Chow Tricks?

[summer_rose03]

I was just wondering what tricks your chows know? (Besides the usual sit/stay/lay down stuff).

Frisco used to do shake/please/high five. It was all the same thing, but he would do it no matter what you called it. When he was younger, it got to the point where all you had to do was hold the treat up in the air and he would sit and give you his paw. I eventually got him to do both paws. He also finally learned to toss the treat in the air from his nose and catch it.

Carter has started to say "please" now. I got him to do it tonight! It was so cute. I knew he would learn it, but it just surprised me. He is doing much better with his sit commands, too. He also has this thing where he'll go to the door, come up to me and paw my leg, then go back to the door. It's as if he's saying "let's go!". It's pretty cute. He's done it twice so far.

[Judy Fox]

Mm! Well! Tricks - Milly and Mabel - no!

They will give a paw for their dinner and a treat and will come to us and give a paw to ask to go out to spend a penny but that is about it.

Sit, down, stay - not in their vocabulary. Obviously our Chownese is not up to scratch.

[vicster605]

LOL Judy Kearra & Kyra do the USUAL sit, down, stay, give five, speak & they both will fetch & drop it, but I trained them in sign language so I don't say anything just a hand signal of course that is IF they feel like it

[TJordan]

Butters has a great trick. It is called ignoring me!! I didn't even have to teach him. I watch in amazement when I call his name and only his ears wiggle (suggesting of course that he did indeed hear me but has chosen not to respond)

[summer_rose03]

It seems they all have "selective hearing" lol. You think they would be more daddy's babies because I'm sure daddy's are the ones to teach them lol.

[aware]

Rocco can do the usual sit/high five/lay down and he is doing really good a his new "stay" command. He will fetch and drop it when he is asked. His best trick is when I blow a kiss he catches it (with his tongue or a chomp). We are also working on him saying "I love you" I have gotten him to do it a few times but it takes a while.

Jewels is learning "touch." We got that one from "Its me or the Dog," because she is a little afraid of hands. It is also getting her more comfortable with us. We are also working on "Kennel up" for her safe space. I have never crated a dog (we tried Rocco but he was whiny and he didn't really need the crate). Jewels is so scared sometimes I think it would help her to have a "safe" space.

[Judy Fox]

...................yes, damn it - I forgot the "ignore us" trick! M & M have that off to a fine art, bless their little hearts.

[vicster605]

Oh yes I forgot the "ignore me" trick That was the first trick Kearra learned and she is much better at it than Kyra is LOL you can indeed see her ears move too but she has gotten so good at it now that she turns around and looks you in the eye(half way in the middle of the yard) to let you know yes I hear you and I am ignoring you She will do this for hrs if you do something like try and put on the Advantix on & if you pick up the hair brush

[MickChick]

Brandy's best trick is the ignore you trick, but she also knows sit, down, paw/shake, speak, play dead (lays on her side with her head flat on the ground), and roll over. Her newest trick (that she has taught herself) is time out for ME - when she's mad at me about something if I talk to her, she will get up and lay down again facing the opposite direction so she doesn't have to look at me! Talk about cheeky!!

Cecelia

[Judy Fox]

Brandy's best trick is the ignore you trick, but she also knows sit, down, paw/shake, speak, play dead (lays on her side with her head flat on the ground), and roll over. Her newest trick (that she has taught herself) is time out for ME - when she's mad at me about something if I talk to her, she will get up and lay down again facing the opposite direction so she doesn't have to look at me! Talk about cheeky!!

Cecelia

Brilliant - I love it!!

[FNG]

When he goes to sleep on the carpet at night, my boy will sometimes stand there and look at me.
It means that he wants me to scratch his back before he lies down.

[summer_rose03]

Well, I have found out Carter will use either paw for "please", especially if you have chicken tenders lol. When I have good treats, it's amazing how much better he pays attention and listens! It's getting where I don't even have to say the sit command anymore, just hold the treat up and bam, he sits!

Oh, he also will crawl. After you get him to lay down, if you hold the treat a ways in front of him, he will crawl towards it. It's pretty cute and it didn't really take any training. I think he's realized that we know he can do all these things so he can't really act dumb anymore.

[kingalls]

Both of mine are "tricksters"! The best trick is the common "ignore you" trick which all of you have mentioned.
The next trick is the "threating to do a zoomie in the house if you don't let me out now"
Next is the "barking at nothing" trick to get us outside
There's the "I want to go outside - NOT!" trick
and, of course, the "I'll sit for a treat - BUT not that one!"

[IliamnasQuest]

My girls know all sorts of tricks. We have fun learning new things and they're very eager to figure out what gets them the special treats (they really like salmon treats).

They all shake paws, wave goodbye, and spin circles. Khana really throws herself around in circles while I make "woo-wooo!" sounds ..*LOL* .. the more I "woo-woo!" the faster she spins. And when she stops, her face is laughing and it's obvious she was having a good time. Dora taught herself how to spin both ways (ONLY dog I've ever had who did this). She spins one way, and then "spins back" the other way to unwind! It's very cute, and she is very quick at it.

Khana covers her face with one paw when I ask "are you embarassed?" - Dora rubs her nose with her paw when I ask "does your nose tickle?". It's a funny trick because every dog I've taught it to puts their own personality into it. My older GSD, Trick, lays down and covers her nose with her paw when I say "what stinks?" and another GSD I had used to put both paws over her nose when I said "peekaboo!". Khana will do this sometimes when she's laying on the bed and really wants me to rub her belly.

Khana barks on command and speaks - which is a low growly sound. I "errrrr" at her and she "errrr's" back .. *L* .. people who don't understand Chow sounds would think she's growling, but she's just talking to me. She also shakes her head "no" and has gotten good at doing that when I say "should I give this treat to Dora?". Khana is a treat hog.

My old gal who died last April, Kylee, had some pretty neat tricks, too. She could close doors - first learned this when I had a GSD who fetched a beer from the fridge but never managed to learn to close the fridge door. So Kylee learned to do it, and sometimes tried to close the door on the GSD's head .. *L*. Kylee also learned scent discrimination and would pick something out of a pile that I touched. For instance, I could dump a bunch of dollar bills on the floor and only touch one and she would find that one. It was especially neat for demonstrations because I could tell people that she knew the difference between a $20 bill and a $1 bill. I would only touch the $20 bill and she would go out to the pile of bills and find the twenty! Kids were completely fooled by it, and even some adults didn't realize that she was going by scent.

Kylee also did a really cute trick where she would lay down on a blanket, take the corner in her mouth and then roll over while holding onto the blanket - wrapping herself up in it. And the trick that I liked the best - she would jump up into my arms when I said "puppy hug!" and then give me a kiss on the nose. She only liked to kiss noses.

I teach all the tricks with lots of positive reinforcement and really really good treats (the way to a Chow's heart is through the stomach! *L*). It takes a lot of patience and time at first, but once my girls figured out that they could control ME by waving at me or spinning a circle, then it was all uphill. Khana is especially good at engaging me into giving her treats. She's even been known to bring me the bag of treats. Talk about a hint! *LOL*

Melanie and the gang in Alaska

[summer_rose03]

Wow Melanie! Your kids sound very talented! Any tips for the rest of us on to teach certain ones? Most other tricks are easy because they already do them with out thinking and then you just attach a name and treat to it.

I did get Carter to spin in a circle earlier, but he was chasing a treat. Maybe that can be something he learns. I know I can teach him to all kinds of stuff. I might get one of those special trick books to learn how to teach him some good ones.

[Chow Chow Mama]

Holden will sit, shake (both paws), and lay down. He will also "sit up" if he's laying down and "stand". If I say "excuse me", he gets up and moves (such a gentleman). And his favorite word is "Squirrel!"

Hannah will sit, shake, high five, lay down, and roll over. She also rings bells on the door when she has to go outside (she taught herself). She will usually come when called, knows "leave it", sometimes she'll stay, she knows "go to your room" (when I want her to go into her crate), she knows "go get your toy" (when she leaves them outside and we want her to bring one in), and when I say "excuse me" she just lays there anyway and makes me walk around her - sometimes she'll even try to grab my leg with her paws and practically make me trip And I work with her on "drop it" but if she thinks it's too delicious of a prize, she absolutely refuses to drop it. Little snot.

[Judy Fox]

Milly and Mabel will both get up and move out of the way if we say "excuse me". Such good girls!! So will Hector, bless him.

[Desi]

Cinnamon learned sit,shake,down,stay roll over and play dead in two days.
Cheyenne sits at any of those commands.
At "can I have that" they'll both spit out whatever they have in their mouth .
Chey's best trick is putting her head on my knee when i am eating something and hypnotizing me into sharing it with her

[summer_rose03]

Frisco's thing was "say please" and he'd give you his paw. So that's what we call it with Carter. He knows it very well, he does it almost automatically now. We are trying to teach him "other paw". We've found he's more likely to give us the other paw if we switch hands.

I can't remember if I said it before or not, but he likes to come up to you and turn his butt towards you. Then he'll turn his head around and stare at you until you scratch his butt.

[Lisa_D]

We have some very talented and smart chows here indeed!!!
Bear does all the usual sit/lay/shake/speak. When he does speak sometimes he whispers and then when I say I can't hear you he barks louder. He also does the ignore trick very well!
His newest trick which I am not finding funny but he sure thinks it's hilarious is he hides on me! He taught himself this but I think he gets a kick out this because of course when he does this outside, I get panicky. He will hide behind the hot tub and just stay there and not move. He really had me going the first few times but now it is a game we play because I caught on to his tricks! LOL

[Victory]

Firesong will give hugs, when I say "hug hug". She'll jump up on something when I point at it and say "up", she sits very nicely on command, shakes hands and will wait to jump down until I either snap my fingers and point down or say down. She'll also sit with just a hand command, (I close my fist) She knows down, for a treat too, but that's a hard one for her, as she's a very active girl, LOL.

Dreamdancer will, sit, shake and lay down, for treats, in fact he'll do all three at once for treats, LOL (he thinks he'll get more treats that way.LOL) He's learning "Hug" right now it's more of an "lunge" since he puts all his weight behind it.

They both have learned to go into the bathroom when I leave for work, (after the flood I decided to keep them in the bathroom during the day, where it's safter for them). They both know to stop and sit at the top of the stairs when we come inside and wait until I say come or okay to come down the stairs. They'll both give kisses. They both "drop it" on command, even the squirel they got!

Next is teaching Firesong to twirl on command, she does it when she's excited already. I think I'll teach Dreamdancer to rollover since he does that pretty well on his own and do the paw over the nose thing cause he does that on his own too, (it's so cute!) He also could probably learn to fetch since he's done it once, (shocked me)

Training chows is like training cats, it takes time and good bribes and a lot of patience! But it is fun.

[Piff Poff]

I have learnt to have a selection of treats on hand.
I have learnt that scratching the butt doesn't stop until both sides have been done.
I have learnt to save some supper.
I have learnt that when I get the hypnotic stare, to get up and open the door/pass a treat.
I have learnt not to expect the ball to be brought back after the 5th throw.
I have learnt to bring treats/toys anything good home from the store at least once a week.
I have learnt that -40 is great but a bit of wet pavement is torture.
I have learnt to be ignored.


OH! You wanted to know what Henry's tricks were, not mine

The best thing I have learnt though, all joking aside is that a Chow's love is one of the best things in the world and I hadn't realised how much I was missing out on.

Fab thread - I think we can all relate to some things

[summer_rose03]

Apparently Carter likes to hide his chew bone outside. He went and pulled it out and then a little while later he hid it again. He doesn't bury it really, just hide it under things. Now we're in trouble if he ever gets a hold of anything he shouldn't lol.

[Scarlets Mom]

Scarlet is supposed to sit before she gets a treat. All of the other dogs (none of them are chows) do it without hesitation but Scarlet (my only chow) will look at me intently for a minute or two (as if she is trying to decide if its worth her time and diginty to humor me) and then with a sigh will sit. I would love to teach her how to play dead and give a high five but I don't have a clue how.

[IliamnasQuest]

I just now made it back to this thread - sorry it took so long!

summer_rose, you asked about how to teach some tricks to your dogs. In all honesty, many of the tricks I shape in my girls are based on natural behaviors they already do. Dora first learned to rub her nose because one day she was laying on the bed and her nose evidently tickled - and every time she went to rub her nose, I'd praise and scratch her (something she loves). It didn't take long before she was rubbing her nose to get me to scratch her!

But you can also help your dogs do a behavior and then put a cue or command to it. For any sort of paw/face behaviors, I've had really good luck softly blowing air in their faces, which makes them bring a paw up to rub. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this for all people because some dogs take offense to you blowing in their faces, but mine don't and it was a very successful way to capture a "nose rub". From there, I shaped them into either covering the face and keeping the paw there, or using both paws in a "peekaboo" fashion, etc. It all depended on what came most naturally for each dog.

Spinning in circles was lured at first, but I had to figure out which way each dog preferred to turn. Dogs, like people, are usually either right-handed or left-handed. If you throw a treat out so your dog has to run to the treat and then back to you, and watch which way they turn to come back, you can usually see which turn is more natural. If you throw treats several times, most dogs will turn the same way (if the treat is in an open area) nearly all the time. For my girls, that means they all turn clockwise (all four of them, although Dora will turn both ways). But when my Mom's dog came to stay for a week, I taught him to spin and he had to go counter-clockwise. Dogs can learn to spin both ways, I just usually only teach the way they're most comfortable with. I lure them around with a treat, praise/reward, repeat a few times and then lure them with my hand with NO treat in it, praise/reward, and then over a period of time (days/weeks) I have them spin 2,3,4 times instead (alternating so they don't get stuck on a particular number of spins) and then I phase out the hand signal while adding in a verbal cue.

Tricks involving paws like shake, high five, wave goodbye are generally pretty straight-forward. All of my girls learn to wave. I start with getting them to "give me five". The chows have really responded well to me slapping next to them - like when they're on the bed, and I slap the bed next to their front feet, they usually respond by pawing at my foot. I praise/reward that, and we keep playing that until they will put their paw on my hand every time. Then I start turning my hand over, palm up, and encouraging them to "slap" my palm before I hit the bed. It usually doesn't take much - dogs tend to anticipate which helps with this behavior. Once they'll "give me five", I practice that for weeks until it's really solid. Then I start turning my hand so that the palm is facing them in a "high five" position. If the dog has a truly solid "give me five" behavior, they will offer the paw and at first I may have to reach down a bit to get the palm slap in. But as the dog gets better, the foot usually comes up farther. Once the "high five" is solid, we go for the "wave goodbye". It starts out like the high five, but I keep my hand back just enough so that the dog's paw doesn't reach my hand - but I praise/reward when the paw comes up high. So now they're being rewarded for the paw coming up even though it doesn't hit my hand. I continue to reward this as over a period of weeks I move my hand farther and farther away from the dog, until I can wave goodbye at a bit of a distance and my dog will wave goodbye back at me.

None of these behaviors are really hard, it's just a matter of being patient and having FUN. My girls love to do tricks because they have a way of making ME give them treats .. *L* .. Khana, especially, tends to come up and start offering behaviors to try to get me to open the treat bag. Tonight she started bringing me things - a toy, the ball, a paper bowl that was on the floor .. *L* .. we've been doing a lot of retrieve games lately with the Service Dog training so now she expects that when she brings me things I will get the treats out. And she's right. I did get the treats out and Khana, Dora and Trick played a "who's got the ball??" game where whoever brought the ball got a treat. They have a good time with it and Khana is hilarious. She will dive under Dora's belly (Dora is tiny and Khana has to drop down to her stomach to get under her!) or run over to Trick and try to take the ball out of Trick's mouth. Khana is SO food motivated!

Melanie and the gang in Alaska