Dog tricks = confused dog

Whispered

I like to spend time every evening with Harley on his "tricks", it tires him out and allows us to do something that requires us to work together. Until I got a dog, I would have thought that tricks were a bit demeaning for them, but he loves it and if I don't ask him to do something before feading or giving a treat, he'll go and do something anyway. Physical exercise, while obviously very important, is only one part of keeping him a happy chappy. Draining him mentally is important for me too.

So far we have all the usuals, sit, down, stay, drop, leave it, get it, fetch etc. We also thought him "touch" on the advice of a trainer, play dead, high five, wave, speak, whisper, wiggle, cuddle, yawn & stretch.

Most of the time, he will do no problem but only to a hand signal as opposed to the word. This works out great sometimes, but I'm wondering why it's only to the signals and should I try to phase out their use for a while? I want him to retain the ability to do tricks to the signals but I also want him to associate the word.

Also, he sometimes looks confused when asked to do something, like high five, wave and down, he sometimes lies down but tries to wave or high five while doing it. Should I go back to basics, make sure he has one thing learned perfectly, then move on again?

He is a smart little brat and picks up on things very quickly. Yet when we have visitors, he plays up. Why oh why does he love pleasing us when there is nobody else around and as soon as we have company he turns into a brat. :rolleyes:

peasant

helena.ryan wrote: »

He is a smart little brat and picks up on things very quickly. Yet when we have visitors, he plays up. Why oh why does he love pleasing us when there is nobody else around and as soon as we have company he turns into a brat. :rolleyes:

One word ...excitement.

When he's working with you he's doing just that ..."working" (even if it's "just" tricks)

Yet when there is a oooh-ing and aaah-ing audience hes not working but performing. All that counts is the applause. As he (like all dogs) thrives on applause=praise=attention he simply forgets the routine/ignores instructions and just rolls off every trick he's ever learned for instant ooohs and aaahs.

Whispered

Age old excitement problem I had before then. He's an excitable little fella all right. Even if he's wrecked he'll still find it in him to annoy our guests, get himself punished, then start again.

Blueprint

Have you tried teaching him a "go to bed" command when you have visitors? My fellow thinks the world revolves around him when we get visitors and won't leave them alone. One time this guy who didn't much like dogs came around and the dog was climbing on the chair next to him and trying to get his attention, so I decided he needed to learn to go to bed and behave himself. He's pretty good at it now, although he does tend to sit or lie in it with his head hanging off looking pathetic in the hope someone will take pity on him and let him come to them.

As for the random tricks, my guy still does that all the time, I think he's once or twice been rewarded when he did the wrong thing really well, so is hopeful. Plus he doesn't always understand what you want, so tries everything in his repertoire.


And I've given up trying to show how smart he is in public, as he never performs then!

mymo

I do the same with the dogs to tire them out on rainy days(there's been a lot lately), when they don't get enough of a run.
They love it but I have yet to get them to perform for anyone, Oliver even jumps through a hula-hoop and the pup has started to copy the tricks. I too use the go to bed as they can be a bit much when excited, although Oliver thinks so long as on part of him(paw, bum, even just the tail) he's in bed:o
But he's young yet so theres hope.
The latest game is hide and seek, my daughter hides then I send him to find her:D
I also get given the paw at random times, or he does his dance whenever he hears a packet rattle, just encase theres something in it for him.
I had two dogs and a cat begging for roast beef sunday
why do I never have a camera when I need one.

They will never do this in front of someone, I just get the look and a waggy tail!

Whispered

Ah I'm so glad, I thought I was doing something wrong. He does go to bed, when there is nobody there, but as soon as you turn your back, he's behind you again, like you said blueprint, he thinks the world revolves around him.


Oliver sounds great, one little bit of him means he's in bed. They're so funny aren't they, the way they get things into their head. That jumping through hoops thing sounds brilliant. Must go buy a hula hoop.

Blueprint

If you want to wear him out mentally, I just bought Jasper one of those dog puzzles from Zooplus (for some reason it's 10 quid cheaper on th Irish site than the UK or DE one and I couldn't resist a bargain!); I've been feeding his dinner in it the last few days and he's definitely getting better at it.

olaola

Blueprint wrote: »

If you want to wear him out mentally, I just bought Jasper one of those dog puzzles from Zooplus (for some reason it's 10 quid cheaper on th Irish site than the UK or DE one and I couldn't resist a bargain!); I've been feeding his dinner in it the last few days and he's definitely getting better at it.

OMG! That's savage... I'm getting one right now!