absolute favorite. However my current dog doesn't know that one yet!

 

[CollieMan]

My favourite trick, since the very first moment I saw it, is the "cop-cop". I just love the cooperation that is involved from both parties for it to work, and it just looks too cute.

Tricks I really like to teach though are ones that can be put to use in life to help others, such as retrieving specific objects, closing specific doors, etc. Ever since I read that Border Collies don't make for good assistance dogs (too fast and energetic), I've been determined to prove that wrong! There's one sure way to make me succeed at something -- tell me it can't or shouldn't be done!

 

[harry8]

I'd love to teach Harry to do Cop-Cop - any tips? At the mo, i love play dead. We've been showing it to friends and family and they are so impressed!!

 

[CollieMan]

My only tips really are:

1. Show him what you expect first, by placing his paws onto your feet manually and then treating like crazy in rapid succession while he's there. I think it helps sometimes to show the dog the final objective and let them help you to work out how to get there.

2. Once you have him standing under you and in the right position, 'scoop' your feet under his paws so that you are effectively doing the initial working out for him. If that doesn't work, just wriggle your foot near his paw and wait for him to touch it. Once he does, treat like mad!

I found the hardest part was teaching Ellie that I expected not one but both paws on my feet, and so I had to do that bit for her, and that is where the 'scoop' method came in.

Remember to treat the very second that you have your feet under his paws, and rapid-fire treat while he stays there, at the start.

Only then should you start to try to move forward.

That's how I taught it, and she'll do it any time, any place now.

 

[szecsuani]

I have loads of favorite tricks!
Here are some:
bow
jump on my back
cop-cop
around me backwards (I think that's one of Pami's favorites! )
backwards weave
lifting paws
some jumps (like jumping through a ring formed by my hands)
etc...

So I think almost all of our tricks...

 

[harry8]

Thanks for the tips - i'll give it a go soon. At the moment, everytime i try a new trick he just plays dead! Bless him.