Any good ideas???

[pittiegurl]

I've been trying to teach Roy how to do Freestyle Dancing as ya'll already know.
Well,the very FIRST thing I'm trying to teach him is the figure 8 around my legs...I can get him to go through 2-3 times & then he gets bored,but when he sees the treat in my hand,he lunges for it & ALWAYS nips my finger{on accident!!}...

Do you have any ideas on how I can get him to go through my legs 5 times w/o stopping?

[pittiegurl]

Any tasty treats that REALLY worked for your dog???

[erdog3]

Well everyone will probably jump down my throat for this, but I use savoloys, little pieces...strong smell, yummy taste for doggies.
Always used it in my show training and I have ribbons to prove it works. lol.

[pittiegurl]

What are "Savoloys"??

[erdog3]

plain hotdogs

[pittiegurl]

That's not that bad...
When I showed Oshee at the County Fair,I got a Hot Dog afterwards & fed her HALF of it AND shared my lemonade w/ her!

[Rip's Girl]

have you tried the Natural Balance dog food rolls? They smell even stronger than hot dogs, they are lower in sodium, and any dog that will take a regular dog treat will do backflips for the NB rolls. You can get a 4.5lb roll for about $9 at petsmart, and it lasts me FOR EVER.. I just finished off one that I'd had for about 3 months.

Also, it sounds like you're luring him with a treat, that is OK, but have you read or heard much about operant conditioning? It is, IMO, the best idea for teaching tricks and commands.
When you are holding food in front of the dog, is he listening to you? What is he looking at? THE FOOD. He's not paying attention to a word you are saying, his mind is 100% focused on THAT FOOD.

Instead, if the food is kept hidden, the dog will most likely be more in tune to you. THEN, when you guide him through your legs, click a clicker, or give a specific word or sound. (I use the click of my tongue) And soon (but not immediately) after you make the sound, give a treat.

What this does is it makes the dog look to you constantly, trying to figure out what he can do to get you to click and reward him. Therefore, instead of going crazy for the treat right in front of him, he's THINKING of what to do that will make you happy.

I know this isn't telling you how to train him to do figure 8's around your legs, but it might help him learn a little faster and more reliably in the long run.

[Moo]

Focus thing.... I have alot of focus issues. Mine is a people pleaser, but I swear he's an ADHD dog. Helped it a bit by back-stepping and going back to watch me's and down-stays every day.

So what happens after he does 3? He just stops?

[Rip's Girl]

I have one of those ADHD dogs too, and Moo is right, back-stepping a bit and practicing things like 'watch' and down/stays, sit/stays will improve their focus a lot. (Actually another thing that helped with Rip's focus was agility)

[Leslie]

I use the NB dog rolls and my girls will do just about anything for a tidbit off that roll. They smell good enough for people to eat ( I wouldn't recommend it though).