Tricks

Whispered

Inspired by a photo in the pictures thread. I thought a thread where we could chat about the tricks our pets can do would be fun.
One of the hardest parts of training for me is to try and find new things to do and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Maybe we can inspire each other :-)

One of my favourite things that Phoenix does is to give his paw to my foot. I copied a friend who has a small terrier but I think it's great for heavier dogs who sometimes can hurt your arm in their enthusiasm. It's such a simple thing I don't know if I'd even call it a "trick"! I taught it without a verbal cue and only recently realised how handy that is when we visited a house with young kids who Phoe couldn't understand. I think it's a nice way for people who might be a bit nervous to interact because it doesn't involve putting your hand down to the dog. Likewise for a dog who doesn't like people looming over them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foKq07DdCWk

So what's your favourite trick and why.

maggiepip

This isnt really a trick as such but my collie gives the most amazing hugs, real human like hugs. She started it shortly after we rescued her age 2. I started saying "hug please" as she was doing it and now I get hugs on demand. Because she takes her hugs so seriously the "hug please" comes in handy if I want to distract her from being naughty

sotisme

Charlie, doing a few of his tricks! I took this video about half an hour ago so he was quite tired.. but still performed well :P I normally never feed him bread but a tiny piece won't do any harm

He's a 7 year old CKCS (love him to bits but wouldn't recommend the breed in general due to health problems) and he also does agility! :pac:

SingItOut

Moone can do sit, down, roll over, give paw, speak (ask), get sticks for the fire when asked and spin. I posted a video of her doing them in the picture thread last year I'll try dig it out.

Alli's only with us 2 months but so far she can give the paw, sit & lie down. I'm trying to teach her to stand on her back legs but she can't quiet keep her balance yet without putting her front paws on my arm, we'll get there eventually

Hooked

Hugo can give the paw, lie down, go to bed, come, Jump up, stand, speak, lie on his side, roll over, turn around, go through my legs, wait, fetch (specifically his rope or ball), give it (any item he's holding)... I'm sure there are more...

And he will do most of the above with no verbal command. Just a hand gesture.

Not forgetting his 'sledding' commands... Hike, on by, gee, haw, whoa...

But...

My top three tricks (with him) are...

3. High Fives

2. Crawling

1... When he says 'I love you'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTvgHUVKIk4

Whispered

maggiepip wrote: »

This isnt really a trick as such but my collie gives the most amazing hugs, real human like hugs. She started it shortly after we rescued her age 2. I started saying "hug please" as she was doing it and now I get hugs on demand. Because she takes her hugs so seriously the "hug please" comes in handy if I want to distract her from being naughty

That's a great trick! I love that she takes it so seriously

sotisme wrote: »

He's a 7 year old CKCS (love him to bits but wouldn't recommend the breed in general due to health problems) and he also does agility! :pac:

I love him what a cute happy little face. How does he get on at agility?

SingItOut wrote: »

get sticks for the fire when asked

I'd love to know how you taught that. Sounds very handy.

Hooked wrote: »

1... When he says 'I love you'

:eek::eek: That's so cute!

SillyMangoX

My cats are clever clogs and know how to sit, give paw and give kisses. I've no video of the kisses because its very hard to hold a phone and a treat at the same time :P Also I've taught peach to stand up on her hind legs when I say sit so everyone thinks she's stupid but I've no video of that either :P

mymo

My daughter taught the dogs to jump through a hula hoop and the cat does the same since he wanted some of the attention they were getting.
Both dogs do the usual sit, high five, give the paw, Ollie bows, both speak, jump up onto, or down from when asked, dance on back legs, Tiffi jumps into your arms if you put your hands either side of her belly. Probably a few more I can't think of.
Cats, well jake jumps through hoop as said above, also gives high fives, Toby will sit and beg for a treat, Ruby talks to you, but that's it so far (she's only here 5 months).

Oh, Tiffi will run along a wall or anything you tell her (sleepers in garden most often) and Oliver has discovered when loose in the car, how to beep the horn to get me to come back!

Whispered

Oliver isn't a boxer by chance? Haha did you see that video of the boxer in the car beeping the horn?

baby and crumble

I taught Twitch to sleep all day on command. It's amazing, he gets it right every time!

:P:P:P:P

Although having said that, if he's out having a run in his ball and my GF starts singing he'll follow her around like a puppy. It's actually adorable.

SingItOut

Whispered wrote: »

I'd love to know how you taught that. Sounds very handy.

she always used to pick up sticks or toys to play with so I asked her to "get sticks" and point at them so now she'll run out to the kitchen to get one or if we're out in the shed i'll ask her to get a stick and she'll bring it in and leave it in front of the fire. If she's too comfortable on her bed then she won't bother

mymo

Whispered wrote: »

Oliver isn't a boxer by chance? Haha did you see that video of the boxer in the car beeping the horn?

Must look for that one!
Oliver is a Tibetan terrier, who has also learn to open cupboards and cans of sardines recently.

Whispered

That's so cute baby and crumble! That sleeping thing is a great trick. I'm not too bad at it myself.

Here are my two sugarplum fairies doing their pirouettes
:pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDHGKWdwkLA

sotisme

Whispered wrote: »

I love him what a cute happy little face. How does he get on at agility

Well, I may be slightly biased but I think he's great!

ABajaninCork

Mine can give the paw, high five, lie down and beg. We didn't teach him to beg though. One night, I wasn't quick enough with his treats after being brushed. So he sat up and begged!

Now, we tell him to 'ask nicely', and he'll beg. If he wants to look extra cute, it's accompanied by paw waving!

TG1

Bob does all the usual's - sit, stay, lie, beg, paw, dance, jump, up etc.... He learnt to respond to gestures without us consciously teaching them, he just picked up on our visual ques... As a result we have my little cousins convinced he speaks German, and my rugby mad uncles convinced he responds to "Crouch, touch, pause, engage" which is pretty funny...

He is also amazing at balancing things on his head, he can do anything from treats to hats to action figures!

His most impressive in my opinion is that he will lie down and I can put treats on his paws or his nose or his tail and he won't go near them until I tell him "Now". And it's only taken me 11 and 3/4 years to teach him self control! :P

Whispered

Please post some picks of him balancing stuffing his head. It sounds brilliant!

TG1

As requested!

Layinghen

Fantastic photographs TG1.

My dog doesn't do any tricks:(. She will sit and stay and that is the end of her talents!!

ShaShaBear

Shadow does Paw, Other Paw (to hand or to leg, whichever you hold out for him), Sit, Lie Down (for some reason he will only lie down if you point at the floor), Roll Over, Spin, Up, Off, Get the Fly (spiders), Where's the squeaky (get his closest toy), Window (look out the window), Who is it (check the front door), Say Please (bark), Wait (for treats), Play (into the arse-up play position), and Kiss!
He can close doors if asked too, but it has to be partially closed and you have to be standing and pointing at it for him to get it :P

anniehoo

My last dog used to do sit, stay, paw, other paw, speak, kiss, all with hand signals only; go get your lead; then die (lies down); on "dying" you'd pick her up and lie her across your arms and say "awww bonny's dead" and she'd v dramatically flop her head down to the side and stay motionless. (very morbid trick that one :P)

God I still miss that dog

olliesgirl55

I am bowled over by the cuteness that is this thread. Cute and smart pets you got there guys:)

Whispered

Shasha Harley hunts spiders too. It's great isn't it. I'm petrified of them. one evening a huge one, the size of my hand was going around the sitting room. So I asked Harley to get it, which he did. In his excitement of how big it was he started to play with it and threw it straight at me. I still shudder when I think of it.

Anniehoo - I love the sound of that play dead trick. so dramatic haha

borderlinemeath

Funny, mine don't have interest in spiders at all, but put wings on it and they would climb the walls to get a 'buzzybee' - which is the coverall word for flies, moths, bees, wasps, daddy long legs and any other winged insect that has the misfortune to fly into the house.

As for tricks, Coco will do the usual, sit, stay, down, paw, roll over. As well as get the ball - but she can make the distinction between ball - big ball - frisbee - monkey (current soft toy) and bring the relevant one. She's also very good at "show me" - when she wants you to do something - she gets your attention and when you ask "show me" she looks directly at whatever she wants thrown or helped out of under a chair. Sometimes you get a dance with the look as well.

One thing that she taught us - from a young age she always tapped the door with her paw to get out for a wee, from that she realised that the tap got our attention so she took to tapping her food bowl when she was hungry to get her dinner.

Benson does a few bits along with the basics, he'll jump through a hula hoop and come through my legs and sit around by my side. He'll also sort of 'talk' on command - if I look at him and pull a certain face (imagine a huge, over the top smily face!) and then immediately turn away, he'll "talk" to make me look back, by talk he's make a mumbly grumbly noise until I look back and pull the face again. He'll also say "yes" and "no", well his "yes" is sort of "heh" and "no" is "row", but he's getting there! He'll also automatically give the paw when he wants something - he sits and gives a certain look and if you approach you get the 'autopaw'!

zef

All my 3 cats give kisses- in different forms. Thats about it.
Dumbles gives an actual kiss, or rather a nose touch. Dobby ambushes me with licks on the arm when i'm not expecting it and Dougal's form of a kiss is a head loaf.
Dougal can press the button on the loo on command too.

I love the dog who balances stuff!

Whispered

zef wrote: »

Dougal can press the button on the loo on command too.

!

Like mr jinx