Doggie Dance

Akira has really good balance. He dances! This is a good example of how to train your dog. Just before the video starts, I issued the "up, up!" command, and you can see him turn and come to perform the trick. He gets constant reassurance with what is essentially "good noise", and he gets a few repititions of the "up, up" command. If I continue to repeat "up, up" he will stand for as long as I want, within reason (this video is pretty long for him at this stage). If I do not say it, or stop giving "good boys" he will know that the trick is over, and it's time for his reward. He gets lots of petting and he got a treat after I turned off the camera.

This was a natural ability that I observed, and I simply trained him to do it on command. At first, I could hold a treat above his head, and he would do this, while I repeated the "up, up" command, and he got the treat if he stood up long enough. Over time, I increased the amount of time it took for him to get the treat. After a while, I stopped doing it with a treat in my hand, the treat would come out of my pocket after he was done with the trick. All during this, I constantly repeat the "up, up" command, and give him lots of reassurance. In this video, I am not raising my hand (I'm holding the camera), and he is doing the trick just because I said so. He knows he will get a treat, but after a while, he will only get the treat sometimes, but he will always get lovin if he performs correctly. This will allow him to perform without constant treats, and be able to do several things in a row without losing attention. Of course, he would get a treat when he's done.

He likes Newman's Own Peanut Butter dog treats. They are organic, and taste a little like peanut butter on toast. (BTW, you should always taste your dog's treats... they should taste good to you. If they taste like cheap dog food, they might not motivate the way you want them to. Anything that is safe for your dog to eat, will be safe for you to try as well)