Dutch Shepherd Forum

I started the nose touch. Pretty funny. I put a sticky on the bathroom door in the kitchen. I had treats in my pocket ready to go. It took a bit for them to get over just looking for a treat, they would sniff my hand and not really understand what I wanted them to do, Sadie kept "downing" she does that when she is confused, she figures, its doing something

Then all of a sudden the light bulb went off, Thalie got it, and poked my hand instead of the door,at first I didnt reward that, she is smart, I wanted her to touch the sticky, but she kept poking my hand, then me and my daughter started laughing and thalie started poking everything, she found my pocket with the treats and poked that, I got her back and she touched the sticky and got her reward . Sadie would sniff the sticky so I rewarded that, It slowly turned into more of touching than sniffing.

It was very amusing!! It was also good for them to take turns and wait while the other worked and got a treat.

ha ha, very cute!

I love the nose touches!

sounds like you guys how fun doing nose touch!! I can picture your little girl while this was going on.
That's so funny that Sadie does a down when she's confused - my other dog does that too. Odin will just look at me like ahhh communication 101 please.

When sugar is confused about what I want, she will play dead. That's her default...lol

Sugars Mom wrote:When sugar is confused about what I want, she will play dead. That's her default...lol

Thats so funny

When Sadie was learning, down and sit, I would be making dinner and Sadie would come up and start, sitting, down, sit, down, thinking, "Hey ma, look at me, Im doing something, treat please!"

I did some more after dinner, My daughter wanted to do it with Thalie, that got thalie more confused because Thalie only takes commands from me and I wasnt doing anything. Thalie would just sniff my daughters hand and then get a treat. Sadie really caught on!! I wouldnt touch the sticky and I would just say "touch" and sadie would start touching the area with her nose, then when she didnt get a treat, she would finnaly touch the sticky. It is so much fun!!

Dutchringgirl wrote: It is so much fun!!

It is, isn't it? I love training!

BTW, good job!

Lyric also downs when she's confused. Interesting.

I do love training, I miss it alot.

alspyce wrote:Lyric also downs when she's confused. Interesting.

They always have a default behavior, usually one of the first things they learned and got a very high rate of reinforcement for, and typically it's a down or sit.

Geyser will sit up/sit pretty (whatever you call it...we call it "be a bear"). The hand signal for this is holding your fists in front of your chest (kind of mirroring their own position). The funny thing about this is that when other people are given a treat to offer her, it's amazing how often they'll hold their arms in front of their bodies, which she reads as the cue for this behavior...they'll say, "sit...sit!" and she'll be sitting up (I don't require her to obey other people, of course... I don't care what she does if they try to get her to do something.)

Its funny, Thalie will NOT listen to any one other than me, my daughter and another friend get so upset, I just laught.

Thalie is having a hard time with touching the sticky, she will poke everything else, She understands "touch" but she is not getting that she is supposed to touch the spot. I tried holding a book, she would touch my hand holding the book, or reach around and touch my hand with the treat, if she still didnt get a treat she started jumpin and air snapping, she stays happy but she is getting frustrated. Sadie is doing excellent !

What do they say about teaching an old dog new tricks.... Just kidding!

Its too much fun isn't it!

Are you going to carry on and teach them treiball?

Lisa,

What if you put the treat on the sticky for Thalie? She'll be nosing the sticky to get the treat--double-prize--another treat from your hand--and build on that? But only you would know if this would confuse Thalie...though she's a pretty smart cookie!! Worth a try...?

noooooooooo thalies not old!

She got the touch with nose part really quick, its what to touch she isnt getting. I try to stick a food on there.

Sadie is funny, she pokes around the door then finaly gets she is supposed to poke the spot.

Dutchringgirl wrote:Its funny, Thalie will NOT listen to any one other than me, my daughter and another friend get so upset, I just laught.

It seems all of my dogs have been like that. My daughter, as a teen , would just shrug her shoulders and say, "another one that only minds mom." Then she tried to bring my ACD in from the kennel, and the bitch tried to nail her! My daughter came storming into the house, got a lead, and stormed back out to the pen to get her,they were best friends after that!

Thats so funny Chris!!

ravens idea worked, I taped the sticky to make a pouch and put her treat in it, then said "touch" at first I had to put my hand there but she got it. I did it a bunch of times, she is good about not grabbing so she did touch it first, then i let her take it from the pouch, then I just had her "touch" with out the treat in the pouch and did that a bunch of times and I think she got it. Ill do more later on to check.

Thanks!!!

Dutchringgirl wrote:ravens idea worked, I taped the sticky to make a pouch and put her treat in it, then said "touch" at first I had to put my hand there but she got it. I did it a bunch of times, she is good about not grabbing so she did touch it first, then i let her take it from the pouch, then I just had her "touch" with out the treat in the pouch and did that a bunch of times and I think she got it. Ill do more later on to check.

Thanks!!!

First, congratulations!

2nd...just a reminder that it's not a great idea to name any behavior until it's being done correctly, happily, easily, smoothly...looking just like you want it to look as a finished behavior.

So, in this example, you'd set up pouch with the treat, offer it, look at your dog and smile...and...just... wait . Big mark when she gets it, repeat with the bait another time or two, then stop baiting (same as luring; you want to quit as soon as possible once they start to get the idea).

The waiting is always the challenge for us humans

Thanks!

Dont get it though, if I dont say "touch" how will she know what I am teaching her? Like when I was teaching sit, I would say "assi" and give the command, then back of the command and they learned that "assi" meant sit.

Should I put the treat in the pouch, stay quiet and then WHEN her nose touches the sticky say "touch" and mark?

BTW, Sadie just walked up to the sticky, touched it and then gave me a look like, "so......where is my treat!'