Jff-dog Training/tricks

When I was a teenager, I taught my dog how to pick the cup with the treat under it. I'd have her sit and I'd have 3 small plastic cups. I'd put a treat under one and mix them up. She'd pick the correct one with the treat, then eat it. It was pretty cool!
My Grandma's poodle used to dance. She'd hold a piece of cheese in the air and twirl it in a circle. The dog would dance on on his hind legs in a circle.

My father taught his dogs to not eat meat on "Friday" (good Catholic dogs). They wouldn't go near their food dishes if he said it was "Friday". But, as soon as he said "Saturday" it was a race to the dishes.

When I was a little girl, my dog could 'sing.' She would howl sweetly when I asked her to sing.

My grandfather had many dogs over the years and taught them all tricks. He could say 'play dead' OR pretend to shoot and one dog would do it. She would also 'dance' on her hind legs, sing, walk backwards, find hidden stuff in the other room, and more I can't remember because I was young. Other dogs could do many of the same tricks, as well as roll over - both ways, balance a treat on the nose and WAIT until the command, then toss it up and catch it in mouth and eat it (that one was COOL!!), smile, and act shy (or ashamed?) by burying face in paws on floor. He trained using small dog treats, but I think it was just regular dog food. Training is more about the praise and wanting to please their owners than the 'treat' given.

Laying down with head down on front paws, we use calm for this, but some will call it pray or pout.

Bang, point like a gun and dog drops down and on to one side quickly to play dead.

I taught our dog to recycle, she will carry bottles and drop them in the bin. It is really funny to watch her with gallon jugs without a good handle. I clicker train this in about a week.

Since she likes sniffing, hide things for to find. Start out so she can see them. Hide and go seek is a fun game to play too. Have the dog stay and hide with treats, then release the dog to come find you.

Weaving in and out of your legs. You can do it as figure eights with you in place or weaving as you walk.

Clean up if she plays with things in the house to put them away.

Backing up

For some clicker training works really well if you have never tried it. It can really be a lot of fun to shape a behavior. It sounds like you are doing a great job with her. If you have one in your area a tracking or nose works class might be fun for both of you.

Thought of another one: saying "hi"- same as shake but without your hand.

I worked at petsmart several years back and we had to take classes on dog training- a few things I learned:

First, pulling on the leash is absolutely NOT inevitable, no matter the breed. Walking on a leash is something you CAN train your dog to do correctly. There is something they sell at pet stores called a 'gentle leader' that literally prevents the dog from pulling. Unlike choke chains or pinch chains, they are not harmful to the dog (I hope you don't use those, they can literally collapse your dog's trachea). The gentle leader goes around their face, providing absolutely NO restriction, unlike a muzzle. The dog is unable to pull while wearing it because if they try to, their head will turn to one side, and they can't see that way! So gently, the dog decides on his own NOT to pull. It works wonders, I promise.

Here is a trick I have taught my boston terrier:
"Pick up your toys"- every time I pick up her toys, I repeat, over and over again "pick up your toys!" "pick up your toys!" "pick up your toys!" I have her there with me, watching, and helping. I give her one, and I show her where to put it, all the while saying "pick up your toys!" I give her another, show her where to put it, repeat.... now, when I say "pick up your toys!" she does it all by herself!

"ball balance" I take a tennis ball, place it on the bridge of her nose- and tell her 'wait'- if she doesn't want, I say "NO" firmly, then repeat, over and over, until she does wait. When she has learned how to wait- I say "take it'', she moves her face, and catches the ball in her mouth as it falls from her nose. This one takes lots of practice, but it gives my dog the most satisfaction when she catches it. She LOVES to do this one, over, and over, and over again!!

I stole this one from my mom...

We have taught our dog to play hide n' seek w/the kids!

My mom used the clicker to teach it to her dogs, my dog is really smart and he basically picked it up on his own (our kids love to play hide n' seek in the dark inside at our house) and the dog would watch and eventually started seeking the kids himself. Teaching him to seek the kids was really easy...the hard part was teaching him to stay and wait and then eventually to hide himself...for that part I used verbal commands 'Count' and then 'hide' and I stayed w/him in the beginning and even showed him a few hiding spots...for the most part he has only found 1 hiding spot all by himself (under the kitchen table but he stole the idea from my 5 yr old, it's the 5y/o's 'go to' spot :) The dog will either hide behind the dining room curtains, under my son's bed or under the kitchen table...but he is a master at seeking now and at counting, he doesn't actually count but he sits still long enough for me to count for him and then I tell him 'Go find the kids'! It's great fun!

The only other 'tricks' besides the ones you mentioned that I have taught my dog is to stay by me NO MATTER WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING...this has been the BEST trick too...very helpful! I can take him outside w/me or have my front door wide open and he doesn't EVER bolt, he is very protective and absolutely gives warning barks/growls when people approach our house/yard but he doesn't engage anyone or any other dogs (this took the longest and we had to practice a LOT, every time I saw someone approaching w/a dog I took him down by the front door and we would practice) he LOVES other dogs so this one was hard but he has it mastered now! Nothing is better than a well trained dog, dontchya think?

~We had a Beagle before my Big Dog Brooks...and boy are you right about their hunting instincts...I couldn't get Abner to NOT bolt to save my life...he was a runner and a sniffer! Eventually he got hit by a car right in front of our house b/c of it too...he was chasing a squirrel, it was horrible!

I've gotten our dog to play dead and stay there until I say "Up!".

My cockerspaniel was a naughty dog so I took her to obedience class. She misbehaved there and in a sweet innocent way.. well looked sweet and innocent she would not learn anything, like she was playing dumb. We would go in there and she would see the other dogs and she try to go after them and then pee on the floor. Finally the teacher said she would pass her if she would just quit peeing on the floor. Anyway, the last weeks homework was to teach them a new trick to show to the class for the last class. The instructor said Tara would be last because.. well we all knew it was because she wasn't well behaved. So we went through watching all the other dogs shake hands, crawl under things, jump over things and then it was Tara's turn. I pointed my finger at her (like a gun) and said "Stick 'em up" She stood high on her back legs with her front paws in the air. I said "bang" and she would fall over and play dead. It shocked every person in that class. I just figured Tara was a Diva and she is willing to do "Showy" tricks but ignore all the orders. She is now almost 12 years old and is a great dog, fun, beautiful and well behaved except when other dogs are around. We figured she is a reincarnation of someone who didn't like dogs.

I bought an inexpensive paperback titled "Dog Tricks for Dummies" or something similar from the "....For Dummies" line of books. I haven't had a chance to work on any of the tricks, but it has a lot of fun and interesting tricks in it. Some are useful too.