# old dog new tricks



## crackers2010 (Apr 30, 2012)

our vizsla is definitely not old! she's a year and one month! we love her to death. she knows lots of tricks, sit, down, wait, come, "bang" and plays dead, shake, and roll over. and she's got a little word recognition with where's your duck, and she'll find her duck, and where's your ball etc and she knows the difference. 

My question is, i worked really hard with her when she was a pup and then as time went on i got a little burnt out of spending so much time teaching tricks. but now the motivation is back! i was wondering if anyone has any experience on teaching their older vizsla new tricks and how well that goes? are they still as smart and responsive? does age REALLY not matter?


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## crackers2010 (Apr 30, 2012)

i forgot to mention that she knows the command leave it as well, and we can put a treat on her paw and she'll leave it. 

i want to teach her treat on the nose trick, as well as other tricks like maybe jump on my husband's back and sit, or teach her to spin, or circle around me etc. 

do you think she'll still be as receptive at 1 y/o? maybe she'll be more so since she has grown out of her short attention span puppy phase ha!


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## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

Don't take this the wrong way but! ???

You might as well try to teach her one of those new things and you will see it.
Vizslas are hunting dogs, you could teach her something more useful than tricks?!


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## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

to be honest, the basics for your dogs safety should always come first imo, the "novelty tricks" if you're so inclined should come when the basics are mastered.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Your pup is young and will still be able to learn plenty of things.
I hunt with my dogs but feel learning is learning, and on days when the weather is nasty they have learned things to keep their minds busy.
They will never need to rollover or speak on command in the field, but it was busy work for them that day. I have been teaching them to down and crawl across the floor. It could come in handy but probably not.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

When my husband is jokingly picking at me, I taught one dog to bite daddy on command. He doesn't bite hard, just places is mouth around the forearm.


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

It sounds like the basics actually are mastered. She's got sit, down, wait, come, and leave it, which are, IMO, the most important "tricks" a dog can learn for his or her safety. That and good leash manners. Some other very basic, less flashy tricks include: back up, stand, off, and watch me.

She should still be able to pick up tricks. If you happened to clicker train (or use any sort of operant behavior training) with her when she was young, it might go more smoothly. That's because operant conditioning encourages a dog to "offer" many different behaviors, in hopes that one is the one you're looking for. Maybe she won't be picking them up in a day, like they do when they're very young, but it's certainly not impossible. Right now I'm training Jasper how to turn the lights on and off, and how to do an "Army crawl." He's 1.5 years, and it's not hard for him at all. It takes a few more repetitions for him, but some of the tricks are also a little more difficult for him to learn. Oh! And I've tried teaching Jasper how to hold a treat on his nose, but his head bobs around too much right now. I have to sort of hold it steady for him. We're still working on that one!

So no, I don't think age matters in the long run, unless you're asking a geriatric, arthritic dog to do tricks that are painful for it. At a year and one month, your dog is technically still a puppy! You might need to be a touch more patient then before, but again, you're looking at teaching her some very complicated behaviors! As long as she's got her basic safety tricks down, feel free to move on to some fun and silly ones. They can be rewarding for both you and her, help you both strengthen your bond, and be useful--whether that's because you teach her to pick up her toys, teach her fun tricks which can later be used if you want to do therapy work, or just because you need something to occupy her mind during a blizzard when you can't go outside.


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## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

redrover said:


> It sounds like the basics actually are mastered. She's got sit, down, wait, come, and leave it, which are, IMO, the most important "tricks" a dog can learn for his or her safety. That and good leash manners. Some other very basic, less flashy tricks include: back up, stand, off, and watch me.
> 
> She should still be able to pick up tricks. If you happened to clicker train (or use any sort of operant behavior training) with her when she was young, it might go more smoothly. That's because operant conditioning encourages a dog to "offer" many different behaviors, in hopes that one is the one you're looking for. Maybe she won't be picking them up in a day, like they do when they're very young, but it's certainly not impossible. Right now I'm training Jasper how to turn the lights on and off, and how to do an "Army crawl." He's 1.5 years, and it's not hard for him at all. It takes a few more repetitions for him, but some of the tricks are also a little more difficult for him to learn. Oh! And I've tried teaching Jasper how to hold a treat on his nose, but his head bobs around too much right now. I have to sort of hold it steady for him. We're still working on that one!
> 
> So no, I don't think age matters in the long run, unless you're asking a geriatric, arthritic dog to do tricks that are painful for it. At a year and one month, your dog is technically still a puppy! You might need to be a touch more patient then before, but again, you're looking at teaching her some very complicated behaviors! As long as she's got her basic safety tricks down, feel free to move on to some fun and silly ones. They can be rewarding for both you and her, help you both strengthen your bond, and be useful--whether that's because you teach her to pick up her toys, teach her fun tricks which can later be used if you want to do therapy work, or just because you need something to occupy her mind during a blizzard when you can't go outside.


 yep, my mistake, somehow I missed the second line of the original post...oops!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

There are plenty of things she can learn.
Normally its us that hold are dogs back from their full ability.

http://youtu.be/oYnGw_e1fdA


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

The trick is finding a bird! bred to do that no problem - WHOA n HERE - The two commands that will save your pups life - sit stay heel every time you have a great pup - when it comes to tricks I go to the circus!


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## city_dog (Feb 16, 2012)

adrino said:


> Vizslas are hunting dogs, you could teach her something more useful than tricks?!


Not everyone that owns a V hunts... doesn't mean they're not teaching them something useful.
Sammy will never hunt and I don't feel the least bit badly about it. 

Crackers I had a V that was nearly 3 when I got him and he learned very VERY quickly, considering the life he had had previously. Age means nothing... but Harrigab is right... make sure the basics are mastered first... and HAVE FUN!!! ;D


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

To the response of not hunting a vizsla.
I'm not going to tell anyone what they have to do with their dog.
Its your dog and your right to let it hunt, or not.
What I will say is these dogs come alive, and are the happiest in a bird field.
You don't have to take my word for it. Let them give it a try once or twice, then decide for yourself.


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

RED - PUPS - mutts or pure bred - in the FIELD - it is all about them! 4 U n me - lets go to the FIELD and the rest can figure it out !


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

My Mac hunts!!!!! He is an expert at finding faces to lick and strangers to jump on!


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## Suliko (Sep 17, 2011)

My oldest V. Sophie responds better to obedience training now when she's almost two than when she was a puppy. Go figure!


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## crackers2010 (Apr 30, 2012)

thanks everyone for your feedback. we don't use maverick for hunting but my husband has a couple friends that have bird hunting dogs and he's considered maybe taking maverick out with them and seeing how things work. maverick definitely has a natural instinct to point! we have this huge rabit in our yard that comes around a lot and she naturally points at it ...it's awesome. love our dog. 

thanks again for the feedback everyone. i'm going to try some more "tricks" with her. i know some disagree on the silly trick training but it's fun and i feel like it keeps her mind busy. thanks!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Running her with some other hunting dogs would be a good learning experince for her.
Make sure she has been properly introduced to gunfire before he takes her on any trips where she might be exposed to it.


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## OttosMama (Oct 27, 2011)

We went out with Blue and Mac the other day and their owners suggested to have Otto "touch" when we call him to come. He has a tendency of coming close but then bolting, or coming and then going right past us. When we do come in the house or yard, he will come and plant himself right in front of us... by teaching him "touch" he will touch the palm of our hand with his nose, that way he won't run right by. I worked on "touch" this morning! At first he got rather frustrated, trying to give me his paw, but after a few times and me pointing to my palm he touched his nose to my palm and kissed it! works for me!

Since you are looking for tricks for fun, I recently came across these youtube videos - she has a whole bunch, will probably give you some ideas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5FF6iqrbJs&feature=relmfu


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## finch (Sep 19, 2011)

OttosMama said:


> We went out with Blue and Mac the other day and their owners suggested to have Otto "touch" when we call him to come. He has a tendency of coming close but then bolting, or coming and then going right past us.



Another technique we were taught when learning "come" in Basic Manners class was to always put your hand on the dog's collar when s/he comes, before you treat. That way the dog will get used to you grabbing their collar and if you are in an emergency situation, you will have practiced having the dog come close enough to grab their collar.


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