Trick School for Dogs by Manuela Zaitz

Author:Manuela Zaitz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cadmos Books, Great Britain
Published: 2010-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

Once the principle has been understood, opening doors is easy.

The border collie mix Scully has to pull hard

to get the drawer to open. (Photos: T. Stens)

Of course, it is possible to do this exercise without the help of a piece of rope and to teach the dog to take hold of the door or drawer handle itself, pulling it open. For this there would need to be a knob which the dog can take hold of easily. Bear in mind, however, that this may enable your dog to gain access to cupboards which are not meant for him, and which may contain food or cleaning materials. This could be life-threatening for very nosy dogs and those who like to experiment. You can of course attach child safety catches to certain cupboards, and make them dog-safe this way, but you can avoid the problem altogether, by only teaching your dog to open doors which have a piece of rope attached to them.

At a more advanced stage, you can also have your dog fetch things from the cupboard after he has opened it. Opening a pedal bin The dog opens the bin by pushing down the pedal. You may want to think about whether you really want to teach your dog this exercise. Dogs love the precious leftovers that can be found in bins, and teaching them how to open them would come close to an open invitation. You can avoid this by practising with a small bathroom bin, which only contains toiletry waste, for instance. The foot pedal should be large enough for a dog’s paw and the lid should easily open when light pressure is applied. Weigh down the bin by putting a rock or a bag of sand inside. When starting the exercise, wedge the bin between your feet, to prevent it sliding away.

The dog should have mastered the ‘Touch!’ command well beforehand. Point your finger towards the foot pedal and give the command ‘Touch!’ If the dog touches the pedal with his paw, reward him straight away. Affirm any contact with the pedal at first, even if the lid doesn’t move perceptably. If the dog definitely touches the pedal, hold back the reward and wait until he pushes firmly enough to lift the lid slightly. Affirm your dog with a jackpot straight away. Work step by step towards the complete opening of the lid.

If your dog has already learnt how to tidy, you can gainfully combine the two activities by having your dog put away waste paper or similar things on his own.

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