Difficulty: Easy Prerequisite: Touch Items Needed: Clicker, Treats, Touchstick
It may not be a very useful trick, but having your dog spin in circles is very impressive. You can pair this trick with other moves such as jumping tricks to create a dance routine! If you want to get fancy, you can teach your dog to spin left or spin right by your hand signal. Start out big and point in the direction you want him to go, associating that with your specific command, "Spin Left," or "Spin Right." For each training session, use smaller hand signals for a perfected trick.
Step 1: Using your touch stick, guide your dog around in a circular motion. As he makes a full turn, click and treat. Step 2: Keep doing this several times, eventually adding a hand signal (circular motion with index finger). Step 3: Use the touch stick less. When your dog can spin without the touch stick, add your command. Step 4: Practice until your dog can spin at your command!
OUR EXPERIENCE
It was easy to teach Caspian this trick. I just started by having him play around with the touch stick, getting him used to touching it while I clicked and treated. Then, I said "Touch" as I moved it around in a circular motion around his body. Caspian turned his head around to follow the touch stick and then his whole body followed. As he made a whole turn, I clicked and treated. I did this again and again until he was used to the motion. I then started using a hand signal (moving my finger around in a circular motion) to help him out and used the touch stick less. When he was able to spin without the touch stick, I started giving his command, "Spin!" Each time he would spin at my command I would give him a jackpot treat.
TEACHING TROUBLE
My dog has A.D.D! Maybe your dog starts to spin, but then he notices something a few feet away and stops mid-spin to go check it out. If this is true, it sounds like you've been training a bit too long. Either that, or your treat isn't good enough! Make sure your dog is well rested and your treats are good. Also, clear the room of any distractions such as televisions, toys, or children that might get in the way of an excellent training session.
Tip: "You can also teach this trick by using the clicker to catch your dog in the act of chasing his tail!"
