, who lives in a faraway place called Florida!

A while back, my friend Moose  played a really cool game with his human on her wheelie chair. It looked such fun that I wanted to try it with my human too!

Except that I don’t think I quite – er, ‘got it’…hmm, Hsin-Yi says she was pulling me more than I was pulling her!

Well, you can see for yourselves :

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C8xV7h3Buc

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Moose also asked me a while back to post some instructions for how I learnt my ‘Paws Up’ trick.

Well, this is actually the first part of the trick “Say Your Prayers” – but I haven’t learnt the last part yet where I put my head down. (Hsin-Yi is a bit of a moody trainer so we do trainings only when she feels like it and sometimes, I start to learn a trick and then don’t come back to it for months! At the moment, I am halfway through at least 4 different tricks! )

Lots of doggies usually learn this trick first on their human’s arm but I’m quite heavy (hee! hee!) so it’s hard for Hsin-Yi to prop me up with her arm – so she decided to just teach me on a chair first. We think it is actually easier to teach anyway starting with a chair or low table or even stool, if you are an extra small doggie.

Also, it is important that us doggies are sitting first – not standing – otherwise it will look like a different trick.

OK, so for the first part, this is how I learnt it:

(by Hsin-Yi)

1) First encourage your dog to paw the chair – some dogs are naturally “paw-y” dogs and will use their paws to interact with anything (Honey is one of these!) so just indicating the chair will get them to paw it. As you will see in the video below, she has also already been taught another command called “Hit it!” which is to touch something (target) with her paw – so I used that to start with. CLICK & treat (or use your marker word) as soon as you see their paw make contact with the chair. Doesn’t matter at this stage if they immediately take it off again.

* If your dog won’t paw the chair, try to elicit the action: if your dog knows “Shake”, offering your own hand to them can get them to at least lift their paw up first (you see me do this in the video). Click & reward even just a small lift of their paw at first. Remember, baby steps.

* If they don’t know Shake, you can try showing them a treat and then hiding it under your hand, on the chair. Your dog will try to get the treat from under your hand and often, if they can’t nibble it out with their mouths, will try using their paws…so be ready to mark them the instant they put their paws up to your hand.

2) If you keep marking & rewarding every time your dog’s paw makes contact with the chair, they will quickly work out that THAT is the action you want and they will start to offer it voluntarily. When they are doing this confidently, start to wait until they keep the paw on the chair for longer before giving them the CLICK (or marker word).

3) Once they can do that confidently with one paw, start to withhold the CLICK and try to get their other paw up as well. Again, baby steps. With Honey (especially because she has such long legs), I didn’t expect her to immediately lift both paws up in one go – I clicked first just for lifting her weight off the other leg, even sightly. This helps her understand what I want – and makes it easier for her to eventually put her other paw up on the chair as well. (Clicker training is all about constantly encouraging the dog by rewarding small steps to give him confidence to keep trying).

4) Again, once they are putting both paws happily on the chair, start to wait a couple of seconds longer each time before giving the CLICK, so that they learn to keep their paws up there. 

5) At this stage, you can also start to introduce the cue/command (we use “Paws Up!”) just before the dog does the action and you can also start to phase out the CLICK/marker and just reward with praise and treats.

Here is a short video clip of Honey learning this trick at doggie dancing camp back in Jan. She happened to pick this one up very quickly because she is a “paw-y” dog and she learns any tricks involving her paws very quickly (and she already knew how to target things with her paws). So don’t worry if your dog is slower. Be patient and if they are really not getting it, break it down into even smaller steps & reward for even a slight approximation of the behaviour.  

(*If your dog stands up when they put both paws on the chair, just patiently ask them to Sit and try again – they will eventually learn that they need to remain sitting, while putting their paws up.)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoVZSvq5Cs0

Once your dog has mastered this part of the trick, you can go on to teach them to bow their head down between their paws, in the classic “Say Your Prayers” pose, which looks very cute. I haven’t taught this to Honey yet and am not sure if I will as she has such long legs and deep chest, it may be uncomfortable for her to hunch over like that (it’s a bit of a feat for her to prop herself up like that as it is!) – but most other dogs who are not giant breeds should be able to do it no problem.

Instead, however, I have extended our Paws Up trick to her doing it on my arm – which is a more useful move for dancing anyway. Remember, you can always modify tricks to suit your own dog.

For those of you who want to go on to teach the final ”Say Your Prayers” part of the trick, here is a great video from my friend Pamela Marxsen who is a trainer in San Diego  (http://www.pamsdogacademy.com/): 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBztlHafpK4

And here is another great video of the same trick by another trainer, which you may also find useful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOWTTRJ8ud0

Happy Training!

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OK – before I go, I wanted to show you a scary thing my human saw in the supermarket yesterday…is that me and my blog friend, Mango the Mastiff, squished into tubs?? Eeeeeeek!!!

* AAAaaaarrrggh! We have just found out that we have exceeded our internet allowance for this month and have been dropped to dial-up speeds! I’ve been trying to do Google Reader but it is absolute torture - takes 10mins to load a blog page and then I can’t see any of the photos ‘coz it takes another 10mins to load them! Plus we’ve got friends arriving from overseas later in the week so will be very busy…Our broadband should be restored early next week hopefully – so hopefully we’ll be able to catch up with everyone then. So please excuse our absence this week!  ~ Hsin-Yi

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Sorry – it’s a blurry photo – it’s from one of my classes with my trainer, Flip at Flip’s Top Dog back in Auckland, NZ. I think Flip is the best trainer ever and he is my favourite human, after Paul & Hsin-Yi!  Here we are practising our “Bomb-Proof Down Stays” – by testing us with lots of different kinds of distractions. This is Flip going around us with his scooter, which makes a lot of noise and moves really fast! But we had to ignore it and remain in our Down Stay – even though our humans were far away on the other side of the room.

It’s really important when teaching us doggies to Stay (whether Sit Stay or Down Stay) to test us with lots of distractions and teach us that we have to remain there until our humans come back to release us – no matter what! I have done lots & lots of “Bomb-Proof Stay” practice – this is why I can be so good and Stay when I’m told – even with a kitty in my face! Ha! Ha!  

A lot of doggies only practise their Stays in the same place all the time, with no distractions at all and their humans just standing in front of them – this is really boring and also means we never learn a reliable Stay.  We have to practise our Stays in lots of different places, with different things passing us (eg. other dogs, cyclists, joggers, balls rolling, etc)  or noises around us (eg. traffic, children shouting/screaming, dogs barking) or our humans in different positions (walking around us, turning their back to us, going out of sight, even jumping over us!).

This way it is also more fun because our humans can keep thinking up new ways to try and trick us into getting up (it’s like a game!) - and us doggies have to keep working hard to ignore everything and remain staying in the same position – so then we can get lots of praise & treats!

Here is a video of one of my classes with Flip where you can see how we practise our ‘Bomb-Proof Stay’ – in the park and then in the town!  We also practise Heeling and ignoring other doggies passing us, Recalls and walking politely in the streets. Flip believes that it is very important to practise training in “real-life” situations and not always just in a dog training club or school!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvBuOG9RQeY

* Hsin-Yi’s Training Tip: never call your dog out of a Stay – this will teach them to “break” the Stay as they will always be poised, anticipating your call. You want them to learn to relax when they hear “Stay” as they know they will have to remain there until you return to them and give the release word (we use ”OK!”). If you do want to call your dog to you, make sure you give them a “Wait” command instead of “Stay” when you leave them (and different hand signal).

Also, a lot of dogs get up as their owners are returning to them – and a lot of people just let this go because they think they were returning anyway…NO. This is another reason why so many people struggle to train a reliable Stay. The dog must never get up until you give the release word – doesn’t matter if you have walked back to stand next to them – they still have to remain in position until you give the release word. If they get up as you’re returning – no need to get nasty – just give them the command again – make them get back into position.  Be patient – if they run to you, take them back to their place and ask them to Down or Sit again. Then give the Stay command again, take one step away – and then return to them again and give the release word – then lots of praise/treats. This teaches the dog that you are consistent and will enforce a command and they can’t get away with breaking a Stay, even if you are already returning to them…you will always put them back and make them stay until you give the release word. Sometimes, also return to them but then walk away again – to teach them that you returning does NOT always mean that they will be released. Keep them guessing!

OK – now I have to tag 5 friends to play this game:

• Bodie the Border Terrier (my cheeky Pairs Routine dancing partner!)
• Cinnamon the Beagle (who shows that Beagles CAN be trained!)
• Nala the Ridgeback (who I think is my “online sister” – we are so alike – and our humans too!)
• Max & JD  (my favourite Schnauzer brothers who I have a HUGE soft spot for!)
• Jackson the Great Dane (who is my hero with his Obedience achievements - his human is amazing and never gives up training with him, even though he is a slow, placid, ‘low-drive’ giant doggie like me who isn’t easy to train! )

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Guess what? I have learnt a new trick! Do you remember when I first arrived in my new home in Brisbane, I did this on the kitchen counter?

Well, Hsin-Yi thought it was very cute so she decided to “capture it” (this means CLICK & treat whenever she sees me do it naturally. This is also how I learnt my ‘Shimmy’ trick) and put it on cue.

So now I have learnt to put my Chin on the counter – and take it off – when asked to! Hee! Hee! OK – I know this is a silly trick but sometimes it is nice to learn tricks “just for fun” – even if they are not very useful! (Maybe this would be useful if the vet ever wants to weigh my head…! )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nGO3QHq3MA

ETA: Sorry – I think I confused some people – this isn’t a video of me learning the trick (‘capturing’ means marking & rewarding the behaviour anytime I do it, all through the day so it’s very hard to film it!) – this is after I have learnt it already and I’m just doing it to show you!

Hsin-Yi says she is going to “extend” this trick and teach me to put my chin on other things – like on her shoulder or on my own paws (to “look sad”) or anything else she points at!

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ps. Thank you to everyone for your thoughtful suggestions in my last post to help Hsin-Yi carry my HUGE crate ! She didn’t really want to get a trolley ‘coz it would just be ANOTHER thing she would have to take with us - and she is already having to remember so many things. Plus my crate is so wide, it would not fit through doorways if wheeled on a normal trolley – it would have to be wheeled standing up on its side, on something like a skateboard, Hsin-Yi says. But anyway, she says she will check out some trolleys and see!  

By the way, Paul did help put the crate in the car the night before – actually, it was so big that my humans had to spend a lot of time pushing & shoving and huffing & puffing, trying to get it in!

It is wider than the car machine so the doors won’t shut – so they had to turn it around and put it in longways, from the back – and even then, it was sticking up into MY space at the back and completely blocking the rearview mirror!

Hsin-Yi did not like driving with such a big thing squeezed into the car machine, because she could not see properly out back (or even see me!) and was worried it might be dangerous if we had an accident. But what to do? It’s just so big! That’s the problem, you see, when you have a giant doggie like me…nothing is simple and easy! (and my humans do NOT want to drive a Van Machine like a lot of other Dane humans! )

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Can you believe it – twice in the last few days, the Postman Human stopped by our house and said he had a package for ME!

Max & JD the Schnauzer Brothers

How exciting! The first package was from my blog friends, Max & JD, who live in a faraway place  called England. Their humans had been travelling to another faraway place called Egypt and they had got a little present for me from there…a personalised bandana!

See? The bandana has my name on it written in ‘hieroglyphics‘ which are special writing pictures used by humans living in Egypt a long time ago…how cool is that?!

Well, as some of you know, I have a LOT of bandanas - my humans love to put bandanas on me when we go out walking – and this new one is a great addition to my collection! I couldn’t wait to try it on…and then I had an idea! Remember that clicker training game “Fun with a Box”? Well, I could do my own version: ‘Fun with a Bandana’!

Starting with the traditional look…

Then how about a bit of rustic ‘peasant style’?

Or I could do a cute retro Minnie Mouse look:

Or how about an elegant corsage?

Then there is the hot pink miniskirt… (oh, la! la! )

…or maybe a bit of Ascot flair - work those accessories, dahling!

Not forgetting (Hsin-Yi’s favourite!) – the evil Emperor from ‘Star Wars’ (er, pink version!) !

"The force is strong in you, young Jedi...but do not underestimate the power of the PINK Side"

Kasha the Dainty Dane

And as if that wasn’t all exciting enough, I then had another package from my blog friend, Kasha the Dainty Dane, who lives in a faraway place called Chicago.

This was a little thank you for me helping her to set up her blog…you’re very welcome, Kasha!

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Ooh, I love opening presents…

What beautiful wrapping paper!

Yay! A tug toy! I LOVE tug toys!

This is me doing my “Happy Dance”: When I’m happy and excited – like when my humans come home - I always have to grab something in my mouth and do a little “prancing walk” around the room…do you do this too?

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Nothing like a good game of tug! Grrrrrrr!

Of course, I still have to remember my manners even when I’m playing tug – like I must always immediately let go when my humans say “Give” – I learnt this from when I was a baby puppy, otherwise they just won’t play with me anymore and it is no fun. I also learnt that I must never put my teeth (even accidentally!) on their skin – if I did, the tug would “go dead” and my humans won’t play with me anymore…so now I’m really careful when I’m grabbing the tug toy.

Some people think that we doggies must never win a tug game otherwise we might get a bit bossy but it’s no fun if we lose all the time! My humans let me win sometimes – as long as I will always let go when they tell me to. And they always end the game when it’s still really exciting, so I know that they are the boss and they decide when to start and stop.

A lot of humans think that it is bad for us doggies to play tug – some even have silly ideas about it making us dominant - but as long as we are taught these important rules for playing, then it is a great game which most doggies LOVE playing and is a fantastic way for us to bond with our humans.

And guess what? There was also a present for Hsin-Yi in the box: special cards with our names and pictures on them! Isn’t it gorgeous! We love it! Personalised bandana…and now personalised stationary too!

Whew! And then as if all that wasn’t enough excitement, I also found out that I had got 2nd place at Niamh’s ‘Train Your Dog Photo Contest’ and the Reader’s Choice Award in the MangoMinster ‘Hard-Working Group’!

Congratulations to all the other winners and thank you to Niamh and Mango for hosting such fun competitions!

Of course, my birthday was actually in October but because my human, Paul, was away, we waited until he got back to have the party. And my lovely trainer, Flip, said that I could have my party at his Flip’s Top Dog training centre!

I had invited all my good doggie friends: some old friends that I’ve known for a loooooong time, like George the Bernese Mountain Dog and Lucky Bear the Akita-Rottie-cross…

…some friends that I’ve met through doggie dancing, like Finnegan the Sheltie…

…some friends that I’ve met through Outreach Therapy Pets, like Kira the German Shepherd…

…new friends I’ve met at Agility, like Scarlett the Shepherd… and even friends I’ve made through my blog, like Cinnamon the Beagleand Lexi the Great Dane pup!

I also invited my human friend, Dizzy Mum and her 2 human pups.

They had to leave their own doggies behind when they moved here from Australia and they have been really missing some doggie cuddles -

…so Hsin-Yi said the little Human Girl Pup could pretend I was her dog and handle me in all the party games!

It was very exciting when everyone was arriving…

…getting lots of pats & cuddles…

…and lots of presents!

Then it was time to play party games!

We played some old favourites from Ian Dunbar’s “K9 Games” - such as Musical Sits and Doggie Dash – and my humans also made up some silly ones, like the Egg & Spoon Race and Champagne Agility.

First, we played Musical Sits – which is like the human game of “Musical Chairs” – except when the music stops, us doggies must do a Sit Stay outside the big circle around the chairs before our humans can grab a chair. If we get up, our humans have to get off their chairs to put us back. The slowest dog to Sit will have a human who doesn’t have a chair – that human then has 10 seconds to run around the circle and try to make the other doggies get up: they can jump, whoop, wave their arms, make funny noises – do whatever they like EXCEPT call our names. If no dog gets up after 10s, then that human and their dog is out!

Not only is Musical Sits great fun but it is a great way to practise our Loose-leash Walking and Sit Stays. George was the winner!

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Next, we played the Egg & Spoon Race: this was a relay race with us doggies divided into 2 teams. Each human had to loop their doggie’s leash onto the same hand that was holding the egg & spoon and then run through an obstacle course as fast as they could. Again, this was good practice for making sure us doggies don’t pull on the leash and follow our humans when walking, otherwise they would drop the egg!

I am ashamed to say, however, that my team lost because I was very naughty and when my little Human Girl Pup dropped the egg, I ate it!!!! Hsin-Yi was horrified but everyone else was laughing.

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Next, we played Champagne Agility – this time, the humans had to carry a full glass of pink champagne while running through the obstacle course with us. But we also had to do a Sit Stay at the end of the course, while our humans ran to get a flower lei to put around our necks. This was not a team race – each dog & human pair went alone and we were timed…the pair with the fastest time was the winner. Well, you will never believe it but Kira and Scarlett, the 2 Shepherds, completed the course in exactly the same time: 46 seconds! They had to race each other again – and Scarlett was the winner!

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And the last game – the most exciting of all – was Doggie Dash! For this, we doggies race each other in heats of 2 at a time – we have to do a Sit & Wait at one end of the training centre while our humans walk to the other end of the building and then when they call us, we have to RUN as fast we we can! But when we pass the Finish line, it is the dog that SITS the first that is the winner – so this practises a good, fast Recall and a good Sit under a lot of distractions and excitement! The winners of the heats race each other…until there is only 1 winner left! Kira was the winner!

Well! After all that energy and excitement, it was time for some yummies!

The humans had lots of nibbles and drinks but we doggies had our own special cake! Yup, my human, Hsin-Yi, made me my own ‘peanut butter & banana’ doggie birthday cake with yoghurt & cream cheese frosting, Marmite (Vegemite) icing for my name and bone-shaped cookies as decorations!

It smelled divine!! All us doggies got very excited when they brought it out and couldn’t wait to have a piece. The hardest party game of all was getting all us doggies to sit around the cake and pose for a photo without sneaking a lick!

(Well, little Lexi couldn’t quite resist…but then she is only 4 months old! )

After that, Paul became the most popular person there when he cut up the cake and went around giving every doggie a piece…

And everyone was shocked to watch Cinnamon eat her cake: how could such a little dog gobble such a big piece of cake so quickly?! My humans had always heard about Beagles and food but this was the first time they had ever seen it in action!

Anyway, there was enough cake to go around and every doggie had seconds…and Cinnamon went around the floor afterwards and made sure that not one crumb was wasted!!

It was a really wonderful party and I had a fantastic time – and I think all my friends did too. Hsin-Yi said  all of us doggies were fantastically well-behaved: although all the dogs knew me, they didn’t all know each other but we were all very sociable and friendly – even when the cake was going round, you can see in the video (below) that we were all sitting politely for a piece. Hsin-Yi was so impressed, especially given how exciting it was with so many dogs together and human pups running around and people shouting and food everywhere…!

Here is a special movie my human, Hsin-Yi, made to show you the highlights of my party – you can see how we played the games and watch Cinnamon’s amazing “Jaws” moment in action! – hope you enjoy it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu-KuUUs-Lw

Hsin-Yi said she did not put the whole games into the Highlights movie because it might have got too long and boring but if anyone is interested in watching them in full (with original sound), here are the links:

• Musical Sits
• Egg & Spoon Race
• Champagne Agility
• Doggie Dash

I wish all my friends could have been there but I hope this post lets you feel like you have shared in the fun of my party!