FOOT -- put one foot on any location/object I indicate (taught by reinforcing the dog for touching (targeting) many different objects with his foot)
CHIN -- lay chin on whatever object I indicate (taught by tapping the dog's chin, clicking/treating, until the dog anticipates and moves her chin towards the hand -- then asking for more duration and different locations)
FEET UP -- put feet up on any surface I indicate -- whether standing or sitting (taught by asking the dog to target to the object/surface my hand is tapping that I want him to put his feet on)
HEAD DOWN -- drop head down -- whether standing, sitting, or lying down (taught by first asking the dog to target my hand -- held progressively lower; also into his chest to bend the dog's neck and
clicking/treating for his nose touching my hand)
GO -- towards location indicated (initially taught by teaching the dog to target his front feet/foot to a "mark" (a small mat), clicking/treating each time he touches it with his foot, then progressively having him "Go Mark" from greater distances -- clicking/treating when he reaches target.
GET IN -- get into what I indicate (taught by putting a treat inside the object (box, tub, etc.) and clicking when the dog goes inside to get it (clicking as the dog reaches the treat). This progresses to cueing "Down" when the dog is comfortably getting inside the object.
GO THROUGH -- go through what I indicate (taught by starting out with easy obstacles and progressing to more difficult ones. I usually teach this with toys and play.)
COME -- DOWN -- SIT -- WAIT -- standard obedience cues.
NOSE -- target object/location with nose (In this clip, Jyah is targeting his nose to a large yellow ball. For directional pushes, I c/t pushes that moved the ball in the direction I wanted. (To begin teaching this, I put a treat under the ball so the dog has to put his nose under the ball to reach the treat, which rolls the ball. I click exactly as he reaches the treat.)
LOOK RIGHT -- LOOK LEFT (taught with targets -- I stand behind the dog holding a three-foot long dowel pin which has a small ball stuck on one end as a target. I have her look at the target (ball) by turning her head to the right. As she turns her head, I say "Look Right" click/treat). I click *before* she starts to move to touch the ball with her nose. I do the same for the left. When she begins anticipating by turning her head as I say "Look Left" or "Look Right", I begin fading the target.
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In this clip, I have also used the following actions which were either captured or trained with targets:
STRETCH -- captured with a clicker when dog does the behavior (Obviously, this is a behavior the dog has to do on her own for you to capture it. It is much more difficult to train dogs this behavior who never do it naturally. There are many trick books that show other ways to get this "play bow" behavior.)
SPEAK -- captured with a clicker when dog does behavior (With many dogs, this is difficult to get "on cue." Usually, you will have to cause the dog a certain amount of frustration to get him to bark so that you can capture it. Try barrier frustration. Put the dog on one side of something (door, fence, etc.) and tease him to play with you. Since he can't reach you, he will usually bark in frustration. Exactly at that point say "Speak", click, and let him join you for a game.)
SCOOT BACK -- trained using foundation behaviors "Down" "Nose" "Back" (taught with the dog in a down position. I used my dowelpin/ball target stick and put the ball (target) between the dog's front legs. I ask her to "nose" the ball as I move it toward her chest and click/treat at the first backward move. Gradually, I ask for more backward movement. If the dog rises, I say "wrong" (no-reward marker) and put her back in a down position and begin again.)
HIGH -- trained using a "nose" target (taught by having the dog target a target stick I hold above her head. Then I have her do the behavior on a mark (a small mat on the floor) until I can have her "High" on the mat as I gradually distance myself from her.)
TOUCH YOUR NOSE -- trained using a slight irritant (Theoretically, if the dog knows her "Foot" cue and her "Nose" cue, she should be able to target her nose with her foot -- but, that has never worked for me.) I first teach the dog to "wave" so she gets used to lifting her foot near her face. Then, I put a small piece of tape on her face. Different dogs will respond to the tape in different places -- the *only* place Sydney would respond was if I hung the tape off the end of her nose. This is a behavior where you need very good timing with the click because in the beginning most dogs swipe their nose lightning fast.
Once the dog is swiping at her nose, click for the *first* nose swipe. Stand calmly and don't respond to multiple swipes. Don't say "Stay" (trying to keep her foot on her nose) as she continues to paw at her nose or takes her foot off her nose or you will make the "Stay" cue meaningless -- or morphed into something you don't want. Don't say anything. Wait until she looks at you calmly and then start again. Put the tape on her nose, she swipes, *immediately* click and reward and ignore any other behaviors or subsequent pawing or other actions. Stand calmly and wait. Don't try to get too much duration too soon. A behavior like this can take weeks (with most dogs) to get exactly as you want it.
I start training this with the dog in a sitting position as it is fairly easy to transfer to a stand or a down. If you train it in the down position first, you run the risk of the "down" becoming the default behavior when you ask for the nose touch.
Keep a clear picture in your mind of the finished action. Don't reward or respond to anything else. She should eventually start giving you the opportunity to delay the click for a tad longer until she will ultimately leave her paw on her nose for a respectable period of time.
Teaching most dogs to touch their nose with their paw requries a lot of patience.
The "count to ten" behavior (picture on left) is taught by simply putting three foundation behaviors together: Sit, feet up, head down, and using a signal that tells the dog to keep doing what he's doing until released.
This video is a "mini movie" where I am using "foundation" behaviors in different contexts (along with a few other actions and behaviors) to tell a short story. (A story has a beginning, a middle, and an ending.) I have put the cues I use on-screen.
Foundation behaviors are those that can be used to build other behaviors. These include the standard obedience cues of "Sit", "Stand", "Down", "Come", and "Wait". Next in importance are the retrieve, directional cues, targeting, and body targets.
