# Does your dog do parlor tricks that impress kids?



## xellil

When I move back to texas, I will be around my cousins' kids, all who are under 7 and all are terrified of dogs, especially big dogs. But my cousin told me they were walking one day and were impressed by a dog who could shake hands.

because of our first trainer, I was really turned off all the parlor tricks and never taught Rebel any. He used to do "paw" but no longer does. 

What would be cool to impress 4,5,6, and 7 year olds? The only thing he does, that remotely resembles a parlor trick, is holding treats on his paws. He'll hold one on his nose but normally tilts his head a little so it falls off, so that's not so impressive.

Besides "paw," I know they thought that was cool so I'm re-teaching him that one.

I know if Rebel scares these kids one of my anal retentive cousins will never let them go around him. And just seeing a big dog will make them run and scream the other way. i know, I know - they sure weren't raised like my kid! 

and also, is there a good book or website on teaching parlor tricks? I am trying to do the "paw" thing but he's not too impressed. He raises his foot about 1/4 inch off the floor and then looks at me like "treat please?"


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## Scarlett_O'

My friend's 3(almost 4) year old(Huginn's niece) LOVES when Rhett crawls around on the floor!:smile:

She is use to dogs, horses, cats, etc. But when I had him in the the house for a birthday bond fire and he was starting to bounce around, I got him to focus on me, and one of the things we go thru is lay and then crawl.....she started giggling, and couldn't stop!LOL

We are working on doing the "fire-roll" next!:wink:


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## xellil

That's a great idea. Rebel does the military crawl very well when he is trying to sneak away from me. So I guess I just have to figure out how to ask him for it. it is pretty hilarious.


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## MollyWoppy

Mol does heaps of tricks, mostly for that very reason, kids and non-dog liking adults. It doesn't help that Mol looks like a small German Shepherd, so I find a lot of people naturally shy away from her and assume the worst. 
On a happy note, tricks really do loosen people up and every single kid we've come across adores it. The only trouble is that the kids all want to hug her and then they want to try and get her to do the tricks too, so poor Mol gets bombarded with commands. I can see her look at me, like, what the hell, get me out of here sunshine! But, she's a good sport!

Google dog tricks, there's heaps of sites with good instructions on different things to teach.


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## xellil

Thanks. I made the mistake of assuming i would never need this. I should have known better. We teach dogs tricks for more reasons than one, i guess. If it were up to me, we'd never have to shake each other's hands.

I'll google - I looked out there, but man it was so overwhelming I didn't know where to start. i have a month so I want to pick about five tricks and get them down good, if I can. 

And to be honest, since probably August we have done almost no training at all, except stuff like making him wait for food. Since my dad got sick my dogs have been pretty much ignored. So we probably need to work on stuff like heel again also.


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## Scarlett_O'

xellil said:


> That's a great idea. Rebel does the military crawl very well when he is trying to sneak away from me. So I guess I just have to figure out how to ask him for it. it is pretty hilarious.


How I do it with Rhett, granted he was only 4 months old when we started, I get him to lay down, and then say "craawwl"...and slowly pull the treat away by about 6 inches, once he makes that first move I give him a tiny bit of the treat and we keep working(Ill allow his rear to come up off the ground when we first start so that he is ok with doing it.) I only work on about 1-2 feet at a time, then we break and go to something else, and just keep working on it a few times a day, he now will do it for about 4 feet....and does it for his food when ever I feed him out of his crate!LOL


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## xellil

Scarlett_O' said:


> How I do it with Rhett, granted he was only 4 months old when we started, I get him to lay down, and then say "craawwl"...and slowly pull the treat away by about 6 inches, once he makes that first move I give him a tiny bit of the treat and we keep working(Ill allow his rear to come up off the ground when we first start so that he is ok with doing it.) I only work on about 1-2 feet at a time, then we break and go to something else, and just keep working on it a few times a day, he now will do it for about 4 feet....and does it for his food when ever I feed him out of his crate!LOL


Wow - that's great, thanks. We'll start tonight. I love step by step instructions!


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## Scarlett_O'

xellil said:


> Wow - that's great, thanks. We'll start tonight. I love step by step instructions!


Good luck and no problem!:smile:

(I have been working with my husband to train his 2 boys....and that takes step by step instructions, so Ive gotten use to stating them that way!LOL:tongue


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## xellil

and Rebel will be glad to get some attention. We went from spending several hours a day doing stuff to me throwing some food at them on my way to bed. And then he got the ankle issue and we're trying to heal it so it's been downhill for several months.

I hate to say I need the same level of detailed instructions as a fellow, but as people have said until i'm sick of hearing it - it is what it is!!! No offense, fellows.


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## Sprocket

I found it helpful that Gunner did the crawl and paw on his own before I taught the command. 

He would "sneak" across the living room st a friends house to play with their dog. He'd crawl the entire way so we associated a command to it. 

He also had an affinity for pawing you so now he has to wait for us to ask for it. He knows shake and high five to further utilize his want to paw you. He has since stopped pawing without a command. 

I taught Mikey the nose "touch" because he did it already so I just used the word for it. Gunner knows "touch" too

I can't wait to show my nephew next week!


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## bernadettelevis

Kids love Levis "Peng" (drop dead) command and "shame on you". They also love the roll. If you want i could make a video of how i taught him those tricks


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## kady05

Oh yeah.. all of mine know cute tricks that kids love. Wilson had a crowd watch him "perform" last weekend at the grand opening of a pet store LOL. 

Roll over is a good one, so is "BANG!" (play dead). Take a bow is another cute one.


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## IslandPaws4Raw

Try teaching him how to jump through a hoola hoop! They're really cheap in walmart etc. You could start by just having him walk trough it while it's touching the ground, once he knows the command you attach to the behavior you can raise it off the ground, Should be a real crowd pleaser with kids.

Sit pretty is easy enough to train if you don't want props. Just have him sit then hold the treat just out of his reach above his head, as soon as his front feet come off the ground, treat. Gradually pull your hand higher until he's in the right position, then work on him holding the position. This is great commercial training, when you're watching your favorite show on t.v. have your treats on hand for the commercial breaks!


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## chowder

I agree.....the 'sit pretty' or 'beg' or whatever you want to call it is always a kid and crowd pleaser. Rocky sits up on his butt and then waves his feet around (he's really just trying to get his balance!) and then all the kids want to hug him. I trained that just like "Island" said....hold the treat just above his head when he is in a sit while saying 'up' or 'pretty' or in our case we say 'mooch'. As soon as his front feet lift up, give the treat. Use itty bitty pieces of treats so you can give a lot at at time for about ten minutes of training. He'll catch on real fast. 

Shade 'plays possum' which is the same as playing dead but he does the possum imitation from the movie and kids can poke him in the belly with their fingers while he stays perfectly still and doesn't move and imitates a possum. It makes him really harmless and lovable to little kids (especially if they know the movie "Over the Hedge" !)


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## NZ Raw

bernadettelevis said:


> Kids love Levis "Peng" (drop dead) command and "shame on you". They also love the roll. If you want i could make a video of how i taught him those tricks


Would love to see video :smile: two tricks we haven't learnt. We have crawl, beg, roll over, shut the door, high five - other side, spin, food on nose, which hand, say mama, and many more are working on smile at the moment. Little poppy in my avatar is good at bringing all her toys by name and does the cutest crawl.


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## Huginn

Scarlett_O' said:


> How I do it with Rhett, granted he was only 4 months old when we started, I get him to lay down, and then say "craawwl"...and slowly pull the treat away by about 6 inches, once he makes that first move I give him a tiny bit of the treat and we keep working(Ill allow his rear to come up off the ground when we first start so that he is ok with doing it.) I only work on about 1-2 feet at a time, then we break and go to something else, and just keep working on it a few times a day, he now will do it for about 4 feet....and does it for his food when ever I feed him out of his crate!LOL


I taught my sheltie this when I was a kid and I just started teaching Ajax and he is three. I use this exact same method and Ajax got it in a matter of minutes.


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## kady05

Here's Wilson's tricks.. this is old though, he does them a lot more.. fluidly now. But you get the idea:


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## xellil

Man, those are all so cool. Bernadette I would love to see your video. And kady I love your video, I bet the bang thing would be a hit!

Remember that thread here with the youtube video of the dog showing his weenie??? I could never do that with my prudish cousins, but man that was hilarious.

Thanks for all the great ideas. I probably won't be able to do all of them before January 15, but I bet we can get pretty good at a few.


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## MollyWoppy

Mollie does 'bang' pretty well too. Thats always a good one with the kids. When she goes to ground she also covers her eyes. I didn't teach her that, it was just a natural behaviour she offered, and whenever she did it I rewarded. From DFC, I learnt thats what you call shaping, so it wasn't hard.
Another easy trick thats a real hit is barking on command. I do that with a tiny signal, I use my right little finger, but I guess you could blink or something. This way I can say to Mol, whats 6 - 2 and she will give 4 barks, as I cue her secretly twitching my little finger.
I just got her to bark and made a big wave with my finger when she did it, and as she got use to it, reduced the movement so that you can barely see it now.
She will also jump through my arms like a hoop. Same thing at Islandpaws4raw explained. Get them to walk over your arm with a treat on the other side. Over time, raise your arm until they are jumping. Then start looping your arms together. 
Touch is another good one. Hold a treat in your closed fist, and as they touch it to get the treat, say good and give them a treat from the other hand. It's quick to teach this one. Now Mol for example, will go behind my back to touch my closed fist, jump and do anything to punch her nose into my hand. I've actually taught this one to quite a few of the neighbourhood dogs, they have all picked it up really quickly. 
With 'crawl'. I just sat on the floor, got Mollie to lie down then baited her to crawl under my raised leg. 
Spin is really easy, just bait her.
Circle, bait to circle around you.
Figure 8. Bait to do a figure 8 between your legs.
Same thing walking, I'm not sure what you call it officially, but when they weave between your legs. Just bait her. I tap my leg that I want Mol to walk under.
Mol knows heaps of tricks. I can't remember them all, but honestly, if Mol the Moron can do them and actually learn most of them quite quickly, you are home and hosed with your pup!


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## xellil

yes, we did the hoola hoop thing at training class but Rebel is just so big and clumsy - same with walking between my legs. We did alot of stuff in class that required straddling our dogs - that works if the dog's back is lower than your crotch. 

I really like the bark idea - Rebel is very vocal. I can ask him to be quiet but I can't make him bark on command. That's very cool. And circle like in kady's video. 

I gotta make a list! I wonder if he could actually sit still with his feet off the ground. he weighs 103 pounds and is old. But wouldn't that be cool?


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## xellil

So he's pretty much shaking ok. Do you say "shake" or "paw?" My husband says i should say shake but I said paw. I wonder if it's easy to change. 

The crawl should be pretty easy. Right now he's crawling just about six inches and then tries to stand if it's more than that.

Sitting pretty - I don't know. he's reluctant to take his feet off the ground. He will jump but won't stay up for any period of time. We'll keep practcing.

Now off to circle...


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## MollyWoppy

Just so you know. Sit Up, (or 'Beg' as I call it) took us ages to teach. Mol would beg, but wobble all over the place, so I had to hold her in position till she got her sense of balance. She was young though, so thats her excuse, ha ha. She's a pro now though. Just wanted to tell you so you don't get too disheartened if it doesn't work the way you want it to, or as quickly as you want it to.


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## xellil

MollyWoppy said:


> Just so you know. Sit Up, (or 'Beg' as I call it) took us ages to teach. Mol would beg, but wobble all over the place, so I had to hold her in position till she got her sense of balance. She was young though, so thats her excuse, ha ha. She's a pro now though. Just wanted to tell you so you don't get too disheartened if it doesn't work the way you want it to, or as quickly as you want it to.


Yes, I may not try to force that one. He's big, bulky, and I've never seen him do that naturally - nor roll over either. When he rolls in the grass, he basically just rubs his neck. 

But I think we'll still keep doing it and just see what happens. He really is a quick learner. 

How do you teach BANG?


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## MollyWoppy

This is probably not the proper way to do it, but its how I taught Mol. I got her to lie down, and then lured her with a treat until she was flat on her back (you can do it till your pup's just lying on its side too). As she got in that position, I'd just say 'bang' and give her the hand gun signal. Seriously, if I can do it, any moron in this world can!

What I've done too, is combine the crawl and the 'bang'. So, I go 'bang', give her the hand signal to crawl, and then the handsignal to roll over and die.

Or, you could just chuck him off a bridge!!


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## catahoulamom

Man, you guys sure do have some fancy dogs.  Mine know the basics, we focused so much time teaching our basket-case rescues just how to be able to BE in public without being reactive that they don't know many fancy tricks. They know shake, lay-down, sit, stay, leave it, drop it, heel, etc. 

I am kind of jealous that you guys have dogs that are so good with children. Topher can be around them and just ignores them, I make sure they leave him alone too so he doesn't get uncomfortable. Finnigan, on the other hand, does not like strangers, period. I can take him out, to pet stores and parks and stuff (we don't do dog parks), but the second a stranger comes up to him and says "OMG your dog is soooo pretty can I pet him?!" he freaks. Everyone immediately looks at him in the eyes because ones part blue, part brown, and it just sets him off. He doesn't lunge, or try to bite or anything, but he will start growling and if I don't turn around and redirect him onto me he gets very upset. I've been working on this as long as I've had him, but I've kind of come to accept it. I think a lot of it has to do with his breed. As long as the strangers are ignoring him, he's fine. On the other hand, the people he loves, he REALLY loves.


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## xellil

MollyWoppy said:


> Or, you could just chuck him off a bridge!!


Ha! I'll try your first method first. If that doesn't work, I'll use your plan B


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## DaneMama

Getting our Dane girls to jump REALLY high is always the favorite. Gets the kids to say "do it again!" all the time...but the Danes are lazy sometimes LOL. We had a good sized crowd this day:


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## MollyWoppy

catahoulamom said:


> Everyone immediately looks at him in the eyes because ones part blue, part brown, and it just sets him off. He doesn't lunge, or try to bite or anything, but he will start growling and if I don't turn around and redirect him onto me he gets very upset. I've been working on this as long as I've had him, but I've kind of come to accept it. I think a lot of it has to do with his breed. As long as the strangers are ignoring him, he's fine. On the other hand, the people he loves, he REALLY loves.


I totally understand where you are coming from. This was brought home to me a few weeks ago. There are men that look a certain way, that freak Mollie out. I know why, its something that happened as a pup, I'm really trying to condition her to not react, but it's so hard and everytime something doesn't go according to plan, you are back to square one. 
Anyway, last time we had someone come round home that put her into google eye mode, I tried asking them to not look at her, don't talk to her and don't try to touch her, ignore her and, holy hell, it worked. That lack of eye contact is what did it. In less than 5 minutes, she was taking treats from him (still without eye contact).
So, I totally sympathise with you on people curiously looking at Finnegans coloured eyes. He naturally takes it as a threat. Plus, being a herding dog, they use the staring eye thing a lot. 
I have no idea what to suggest, but just thought I'd sympathise and let you know that you aren't alone!


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## xellil

Well that is too cool. Do they start from a stand? Or sit?

I'm just not sure about Rebel doing that. It's kinda like me doing it. We might hurt ourselves.


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## DaneMama

xellil said:


> Well that is too cool. Do they start from a stand? Or sit?


From a stand usually, Akasha can do it from a sit though. 



> I'm just not sure about Rebel doing that. It's kinda like me doing it. We might hurt ourselves.


Yeah, might compress his back too much. Maybe just teach him to sit pretty :wink:


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## xellil

catahoulamom said:


> Man, you guys sure do have some fancy dogs.  Mine know the basics, we focused so much time teaching our basket-case rescues just how to be able to BE in public without being reactive that they don't know many fancy tricks. They know shake, lay-down, sit, stay, leave it, drop it, heel, etc.


My personal preference would not be to have a performing dog. I kind of have an aversion to it.

however, I'm kind of having fun and Rebel is too. So maybe past bad experiences with this kind of stuff have colored my thinking. 

I think it was the second trainer we had who wanted to first teach Rebel to put his foot on a phone book. this for a dog that woudn't walk, heel, sit, stay blah blah. Really turned me off this stuff. As well as look and touch. i won't ever teach those. I spent hours going look look look while my dog was spinning and frothing at the mouth and the trainer telling me this method ALWAYS works. Bleck. I should have known because her own dog never did a darn thing she asked it. Not even put his foot on a telephone book.

Anyway, I am changing my mind. We haven't spent much time together since August. I am finding it stimulating and fun. I had really forgotten the fun of working and learning new stuff.

But yes, basics first. ALWAYS, basics first. At least that's my opinion.


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## catahoulamom

MollyWoppy said:


> I totally understand where you are coming from. This was brought home to me a few weeks ago. There are men that look a certain way, that freak Mollie out. I know why, its something that happened as a pup, I'm really trying to condition her to not react, but it's so hard and everytime something doesn't go according to plan, you are back to square one.
> Anyway, last time we had someone come round home that put her into google eye mode, I tried asking them to not look at her, don't talk to her and don't try to touch her, ignore her and, holy hell, it worked. That lack of eye contact is what did it. In less than 5 minutes, she was taking treats from him (still without eye contact).
> So, I totally sympathise with you on people curiously looking at Finnegans coloured eyes. He naturally takes it as a threat. Plus, being a herding dog, they use the staring eye thing a lot.
> I have no idea what to suggest, but just thought I'd sympathise and let you know that you aren't alone!


Thanks Penny! That is what I try to do - if I am out and about and someone wants to say hi I immediately tell them (before they even get the chance to make eye contact with Finn) that Topher is the one to pet, and to please ignore Finn. If they understand that and comply, I will give them a treat to nonchalantly toss to Finn. After this, he gets much better and you can tell by his body language he has chilled out. Unfortunately there were a lot of idiots when he was a puppy that would go right up and grab his face and stare at his eyes, "OMG WHY ARE HIS EYES DIFFERENT COLORS LIKE THAT?! IS HE BLIND IN THAT EYE?" And I was too ignorant to tell them not to do it. I figured he'd get used to it, and now he's scarred for life. Go me. Ugh, at least I'll know everything NOT to do with my next dog... 

Sorry for straying off-topic. Xellil, I hope the little ones take to Rebel... he seems like such a chill guy, who wouldn't.  And Snorkels... well her name is enough to make anybody fall in love with her. 



xellil said:


> Anyway, I am changing my mind. We haven't spent much time together since August. I am finding it stimulating and fun. I had really forgotten the fun of working and learning new stuff.
> 
> But yes, basics first. ALWAYS, basics first. At least that's my opinion.


I need to get back into training. We've been really slacking on basic obedience here recently... and I do miss that bonding "AH HA!" moment when you're teaching your dog a new trick and what you're asking of them finally clicks in their head. Its so cute when they figure out what they are doing is right - and then they keep doing it over and over again waiting for more treats LOL (at least that is what Finn did when I taught him paw. Once he understood it, he'd try to give me paw ALL.THE.TIME. thinking that it was the magic treat code. And Topher when I taught him how to speak... UGH now anytime I bring out treats he barks thinking he's doing the right thing. Now we are teaching "QUIET!" haha).


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## xellil

I was like that too. I didn't want to tell people not to do stuff to Rebel. When we walked in the park, I was not a good dog owner. one day a gang of about eight little boys came swarming and one was trying to hit him with a tree branch. Rebel looked at me and gave this giant whine, like "for God's sake DO something, you're supposed to protect me!" It hit me that my natural instinct to be polite to people was really hurting my dog.

So now I just tell people that don't approach properly to stay away or he'll bite them. 

And Snorkels - what a hoot. Rebel has never so much as looked crosseyed at anyone. Snorkels will attack. She's the cute little tiny dog that everyone wants to pet - she only has four teeth and can't really bite but she does a good Cujo impression.

i don't let anyone in the yard any more that hasn't met Rebel until they totally understand there is to be no eye contact and no interaction at all. Not because he's afraid or aggressive, but just because dogs need to be introduced in their own language.

And as for Snorkels, well, sometimes she will attack your shoes. If you come to my house without food in your hand, you gotta deal with it.


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## xellil

You could hang a sign around his neck: Look me in the eye and I WILL eat your face off. 

Or some such.


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## doggiedad

my dog knows a lot of commands. i find children are more
interested in the dog rather than his commands. two
of the things i find the children like are "find it" and "family hug".
"find it", i hide something or the children hide something and i say
to my dog "find it" and he goes and finds what was hidden.
"family hug", i hug one of the kids and say "family hug" and my dog
walks in between us.


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## xellil

doggiedad said:


> my dog knows a lot of commands. i find children are more
> interested in the dog rather than his commands. two
> of the things i find the children like are "find it" and "family hug".
> "find it", i hide something or the children hide something and i say
> to my dog "find it" and he goes and finds what was hidden.
> "family hug", i hug one of the kids and say "family hug" and my dog
> walks in between us.


I'm going to try the "find it" thing. That is cool. i bet snorkels knows that game with no training 

I'm just not used to kids that are really terrified of dogs. When I was about three we made a saddle to ride our boxer. My son has no fear of any dog.

Also, when Rebel loves you, he growls at you. People that don't understand that really misinterpret the giant growl. What it really means is he's about to play with you because he looooooves you.

My problem is really my cousin. She is very overprotective. I think she's the one that has instilled the fear of dogs in her kids. And if she is afraid of my dog, she won't let her kids come to my house unless I keep my dogs locked in a room. I know that because she's done it to other people. And i'm not gonna do that. I have to make it so everyone understands my dog and isn't afraid of him.


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## catahoulamom

LOL! That would be a sight to see, Snorkels attacking a shoe with her four teeth! All, what, 10lbs of her!? bahahaha

Yeah, kids are a tough one for Finn. I used to work at PetSmart and had him with me one day (he was a couple months old and I was working on socialization) and some kid ran down the isle and slapped him on top of his head, HARD. I was in shock, (he was like 7 or 8, old enough to know not to hit a dog, his parents must have really sucked) Finn and I got up and left. And since then he does not respond well to children. I REALLY wish I knew about counter conditioning when he was younger, instead we just left and avoided children from then on. We're now very carefully and gently working on that phobia with him. 

I also try to make sure everyone ignores my pack when they first come inside, it's really difficult because all of my friends know Finn really well and LOVE him (he really loves them too). They all want him to jump up on them so they can kiss him and love on him, he's pretty much eye-to-eye with you when he stands up. I found that it was really difficult telling people to ignore him and not let him jump up and kiss them (nobody would listen), so I taught him the command "hug", so now only jumps up and kisses when invited. I know a lot of people think dogs shouldn't jump at all, but he has been a good boy so far - no jumping unless invited. But yes, if new people are coming over, I make sure they just ignore my pack for the first 15-20 minutes at least so they can calm down and get acclimated. 

LOL - I was actually thinking of getting him a vest that says "in training - please ignore me" but "look me in the eye and i WILL eat your face off" might be more effective!


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## xellil

I think what we need are training kids, who know how to act around dogs. Rebel would just as soon never be around kids. He just tries to ignore them. I can understand why, from what I have seen and what i have allowed to be done to him.

We were walking one day and a man and his son asked if they could pet the dog. I said ok and he squatted down next to his kid and said See? This is how you hold your hand out, in a fist. Don't stare at him. Let him sniff your hand. Then pet him under the chin. 

I wanted to give him some kind of father of the year award.

If all parents did that, both of our dogs would love kids! If a kid ran up and whacked me on the head, I'd want to stay away from them, too.

And yes, Snorkels is totally untrained and absolutely undisciplined. She really doesn't do anything bad, though. I tried to do "sit" with treats and it was terribly stressful for her, for some reason. So I just let her do her thing. She's old, practically toothless, and harmless. And she absolutely doesn't like to be messed with. She is just now wanting to sit in our laps, and we've had her two years in March.

it is slightly embarrassing when she attacks my guests, but in a way it's funny because they are always so freaked out about Rebel they don't even notice her until she is on them. If they aren't nervous about Rebel, she usually doesn't attack. Dogs know these things!!! The first time she ever saw my friend Charlotte she took a flying leap into her arms, and for Snorkels that's a feat. They really DO know people.


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## catahoulamom

I loooove it when I see parents teaching their children how to properly treat animals. Not to common in Miami, unfortunately. I really do think they should teach kids in elementary school how to approach a dog, I bet there would be a lot less bites.


Oh, I totally trust my dogs intuition when it comes to people! I KNEW my boyfriend was a keeper the day I brought him home and Finn was all over him. Took this that day, Finn was still a youngin and not comfortable around most men. Ha, yeah, totally different story once Andrew walked through the door...


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## xellil

i think we're going to have to bypass the stuff that requires feet leaving the ground. He won't even look at a treat above his head this morning. I am guessing it is uncomfortable for him, as he is highly food motivated.

Paw and crawl, we are getting good on. he can do left and right shake, and crawl about 3 feet.

he doesn't seem really enthusiastic about it, though. 

With paw, he actually gave a big sigh before raising his foot up. And it's a slow-motion process. Then he looks at me with this totally bored and half-irritated stare. Happy to get the treat, though.

Aren't they supposed to act happy about doing all this? What am I doing wrong? Definitely giving lots of treats and praise. 

Or maybe he's just manipulating me.

Oh, and I'm definitely not overworking him. About three minutes every hour to hour and a half.


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## Scarlett_O'

xellil said:


> i think we're going to have to bypass the stuff that requires feet leaving the ground. He won't even look at a treat above his head this morning. I am guessing it is uncomfortable for him, as he is highly food motivated.
> 
> Paw and crawl, we are getting good on. he can do left and right shake, and crawl about 3 feet.
> 
> he doesn't seem really enthusiastic about it, though.
> 
> With paw, he actually gave a big sigh before raising his foot up. And it's a slow-motion process. Then he looks at me with this totally bored and half-irritated stare. Happy to get the treat, though.
> 
> Aren't they supposed to act happy about doing all this? What am I doing wrong? Definitely giving lots of treats and praise.
> 
> Or maybe he's just manipulating me.
> 
> Oh, and I'm definitely not overworking him. About three minutes every hour to hour and a half.


AHHAHAHAHA, that is HILARIOUS!! You see, Rhett can run thru his whole "workout" in less then 3 minutes, and is SUPER excited about it, will even try things when Im giving others treats just to see if he gets one too....Leo on the other had will do just what your boy is doing!LOL He looks at Jesse as if to say, "REALLY Dad?! Arent we both grown ups here?? I mean come on, Im sitting down, just hand me a few treats, then Ill lay down and give me the rest!" When Jesse does make him do other stuff he huffs before and after EVERY SINGLE thing!!!!LOL :lol:


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## MollyWoppy

Don't let him get to you. Mol does the exact same thing. Pretends she can't hear me, stares out the window or at the ceiling. Does things in slow motion. After I'm done throttling her though, she perks right up.
I think the problem is that she just gets plain bored. She's good when I'm teaching her new things, but the older tricks bore her silly. It was the same at agility. Once she had learn't the jumps/tunnel/board walk things and we weren't learning anything new because we had to wait for the rest of the class, she'd just lie down on her side like a dead dog in the middle of running the course. Nothing would make her get up unless I physically peeled her off the ground, or if I went and hid.
So, you are not alone. If he gets bored, try teaching something new. He's probably quite smart you know!


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## Huginn

Scarlett_O' said:


> AHHAHAHAHA, that is HILARIOUS!! You see, Rhett can run thru his whole "workout" in less then 3 minutes, and is SUPER excited about it, *will even try things when Im giving others treats just to see if he gets one too....*Leo on the other had will do just what your boy is doing!LOL He looks at Jesse as if to say, "REALLY Dad?! Arent we both grown ups here?? I mean come on, Im sitting down, just hand me a few treats, then Ill lay down and give me the rest!" When Jesse does make him do other stuff he huffs before and after EVERY SINGLE thing!!!!LOL :lol:


Hahah like when you were giving Ajax treats and Rhett wanted one so he sat down and was like "how about now mom?" then he laid down and was like "ok, is this what it takes?"

So cute.


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## Scarlett_O'

Huginn said:


> Hahah like when you were giving Ajax treats and Rhett wanted one so he sat down and was like "how about now mom?" then he laid down and was like "ok, is this what it takes?"
> 
> So cute.


HAHA, yep exactly!!:tongue:

Then the other day I was giving the kitties treats, Dixi and Rhett were in "the cat room" with me and the girls were on their tower....I had him in a lay, and when I was done with the treats I gave him his "ok" command to break...and he started crawling towards me thumping his tail on the ground! LOL :lol:


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## xellil

yes, one of the reasons we guit going to dog class was he got so disinterested in doing stuff. The trainer would say "down your dogs" and Rebel would take a full 30 seconds to go down. He would shift from foot to foot, getting a tiny bit lower each time. Everyone would be staring at us. 

He's not crawling today either. He was doing it great for awhile. Paw is still getting a big bored look, a sigh, and a halfhearted pathetic lifting of the foot.

Well, I'll try circle and a couple of other ones where he doesn't have to exert much effort but I have a feeling I'm not going to be doing any of those videos some of you guys do that people say wow that's cool.


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## chowder

xellil said:


> yes, one of the reasons we guit going to dog class was he got so disinterested in doing stuff. The trainer would say "down your dogs" and Rebel would take a full 30 seconds to go down. He would shift from foot to foot, getting a tiny bit lower each time. Everyone would be staring at us.
> 
> He's not crawling today either. He was doing it great for awhile. Paw is still getting a big bored look, a sigh, and a halfhearted pathetic lifting of the foot.
> 
> Well, I'll try circle and a couple of other ones where he doesn't have to exert much effort but I have a feeling I'm not going to be doing any of those videos some of you guys do that people say wow that's cool.


This is typically what it's like trying to train a Lhasa Apso or a Chow. After 15 years, Chelsy had two things she would do on command and I was lucky to get that much interest out of her. My Chows are always the slowest on the agility course....we go last so other puppies don't have to wait forever while mine SLOWLY meander through the course at a leisurely bored rate. 

It's usually the really smart dogs who give you the bored look over things like 'shake paw' .....maybe you can teach him to read or do calculus!


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## xellil

chowder said:


> It's usually the really smart dogs who give you the bored look over things like 'shake paw' .....maybe you can teach him to read or do calculus!


Yes, I guess I am not nearly stimulating enough for him. He did the same thing on the agility course as your dogs - at the time, I thought he was just too big and ungainly to go fast like the other dogs but now I wonder. It's pretty sad to realize I am dumber than my dog.

Although I don't think the dogs that do those things well are smarter than him - they probably just enjoy it more. I do have the cart that I could never get to fit right, if I could get hubby to extend the shafts so he can pull it maybe I can get him to pull those kids around. He is a working dog; maybe that kind of stuff would be more up his alley.


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## twoisplenty

I love the Bang Bang trick  

Bang! Three boxers playing dead - YouTube


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## KittyKat

I'm trying to teach Piper how to hug. Right now she can do "right", "left", "shake a paw", and "figure 8". I tried to teach her to roll over, just never happened. She doesn't roll over on her own either. The closest she gets is rolling onto her back against the couch cushions. 

Training is good for them, stimulates their brain.


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