Trick and Treat: How Hard Is It to Teach Your Dog Trixie Tricks?
If you have a cute smart and wonderful dog name Trixie - and let's face it, if you have a dog, they're probably practically the cutest and most wonderful dog to ever exist - you might think that teaching Trixie tricks is a fun and easy way to show the rest of the world how great she is.
No doubt you're getting ahead of yourself imagining how many hits a video of her doing back flips is going to get on YouTube, but let's back up a minute.
First, you have to teach her back flips.
Back up again, first she has to be smart enough to be able to learn back flips.
Back up one more time, she has to be able to do back flips.
You see where maybe this fun and easy way to show the world how great Trixie is may not be so fun and easy.
Here are the basics of teaching a trick, and after reading, you can decide if you still want to try to teach Trixie back flips.
Signal You will need to establish a trigger signal to tell Trixie when it is time for her to perform her trick.
This signal must be simple, clear and consistent.
You must make sure that this signal doesn't get confused with any other commands you already give her.
For example, if you are teaching her to get up on her hind legs and you do so by giving her bottom a pat, but a butt-pat is how you tell her to sit, she will be greatly confused.
It is likely that Trixie will unlearn the "sit" behavior or simply not learn the new trick signal.
Vocal Signal There are two types of signals that can be used to cue a trick, a verbal and a hand signal.
If you choose a verbal signal, you must make sure that it is spoken loudly, clearly and with a similar tone of voice each time.
This verbal command must also not sounds like any which can already be found in Trixie's vocabulary.
For example, to get her to get up on her hind legs, rather than something short and clipped, like "Up" which may end up sounding, to Trixie, a lot like "sit," try something different like, "Silver.
" Silver mimics the famous cowboy saying, "Tallyho Silver, away!" This means the trick is both more performative to the audience, and more distinct from Trixie's other commands.
Hand Signal A hand signal is sometimes a better choice for tricks.
You can do a hand signal which somehow matches the action you wish to evoke from Trixie.
To get her to raise up on her hind legs, you can make a fist and "rear" it back.
This is an easily recognizable signal, and it demonstrates to her what she should do.
Even a bit better is a combination of a hand signal and a vocal command, i.
e.
both the fist rear and "Silver.
" Reward While stereotypically, treats are the reward of choice for teaching dogs tricks, this is not always the best way.
It is likely that you'd like to be able to give your dog treats just because, at some point.
You don't want to confuse her into thinking that she only gets treats when she does tricks, and then giving her treats at random.
Treats are only effective if you set aside one special type of treat for trick training and another for everyday consumption.
Also, make sure you only give Trixie treats in little pieces, you don't want her to get fat or sick because of eating too many treat while training.
Sometimes, coupling treats with verbal encouragement and physical affection - petting or scratching - is a helpful way to teach her.
When you are without treat bits but want to show off a trick, you can reward her with petting and verbal encouragement, "Good dog," so she is still rewarded for her trick.
This continues affirming her behavior and therefore keeps her training from getting confused.
Punishment Don't punish her when she gets it wrong, but don't reward her either.
If you are trying to teach her a trick, be patient and remember that you're the one who wants her to learn it.
She's trying to learn it to indulge you, so if the going is slow, it's not her fault.
Don't reward her when she gets it wrong, because confusing her by reward other behavior isn't doing either of you any favors either.
Making it "Stay" One thing you may find, once you have trained Trixie in this certain way, is that people want to see her do her cute trick over and over again.
Be sure, if this is the case, that you avoid letting other people confuse her with the wrong signal, or by over rewarding her.
Even something like a limp wrist or too many shakes in a hand signal, or adding a word in a verbal command can undo hours of hard work and training.
Showering her with treats and praise unconditionally will confuse her, and will likely have a similar muddling effect on your training.
Do some research about the trainability of Trixie's breed before getting started so that you don't expect more than she can give you.
Also, keep in mind that she wants to make you happy.
Don't act disappointed or cranky with her when she gets it wrong, or she will become depressed.
Be patient, and remember: teaching your dog Trixie tricks is supposed to be fun.
No doubt you're getting ahead of yourself imagining how many hits a video of her doing back flips is going to get on YouTube, but let's back up a minute.
First, you have to teach her back flips.
Back up again, first she has to be smart enough to be able to learn back flips.
Back up one more time, she has to be able to do back flips.
You see where maybe this fun and easy way to show the world how great Trixie is may not be so fun and easy.
Here are the basics of teaching a trick, and after reading, you can decide if you still want to try to teach Trixie back flips.
Signal You will need to establish a trigger signal to tell Trixie when it is time for her to perform her trick.
This signal must be simple, clear and consistent.
You must make sure that this signal doesn't get confused with any other commands you already give her.
For example, if you are teaching her to get up on her hind legs and you do so by giving her bottom a pat, but a butt-pat is how you tell her to sit, she will be greatly confused.
It is likely that Trixie will unlearn the "sit" behavior or simply not learn the new trick signal.
Vocal Signal There are two types of signals that can be used to cue a trick, a verbal and a hand signal.
If you choose a verbal signal, you must make sure that it is spoken loudly, clearly and with a similar tone of voice each time.
This verbal command must also not sounds like any which can already be found in Trixie's vocabulary.
For example, to get her to get up on her hind legs, rather than something short and clipped, like "Up" which may end up sounding, to Trixie, a lot like "sit," try something different like, "Silver.
" Silver mimics the famous cowboy saying, "Tallyho Silver, away!" This means the trick is both more performative to the audience, and more distinct from Trixie's other commands.
Hand Signal A hand signal is sometimes a better choice for tricks.
You can do a hand signal which somehow matches the action you wish to evoke from Trixie.
To get her to raise up on her hind legs, you can make a fist and "rear" it back.
This is an easily recognizable signal, and it demonstrates to her what she should do.
Even a bit better is a combination of a hand signal and a vocal command, i.
e.
both the fist rear and "Silver.
" Reward While stereotypically, treats are the reward of choice for teaching dogs tricks, this is not always the best way.
It is likely that you'd like to be able to give your dog treats just because, at some point.
You don't want to confuse her into thinking that she only gets treats when she does tricks, and then giving her treats at random.
Treats are only effective if you set aside one special type of treat for trick training and another for everyday consumption.
Also, make sure you only give Trixie treats in little pieces, you don't want her to get fat or sick because of eating too many treat while training.
Sometimes, coupling treats with verbal encouragement and physical affection - petting or scratching - is a helpful way to teach her.
When you are without treat bits but want to show off a trick, you can reward her with petting and verbal encouragement, "Good dog," so she is still rewarded for her trick.
This continues affirming her behavior and therefore keeps her training from getting confused.
Punishment Don't punish her when she gets it wrong, but don't reward her either.
If you are trying to teach her a trick, be patient and remember that you're the one who wants her to learn it.
She's trying to learn it to indulge you, so if the going is slow, it's not her fault.
Don't reward her when she gets it wrong, because confusing her by reward other behavior isn't doing either of you any favors either.
Making it "Stay" One thing you may find, once you have trained Trixie in this certain way, is that people want to see her do her cute trick over and over again.
Be sure, if this is the case, that you avoid letting other people confuse her with the wrong signal, or by over rewarding her.
Even something like a limp wrist or too many shakes in a hand signal, or adding a word in a verbal command can undo hours of hard work and training.
Showering her with treats and praise unconditionally will confuse her, and will likely have a similar muddling effect on your training.
Do some research about the trainability of Trixie's breed before getting started so that you don't expect more than she can give you.
Also, keep in mind that she wants to make you happy.
Don't act disappointed or cranky with her when she gets it wrong, or she will become depressed.
Be patient, and remember: teaching your dog Trixie tricks is supposed to be fun.
