So Donna appeared to be finally getting the idea that great things happen when you rollover. I have to say though that her consistency to offer that behaviour is still… well not very consistent and totally mood dependent.
Tag: dog trick
We’ve been kept indoors because of the haze and Donna is very restive. She’s a laze-about dog at home, but she does need her daily walk or she gets restless, and then she gets rough when playing or worse, she gets curious and starts doing taste -tests that are not good for her tummy.
Our other cousin Mr B told us about his girlfriend’s amazing mongrel dog who could flop and play dead every time the human goes “Bang!” That sounds pretty cool, and it’s something fun to do besides trying to get Donna to ‘walk with me’, and the other obedience behaviours that we normally train in our tiny apartment.
So here goes…
As you can see, we are not very good at it yet. Donna tends to go into a down position and look at me. And then I keep thumping the floor before she remembers oh yes, fall to the side. And then she’s so happy anticipating the reward (yay! kibble!), her tail keeps wagging. Harlow, how can a dead dog be wagging it’s tail?? So it takes some time before she is totally still but she’s getting it, because then she gets the treat. Still, Good Job dead dog!! :D
Perhaps if we practise more, she start flopping faster.
Meanwhile, here are some Youtube dogs that are masters at this with their unique takes on the trick:
Well technically I didn’t set out to teach Donna the high-five. It was when we just brought her home and I knew nuts about dog training. We were in the park downstairs. Donna was sitting on one of the steps in the fitness corner.
We were practising “shake a paw”. And on the spur of the moment, I took her paw and placed it up against my palm and said “high-five”.
She looked at me, her head slanted at an angle the way dogs do when they are puzzled. Then I held up my palm and said “High-five!” The world shushed as everything paused. Time literally stopped as wheels turned in the dog’s head. Then it happened. Her paw tapped lightly against my palm. The world started to turn again.
That was the one and only time she learnt something in less than 3 minutes (estimated).
I wish it happens more often :P
Donna – will high-five for food.
The daily prompt is celebrating successes today.
