mom24doggies

So today I had a training session with Trev...just working on sit/down/stay, getting our "roll over" down a bit better (anyone else have trouble teaching this one? He seems to be having a hard time...most of my other dogs picked up on it really quick, even my bigger ones. He's getting it, it's just taking longer.), and working on "beg" and "give me your paw". Plus we have a recall game...I have several of my siblings hide in the bedrooms and take turns calling him. He thinks it's great fun. Anyway, not too long ago, Trev figured out that offered behaviors got treats too...so now, if we've been working on one specific thing for a while and he's getting tired of it, he will offer me something else, kind of like "Hey mom, can we do this now?!" It's so cute...I really love watching him figure things out, especially when I withhold a treat because what he did wasn't quite what I wanted. His sense of justice is very strong...he literally expects a treat for everything. I guess that's partially my fault, I feel bad for not rewarding him, so I tend to give him a treat every time. I'm getting better at it. Anyway, so what are some other fun tricks I could teach him? He's got his basics, such as sit, down, drop it, wait, heel (sort of. :P), stay, and come. They aren't perfect but I don't really expect perfection, "good enough" is ok with me. I'm having trouble thinking up new tricks. I've never really tried to teach anything but basic commands and a few tricks such as roll over and shake hands. :P Thanks!!

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"Love is the emotion that a woman feels always for a poodle dog and sometimes for a man." ~George Jean Nathan

dawns

There is a lady on you tube, can't think of the name now, but if you search poodle tricks i am sure it will come up, anyway, she has taught her dog all kinds of cool things. i know i watched her videos for hours one night when i found them. you will certainly get alot of ideas from her. the hard part will be deciding which to do first, lol.

JE-UK

Trick training with a poodle is GREAT fun! I've taught Vasco all sorts of silly stuff, and we use it to lighten us both up when we are working on obedience stuff.

You could try bounce (leap in the air without touching you), weave through your legs, leap over your outstretched foot, open and close cupboard doors, bow, carry something (a small bag is cute), put toys away, hide (cover his eyes with his paws), cross paws while lying down, walk on his hind legs .... the possibilities are endless! I taught Vasco to stand between my legs and put his front feet on top of my feet, then we walk a few steps forward. People are amazed at this one, though it was actually quite easy to teach. He likes it that my hand is directly above his open mouth .

There are some great training videos on Youtube ... if you search on Kikopup, Tab289, MultiAnimalCrackers, or dfenzi, you'll find some great stuff (esp MultiAnimalCrackers teaching a donkey to retrieve ).

Once the dog is reliably working for food, and you are utterly sure he understands the cue, it's best to move to a variable reinforcement schedule. Two benefits: the dog never knows when you are going to come up with the goods and will actually work HARDER, and it means you can start to chain behaviours together to create new ones. I do sequences of stuff like go-round, spin, through, through, twist, circle (go around me to the right, spin in a circle to the right, go under my right leg, go under my left leg, spin in a circle to the left, go around me to the left), and THEN I reward.

The only exception is the clicker ... the clicker must ALWAYS mean food is coming, or it starts to lose it's effectiveness. I train new stuff with a clicker, and established stuff with a "Yes!!!".

Keep up posted!

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"Yes is so much important than No." Dominique Barbier