# Tricks.



## aeb54765 (Sep 2, 2014)

From the day we got kimber my boyfriend and I started training. We both would like to use her energy in a positive way that bonds with us so we thought training her to do fun tricks would be great. She has learned alot but the only command she knows is sit. All other tricks she knows only by following the treat we would like her to know the word and do the command without following the teat. Any tips on how to get her to now do tricks by signals or verbal cues???


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## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

how old is she?


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## Jallen2014 (Mar 18, 2014)

She is never too young to learn... start with sit & a fist hand signal, then do the Hi-five with your palm open point at the other one and do Hi-five with your other open palm. Stay looking at her eyes & show her upside down open palms (both) at the same time. Make a Cirlce with your index finger for her to roll over. Use your own hand signals but be consistent. Vz are like no other dog & she will get it eventually. I thought my youngest boy Bo was just plain stupid, but now at 1 1/2 I know how hard he works on getting what he wants with his Vizsla talk, (moaning & groaning humming & whinning) He is so smart that he is a Water Rescue dog. I love my girls but Bo is special ! Love her that's the best thing you can do.


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

Trick or Train ? in the first year Whoa & Here is all I teach - your V gets this RIGHT ! the other commands come easy - with here I want the pup at my side at heel - so heel becomes apart of here - whoa - the pup looks 2 me for the next command so whoa puts a end to jumping bitting & all the other things that drive us crazy - sit is the last thing you teach a sport dog - on the whoa board if the pup sits you lift his ass up - PIKE turning 6yrs knows - when we have eye contact - he better V ready to WORK - and work is what he LOVES


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Look up clicker or marker training. You can teach very complicated behaviors if you break them down into small steps and once the dog is consistently doing the desired action you can add on a command and/or hand gesture.


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## aeb54765 (Sep 2, 2014)

harrigab said:


> how old is she?
> [/quote
> She is 16 weeks


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## aeb54765 (Sep 2, 2014)

She know sit and stay really well by a verbal command. She also know down roll over sit pretty and bow by following the treat but that is it. How do I transition


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## ZekieBoysMom (Jul 10, 2014)

When I taught Zeke "twirl" I started by having his nose follow the treat to his hip (while giving the verbal command), which would automatically turn into the twirl. Once he had that, I had him just follow my hand, only receiving the treat once he completed the twirl. In very short order (just a couple of days), all I had to do was point my hand to the ground & move it in a circular motion while saying "twirl" and he made the connection. Twirl is one of his favorite tricks. Actually, it's now his only "trick", since all the others are basic obedience commands. I can now put him into sit, down, sit & twirl all with just the hand signals. 

A note on roll over... I had taught him that one as a young pup too, and it was another one that he did enthusiastically, but once he got bigger we stopped giving that command. It became more difficult for him due to his adult size AND, more importantly, it can lead to bloat.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Scout wouldn't follow lures for most tricks, but I remember my trainer saying to make the hand gesture related to the motion of the lure so that the transition from food to no food makes sense. The final command gesture you pick becomes a sort of shorthand for the original food lure motion. For instance, for sit people frequently lure the dog by moving the treat in the air over the dogs head. The dog follows it with their nose and they either back up or sit down. My hand gesture relates to that by being above their eye level, moving towards them, and slowly arcing down similarly to how I would give the treat. For down I would cup the treat in my hand and move it to the floor. This become a closed fist that I drop down a few inches for the gesture. 

In your training session have her do the trick with the food lure a couple times. If you're not already, start adding the vocal cue at the same time. Then try luring with just your hand and treat from your other hand/pocket/treat pouch after. She might now follow your empty hand at first, but be patient. Then once she is consistently following your empty hand you can shortening your gesture. Going back to my example for down, I might still crouch down, but won't bring my fist all the way to the ground. You can start testing if she'll do the action with the just the vocal cue or just the hand gesture. If at any point she seems confused, just back up a step. It's always good to start a training session at an earlier step to get them confident. And keep it short. 10 minutes a few times a day will be far more productive than one 30 minute session.

Here's a video I really like about clicker training bark and quiet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vtn8NhofOw Watch it to see HOW he trains. His knocking on the wall to prompt a bark is similar to how you are starting with a food lure to prompt whatever action you're trying to teach. You see how he weans the dog off the prompt, how the dog offers behavior, and how he overlays hand gestures and vocal cues.


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