How do I???

[pittiegurl]

How do I teach Roy how to turn circles more than once???

[Dax]

Hold the treat (or target) close to his nose and quide him around while you say the command. Repeat several times until at command he circles. Then keep giving command or signal.

Remember - break the behavior down into steps so you can train a little and then expand on it. Remember praise is the best training tool.

[pittiegurl]

I tried that,& he loses intrest really quick...What else can I do?

What command should I use?

[Dax]

Originally Posted by pittiegurl

I tried that,& he loses intrest really quick...What else can I do?

What command should I use?

Does he like his tail? If you tug at it (gently) does he turn? Can you make it a game? Use whatever command you like (that the best part).

Maybe the treats aren't tasty/smelling enough. Try something irresistable - like a little piece of cheese.

[Moo]

Once you teach 'spin' once, I find it easy for lots of spins. "Spin, spin, spin, spin". Work on one spin at a time. When training, (I usually have two 10-minute training sittings per day), throw in spin every now and then, with the lure. Eventually, he should pick up. 'Bow' was tough for me, I had to shape his body myself and give the command, but after about 2 days of it, he picked up.

[Rip's Girl]

OK... Ripley had a hard time with this one too.

I clicker trained him to do tricks, so once he was spinning around ONCE reliably, I "forgot" to click and treat. Being the persistent and determined little brat that he is, what did he do? He made sure I was watching him, and then he did a spin again.
THEN I gave a click and treat. Soon I would only reward for 4-5 spins, and then no less than 10 spins got a reward, and eventually spinning until I told him to stop was the only thing that got a reward. He will now spin for about 2 minutes tops, at max speed, and now I'm working on him maneuvering himself in figure 8's around my legs while spinning.

Another way to do it is to get him reliably spinning in one circle, and then just give the command AGAIN immediately after he turns the first circle. Chances are he'll do it, and then give him a jackpot of praise and good stuff.

The commands I use for Ripley are "Spin" for a clockwise turn and "Twist" for a counterclockwise turn.

Remember, just get him spinning ONE circle for you first, and make sure he absolutely knows what that means. Then you can make the trick more advanced.

[Elite]

I agree with what the others have said. If he gets uninterested, use boiled chicken. We don't keep chicken in our house, but when we're given it at dog trianing classes, she'll do almost anything for it (and this is a dog he will not do anything otherwise).

Another fun thing to do is after you finish the spin one, try doing it with him on his hind legs. My lab used to do that for me...I taught him about 20 tricks a week with just those icky milkbones. That was a great dog...I hate my mum for giving him away without even telling me

[AlphaMale]

treat (or target) close to his nose

Is the treat or target a food or other thing?

thanks

[Moo]

A treat is food. A target is something that you train your dog to follow with it's nose. Ie, a stick, a string, I use a plastic lid.