Mary Allen
Holding an object is a great trick that has many uses in everyday life. This exercise is not only great for photos but also in everyday life, for example when your dog is given the task of carrying an object home. The trick is suitable for every dog, whether small or large. And age doesn’t matter either, because holding an object doesn’t put a lot of strain on the dog’s body. Physically handicapped four-legged friends are therefore also welcome to participate.
How to Start
You start by choosing an object for your dog to hold. Make sure that you choose an object to start with that your dog likes to put in his snout and that is not uncomfortable for him. You’ll also need some soft, easy-to-swallow treats and a clicker. The clicker has the advantage that a specific behavior can be rewarded with pinpoint accuracy, which is great when it comes to tricks.
Step 1
Before the clicker can be used in training, it must be conditioned. To do this, take some treats in your hand and put your hand behind your back. On the other hand, you take the clicker. You can dampen this down a bit at the beginning, e.g. B. with a tea towel that you wrap around the clicker hand. This will prevent your dog from accidentally being startled by the new clicking sound. Now click once with the clicker. Immediately afterward, give your dog a treat. You repeat this many times until your dog understands: click = treat. Your dog will probably figure that out quickly and will also run enthusiastically around the corner if you click with the clicker in the next room. Once the clicker conditioning is in place, you can start learning the trick. Your dog knows that the moment it clicks, he has done something really well and deserves a biscuit.
Step 2
Find an undisturbed environment with your four-legged friend where you will not be distracted by other dogs or people. Sit in front of your dog, forget the clickers and the little treats. Have your dog “sit” in front of you. Now you show him the item you have chosen and hold it in front of him. If your dog shows any interest in the object, you will immediately reward it, i. H. confirmed with a click and a treat. This can be a nudge, a sniff, or a lick, everything is great in this step!
Step 3
In the next step, the desired behavior will now be specified and somewhat restricted by you. It probably won’t be long before your dog uses its teeth and takes the object in its mouth lightly. After the click, this results in a real “jackpot” and you praise him enthusiastically and give him several treats at the same time. On the other hand, nudging, sniffing, or using the paw is no longer rewarded, but simply ignored, i. H. it doesn’t click.
Step 4
In this way, your dog is clearly steered in one direction. Anything that leads to the desired goal is clearly rewarded. Anything else has no reaction. In this way, your dog will continue to try out the behavior with which it can get the coveted treats.
Once your dog understands this, he will soon repeat the behavior and put the object in his mouth for a moment. Make sure that you click when your dog still has the object in his snout and not when he is about to let go of it. The goal is for your dog to learn to hold the object. That’s why it should be strengthened!
Gradually you can now delay the moment of clicking further and further and thus lengthen the hold.
Tip
If you’re having trouble increasing the duration of the hold, you can try it in conjunction with your dog’s “wait signal.”
But if the problem is that your dog doesn’t like to put anything in his mouth right at the beginning of the exercise, you can build it up playfully, for example, if he gets a stick and then clicks when he holds the object in his mouth of his own accord. After a few times, a word signal can also be linked and the trick can be developed from the behavior offered.