Show Me a Trick

Glitterbug, Thor and I played this game for the first time today.  It's a great game but one I have never played with my dogs before.  Here's the gist:  I say, "Show Me a Trick!"  Then each dog gets rewarded for any cute/good behavior shown.  This morning's reward was string cheese.

Glitter showed me sit, down, spin (both directions), and lots of back ups.

Thor showed me sit, down, bow, and 2 get-in-your-crates.

All tricks were offered, not cued.  Each time I saw a "trick," I said, "That's a good trick!" before delivering the treat.  What a fun game!

This game gets the dogs thinking (Thor did some jumping up but those "tricks" were ignored).  It's fun and silly.  Some people require that it be a different trick for each treat.  I didn't because we've never played before; I wanted to keep the rate of reinforcement high while establishing a new game.  My verbiage meant nothing to the dogs but kept the game silly and fun for me!


Thor's Private Game:

When Thor outgrew the collar he came in, I replaced it with an old one I had.  This one is two big and the excess length hangs down about 6 inches.  While I was working on my computer, about six feet from Thor's crate, he started to chew and pull on the hanging tab.  I must have been really focused on my work because I wasn't aware that Thor's antics pulled the buckle from its hole, and he was collarless.  Mission accomplished!  He didn't chew on the collar any further.  Silly dog!