Sunday, November 23, 2014

Another Trick Dog!

Vegas has recently completed the requirements to earn his Novice Trick Dog title!  He learned and demonstrated 15 tricks including putting his paws up, unrolling a carpet, jumping through a hoop, trotting through cavalettis, and many more!  I use all positive motivational methods to teach my dogs, and Vegas was no exception.  Because he is deaf and visually impaired, I had to make a few minor adjustments with how I trained him.  I use hand signals close to Vegas' face so he can see them, and he can't differentiate signals that look similar, so his signals have to appear very different to him in order for him to tell them apart.  I also use touch cues, which he picks up very quickly, and some scent and context cues to let him know what we're going to do next.  Here is Vegas demonstrating his 15 tricks ...