Tricks class

[Georgia]

Sam and I have been taking a tricks class. It's a lot of fun! So far we've learned sit pretty, take a bow (or as I like to call it - Ta da!), roll over, shake, say prayers, crawl, spin, jump through a hoop and a few others I can't think of right now. My problem is that we use treats to learn the tricks and I haven't used treats for training in forever. So what Sam does is rush through the trick really fast in order to get a treat. If I don't give him a treat, the brat barks at me! I don't know what to do to get him to slow down and not obsess over the treats. He is SUPER food motivated!

[Snowshoe]

Can't the trainer help you with the barking? He can't be the first dog. FWIW, the first bark I'd pack up the treats and quit but I don't have a barker. Not for good, try again.

Sounds like fun. I looked into tricks when Oban hurt his leg but so many of them still have a lot of moving around that would stress the leg.

[Georgia]

The barking is new and I haven't had a chance to ask her about it. The trainer told me to stop offering a treat for every trick and randomly give him a treat so he never knows when one is coming. Now he barks when there is no treat.

[POPTOP]

Sam is really trying to train you, LOL. I agree, make the treats random. If he starts barking, stop the session for a few minutes, walk around, anything other than the mind set of training. He's smart, he'll learn quick.

[smartrock]

Sam, don't be so demanding! Barking will get you nowhere and nothing!

A trick class sounds like fun!

[Ken McLoud]

I'd try to make it super obvious with your body language that you're upset/disappointed when he barks and excited/pleased when he doesn't

I find Vera is reading way more into my body language than I realize most of the time, which makes sense since that's most of how wolves communicate within a pack.

so after bark, I'd maybe sigh heavily, lower my arms, slump my shoulders, turn around and look at something else.

I'd never heard of a trick-only class before either, sounds like a bunch a fun!

[Labradorks]

If he is overstimulated by treats, can you use something else, like a ball, for a reward? Or, can you downgrade your reward to something like Cheerios or kibble?

You may have faded your rewards too soon and now your dog is stressed and doesn't know how to win nor does he see the value in performing the tricks yet (it takes time). Did you gradually fade the rewards over time (months) or stop cold turkey (very frustrating for some dogs)? Did you replace the food reward at all with something your dog likes? Are you using a clicker? And, if so, are you clicking without rewarding? Is your dog trained to accept other types of reward such as verbal or physical praise and are you using that in addition to and/or instead of food rewards? Many trainers use spin, touch (jump up and touch palm), bounce, weave though legs (and more) as rewards but they have conditioned these "tricks" to reward their dogs when they can't use treats. Also praise and physical affection. But, all this takes time. Many trainers want rewards faded within six weeks, when class is over, and for many dogs this is too soon and the dogs get frustrated, demand barking, offering, etc.