TRAINING TIP #9
Trick Training… and Tacos!
I remember a classic advertisement for taco kits when I was a kid: “What’s more fun, making tacos, or eating them?” I had NO interest in cooking when I was younger, but I was extremely interested in eating, especially tacos. This taco ad got me thinking – “can cooking something be… fun?!?” I was skeptical at first but the promise of both fun and tacos inspired me to make tacos at home, by myself. The only thing I knew how to cook at that point was Kraft dinner – we called it Kraft Mac and Cheese where I grew up – and I loved tacos a lot more than mac and cheese, so, I gave it a shot.
The cooking was fun! And the tacos were tacos! Maybe not the best tacos I’ve ever had, but even a below average taco is a wonderful thing. At first, the act of cooking some protein, seasoning it, adding cheese, salsa, lettuce, and putting it all in taco shells was only appealing because these things reliably predicted tacos. And I didn’t need to learn how to do it. I could order tacos whenever I wanted them from local restaurants. But learning how to do it correctly, and getting rewarded for doing it correctly, eventually became a lot of fun. Now I can cook tacos in so many ways that I never have the same tacos twice in row.
Tacos are my favorite food, but you probably already knew that. It’s not exactly a secret. Any action that is not inherently unpleasant that consistently produces great rewards will eventually be appealing. I eventually learned to find the process of making tacos enjoyable. Trick training works the same way.
Activities that are not inherently unpleasant and consistently produce good rewards will often become inherently enjoyable. When your dog learns a new trick, the world becomes a less confusing place, and they know that their actions can produce good rewards. They should still be rewarded for the trick so it continues to be enjoyable and there’s no disappointment, but you can teach your dog to have FUN successfully performing tricks.
For my Karen Pryor Academy dog trainer class, part of our final was to teach our dogs ten different cues and have the dog perform all ten in a row, and only giving a reward for the last one. This was possible because my dog had learned to have fun performing tricks. She still got rewarded with treats and praise at the end because she earned them, and I wanted to make sure she didn’t get disappointed. But she was having fun, and so was I!
Some of the behaviours had a practical benefit, like sit and nose targeting, but not all. I also taught her a reliable high-five, which had no obvious practical benefit
Teaching a dog to touch your hand with their paw is relatively easy. You can hold a treat in your hand, and if your dog paws at your hand, which they are likely to try, let them have a treat. I recommend giving them a treat from your other hand or treat pouch first, so that we can fade out the lure from your target hand quickly and easily. It’s OK to start a behaviour with a lure, but we want to fade the lure out as soon as possible so the dog is learning the cue and not just following the food. Then I started raising my target hand a little higher each time, in very small increments, and without a food lure inside, continuing to reward with my other hand. Eventually I opened my hand, so my dog Buffy was hitting the palm of my raised hand with her paw, and I started adding the cue word “High-five!”.
This was a great bonding experience, and the foundation for more tricks, like slamming cupboard doors closed, and it was great fun. I also got to show it off to a friend that I play darts with. My friend and I had an unintentional running joke where we would try to high-five each other and miss in embarrassing fashion, nearly every time. I was able to videotape Buffy giving me a high-five, sent it to my teammate and said, “It’s not my fault, I can do this with my dog!”
Having fun with your dog and learning tricks that have no obvious practical benefit does in fact have a practical benefit: It’s FUN! Having fun with your dog can help prevent or eliminate many boredom/frustration-based behaviours and is a great bonding experience.
I eventually learned to enjoy cooking other things, not as much as tacos because other things aren’t tacos. But I went from ordering 2 nights worth of pizza or tacos 2-3X per week to actually enjoying making lunch and dinner most days. (I also love pizza. Pizza takes a back seat to tacos, but they’re both in the same glorious smelling car!)
After you’ve taught your dog multiple practical behaviours and entertaining tricks, you and your dog should both start enjoying the process of learning new things together. This can be a highly rewarding, life changing experience for you and your dog. So happy Taco Tuesday, and happy training!
– Daniel