# Tricks of the Month for June - Cross Paws and Beg/Sit Pretty!



## Squeeker (Dec 15, 2007)

The Tricks of the Month for June will be to teach your dog to cross their paws and "beg" or "sit pretty".

The "beginner" trick will be "cross paws". The idea is to get the dog to lay down on the floor (or stand) and cross one front paw over the other. Here are some videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLckkHx-peA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GlctAeBv44&feature=related

The "advanced" trick will be "Sit Pretty", or "Beg". The objective is to have the dog sit on its haunches on the floor, with the front legs up off the floor.

Again, some videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr4FkHF7xEE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG8YnHYHo3k&feature=related

As with the previous months, questions, videos, comments, and alternate methods of accomplishing the tricks are encouraged! Have fun with it, and it doesn't matter if you end up with a well-polished trick at the end of the month or not! As long as you and your dog are having fun, that's all that matters!


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## ShadowSky (Aug 6, 2008)

I'm bound and determined to actually participate this month, now that I'm out of school for the summer! Buck and Jake both already know beg, but I've been wanting to teach Cross Paws 

From what I've read and watched it's easiest to teach it with paw targeting... I'll have to teach Jake to paw target first of all I guess.


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## FourIsCompany (Apr 18, 2009)

Those videos are GREAT! I didn't know there were such good videos out there. Looking forward to this month's work! 

Thanks for doing this, Squeeker!


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## ShadowSky (Aug 6, 2008)

Jake and I worked on some paw targeting last night. I'm not sure whether to name the behavior of him slapping with his left paw (it'd be 'Slap it') and figure out how to phase it into the name of the behavior when I get rid of the card, or just leave it unnamed for now... the problem I have is when I go to teach it with him crossing his paws the other way, wouldn't he get confused? I'm new to this whole using paw targeting thing to teach behaviors, so any tips would be wonderful.

I recorded a part of our target training. He does 'beg' and 'bang'(other trick we're working on) at the end too, although he was being uncooperative with Beg. The whole first part is paw targeting though, so if I'm doing something wrong please tell me.


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## FourIsCompany (Apr 18, 2009)

I don't have any advice or criticism, I just wanted to say that Jake is adorable! He's really a beautiful dog!


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## ShadowSky (Aug 6, 2008)

FourIsCompany said:


> I don't have any advice or criticism, I just wanted to say that Jake is adorable! He's really a beautiful dog!


Thanks! I think he's quite cute, myself


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## FourIsCompany (Apr 18, 2009)

I worked with Jaia and B'asia yesterday, on the cross paws trick, but I couldn't get them to budge with their paws. They kept poking it with their nose, licking it, biting it... Just couldn't figure out that I wanted the PAW! Today, we had more success. I worked with Jaia, using a target stick with a ball on the end. I had him sit and lie down and would sneak the ball in under his foot while he was situating himself to lie down and then click as soon as his foot touched it. He FINALLY got it! LOL Now, there's no stopping him! 

Interesting thing is... Cara was lying there watching the whole time, so after a few minutes with Jaia, I had her come over and she came, sat down and SLAMMED her paw on that ball! LOL She learned from watching him!


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## Squeeker (Dec 15, 2007)

Libby and I did our first session tonight on these tricks. I decided to use a playing card (thanks for the idea!), she too was trying to nudge it with her nose, tongue, snout... we have never done paw targeting before. She got so frustrated that she did a "bang" (play dead) in desperation, and then wouldn't get up, LOL! I decided that this wasn't going to work, so I gave her a break and when we started again I had her sit and then asked for a "shake a paw" with the card in my hand and she touched it that way, so click and treat. Did that a few times and then offered my hand with the card in it and she continued to paw target! Woohoo! After she did that a few times I put her in a "down" position and she continued to target. I had her targeting with her right paw across her left by the end.

We did a bit of "sit pretty" as well. I am luring her into the position, and she is able to maintain the position for about a second at most. It's going to take a while, I think.



> Jake and I worked on some paw targeting last night. I'm not sure whether to name the behavior of him slapping with his left paw (it'd be 'Slap it') and figure out how to phase it into the name of the behavior when I get rid of the card, or just leave it unnamed for now... the problem I have is when I go to teach it with him crossing his paws the other way, wouldn't he get confused? I'm new to this whole using paw targeting thing to teach behaviors, so any tips would be wonderful.
> 
> I recorded a part of our target training. He does 'beg' and 'bang'(other trick we're working on) at the end too, although he was being uncooperative with Beg. The whole first part is paw targeting though, so if I'm doing something wrong please tell me.


Looks good! I can't criticize... I am only as far along as you are. I am not sure how I am going to handle the other foot, either.



> Interesting thing is... Cara was lying there watching the whole time, so after a few minutes with Jaia, I had her come over and she came, sat down and SLAMMED her paw on that ball! LOL She learned from watching him!


Haha, that is so neat! I had no idea that they could learn that way.


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## FourIsCompany (Apr 18, 2009)

Squeeker said:


> I had her targeting with her right paw across her left by the end.


Did you just work with one paw? Jaia has the motion down, but he targets with whichever paw is convenient. So if I put the ball outside his paws, he uses the paw that's closest... 

In this short video, he's targeting with his right paw, so I put the ball on top of his left foot. He continued to do it right. But when I move the ball _slightly_ to the outside of his paws, he uses his other paw... 

Any suggestions? Am I just trying to move too fast? 

Jaia Cross


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## ShadowSky (Aug 6, 2008)

FourIsCompany said:


> Did you just work with one paw? Jaia has the motion down, but he targets with whichever paw is convenient. So if I put the ball outside his paws, he uses the paw that's closest...
> 
> In this short video, he's targeting with his right paw, so I put the ball on top of his left foot. He continued to do it right. But when I move the ball _slightly_ to the outside of his paws, he uses his other paw...
> 
> ...


I can't see the video, but it sounds like you're just going a little too fast. I can get Jake to cross his paw over, but at the moment I'm still just working on having him only hit the target with his right paw so that he has that solid and I can set him up for success before moving on. I'm having the same problem every now and then, but I just figured I needed to keep it up with only rewarding for his right paw and it seems to be working.

ETA: OK, the video decided to work right after I posted that... lol. Jaia is GORGEOUS, by the way!


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## MaddieTheDog (Jun 3, 2009)

My dog just does that-crossing her paws. Not a trick I have a few cute pictures of her doing that.


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## FourIsCompany (Apr 18, 2009)

ShadowSky said:


> I can't see the video, but it sounds like you're just going a little too fast.


I think you're right. I am going to start rewarding only for the right paw. I'm too impatient sometimes! Thanks! 



> Jaia is GORGEOUS, by the way!


Oh, thank you. I think so, too!


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## Squeeker (Dec 15, 2007)

> I can't see the video, but it sounds like you're just going a little too fast. I can get Jake to cross his paw over, but at the moment I'm still just working on having him only hit the target with his right paw so that he has that solid and I can set him up for success before moving on. I'm having the same problem every now and then, but I just figured I needed to keep it up with only rewarding for his right paw and it seems to be working.


Ditto what they said... I was going to type pretty much the exact same thing until I saw this, LOL


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## ShadowSky (Aug 6, 2008)

Okay... not sure what to make of this? Working with Jake yesterday I noticed that if I just tap to the other side of his left paw and he notices, he'll cross his right over. Should I just let him keep at that? I think this came from the fact that I would tap the card when I was training the paw touch, so it became a cue without me noticing it...

What do you guys think? Should I go back with a different object and rework the targeting without me tapping it every time, or just keep up with the finger tapping until I switch the cue for the behavior? It'll be me crossing my own feet, I just decided to use the one from Kikopup's vid since it made sense.


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## Squeeker (Dec 15, 2007)

> Okay... not sure what to make of this? Working with Jake yesterday I noticed that if I just tap to the other side of his left paw and he notices, he'll cross his right over. Should I just let him keep at that? I think this came from the fact that I would tap the card when I was training the paw touch, so it became a cue without me noticing it...
> 
> What do you guys think? Should I go back with a different object and rework the targeting without me tapping it every time, or just keep up with the finger tapping until I switch the cue for the behavior? It'll be me crossing my own feet, I just decided to use the one from Kikopup's vid since it made sense.


I don't think it matters, personally. You can either start over with a new object, or just fade the tapping (as you would fade a lure). The latter may be faster assuming your dog is operant and will offer behaviour.


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## FourIsCompany (Apr 18, 2009)

I don't know about Jake, but starting over might confuse Jaia. Once you add the vocal cue, you can change the physical signal to crossing your legs. That's a cute idea.


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## Squeeker (Dec 15, 2007)

Here are the beginnings of "cross paws" and "sit pretty"

First, cross paws:



And sit pretty: for some reason, at the end, she decided to try playing dead instead of sitting pretty... it's her favourite behaviour to offer for some reason!


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## MaddieTheDog (Jun 3, 2009)

My update:

Have had three 5 minute sessions on the crossing paws with Maddie.
I havent seen the video, but what I was doing was saying "Cross" and then crossing her paws, saying "Good cross" and she gets a treat. She decided at the end of one of the sessions that it was shake time-but she would just give a smaller shake probably because my hand was closer. So I decided to gently hold one paw down since she wanted to shake with that one, and put my hand where I want her other paw to be. Two sessions later, still at square one. To be expected. I switched paws over on session 3 and she started getting it right away. She won't do it on command, but she will lift her paw up and place it on top of the other paw (not all the way crossed over, but still right on top). 
So proud of her.

We're on our way


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## FourIsCompany (Apr 18, 2009)

Squeeker, that looks great. That second video was funny when she decided to play dead instead. LOL

MaddietheDog, it sounds like you're at about the same place we are on the crossed paws. Jaia is putting his right foot on top of his left. I'm only rewarding right paw action and he got that right away. 

I'm working with Mia on the sit pretty because she is so athletic and eager to please. It's coming along fine. I'll have to get some video in the next couple days. 

FUN!


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## ShadowSky (Aug 6, 2008)

Sounds like everyone's doing great so far! I just had another session with Jake, and I think we've had a small breakthrough. He started offering his paws crossed! I'll get a video later and put it up.

Oh, and Squeeker, about the 'play dead' thing... Jake does that too! If he gets tired of shuffling his paws around figuring out what I want he'll roll onto his side, put his head down and play dead instead. Very convincing except for his tail wagging


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## Squeeker (Dec 15, 2007)

> Sounds like everyone's doing great so far! I just had another session with Jake, and I think we've had a small breakthrough. He started offering his paws crossed! I'll get a video later and put it up.


That sounds like more than a "small" breakthrough! Can't wait to see the vid!



> Oh, and Squeeker, about the 'play dead' thing... Jake does that too! If he gets tired of shuffling his paws around figuring out what I want he'll roll onto his side, put his head down and play dead instead. Very convincing except for his tail wagging





> Squeeker, that looks great. That second video was funny when she decided to play dead instead. LOL


Don't know if you could hear it in the video or not, but when she's frustrated she does a little grunt as she plays dead... what an attitude


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## ShadowSky (Aug 6, 2008)

Ok, here's the vid! Some of these are prompted by pointing my finger to his right paw(which he knows now) and a good deal of them were offered. I'm so happy with his progress  Sorry for the bad camera angle towards the end. Oh, and the barking at the finish was triggered by the doorbell- the 'hey' was because I didn't hear it and he startled me.



As you can see, a good deal of the time I had trouble getting him to UN-cross his paws.


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## Tofu_pup (Dec 8, 2008)

Ooh! I'm excited about the cross paws. Kaki has finally released her inhibitions with paw touching. In the past two weeks she learned 'high five' and 'up high'(both paws). Hopefully, this will be a piece of cake.


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## FourIsCompany (Apr 18, 2009)

Shadow, Jake is fantastic! He's got looks AND brains!  Good job! 

Tofu, looking forward to hearing more about your progress on these.


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## MaddieTheDog (Jun 3, 2009)

Here's video of Maddie doing crossing paws.

She won't do it on command yet, I have to have my hand there. You can see on her second try of the video she does want to shake with the paw that's suppose to be dormant. She's on her way-I put my hand there and without saying anything she has gone to bat it. She may know how to do it on her own, but she's VERY stubborn and won't do things if she's not in the mood. She will get this hard look in her eyes-narrow them a bit and they look cold-and she'll turn her head and not look. 

Hopefully she'll do it on command, and then I'll teach her it with sign so she can later do it just on sign (I would make an X with my index fingers as the sign).

http://s615.photobucket.com/albums/...erflies/maddie/?action=view&current=cross.flv


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## FourIsCompany (Apr 18, 2009)

Yay! Maddie's doing great! I'm envious because my dogs are lagging. LOL I think I need to improve my technique...


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## MaddieTheDog (Jun 3, 2009)

Well, I'm just amazed at her progress since this video, made yesterday. I had two sessions today-as opposed to one-and her improvement on session 2 is awesome.

First, she was using her correct paw more often and did not use the other paw that was to be staying still. Vest improvement from this morning.
Second, she was also trying to bat me in front of her instead of the ground next to her paw so I moved myself to be on her side. She still bats at me, but in the correct area-on the side instead of in front.
Then I added the crossed fingers for sign. I only did a handful of using verbal and physical command and decided to test out with just physical. Did it twice-she would look curious, sniff my hand, then decided to cross and bat. Wow.

HOWEVER, she was getting frustrated, I believe at not getting big enough treats (I break them down to get more from them and to not fill her up too much), and she did her usual "cold eyes and look away" that she does when she's being stubborn.


Overall, did really well.


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## Squeeker (Dec 15, 2007)

Wow, Maddie and Jake! Fantastic!! 

Shadowsky, if you could get Jake to cross his paws AND put his head down while gazing at you adoringly, he could take over the world! LOL


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## ShadowSky (Aug 6, 2008)

Sounds like Maddie is doing great!



Squeeker said:


> Wow, Maddie and Jake! Fantastic!!
> 
> Shadowsky, if you could get Jake to cross his paws AND put his head down while gazing at you adoringly, he could take over the world! LOL


lol! Indeed he could, Squeeker  I was having a hard time not treating him for it!


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

Trick of the month? I just found this, how cool!!! I'm going to keep watching, reading, and learning and hopefully jump in soon!


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## Squeeker (Dec 15, 2007)

Jump in anytime! No one is going to grade your performance... it's just a fun way to hang out with our dogs, and share different training techniques!


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## FourIsCompany (Apr 18, 2009)

Yes, Cover Tune. Jump in now.  

I realized today that Jaia's chest is just too wide for him to comfortably cross his feet. We try and try, but it's just so awkward that I don't think I want to pursue it further with him. I'll move to another dog with that one.  Mia's coming along on the begging, but she's SO excited about jumping up. This month is harder than last month! LOL


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## ShadowSky (Aug 6, 2008)

Yes, do join in! The more the merrier!

Too bad about Jaia, FourIsCompany. But I look forward to seeing your progress with a different dog. Good to hear about Mia's progress.

Jake knows the behavior now... he gets really excited about it. So now I'm working on swapping the signal over to crossing my feet... I've been doing the current signal and crossing my feet at the same time, but he focuses very intently on my face/upper body. He's not used to picking up cues from my feet at all lol. Anyone have some ideas?


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## FourIsCompany (Apr 18, 2009)

I'm working with Mia for the "beg" and she started offering a little hop today without luring. It took us a long time and a lot of work to get here, but she's finally doing it.  We still have a lot of work ahead, but I think we'll get there. 

The Mia Hop

Sorry about the camera angle, I've yet to get my tripod out! LOL


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## Wolfiee (Jun 15, 2009)

What a wonderful thread idea! This is extremely exciting. Expect some participation from me once Deezel gets a little older. He currently knows sit, stay, come (for the most part), and finally getting the hang of down. 

I am very excited to start teaching him some of the really cool tricks!


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## Squeeker (Dec 15, 2007)

> I'm working with Mia for the "beg" and she started offering a little hop today without luring. It took us a long time and a lot of work to get here, but she's finally doing it. We still have a lot of work ahead, but I think we'll get there.


Hey, that looks great! Cute pup!


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## ShadowSky (Aug 6, 2008)

Mia's beg is looking good!

I think Jake pretty much has cross paws down. I'll have to have my mom or younger brother or someone film it for me, trying to angle with the camera is awkward... I've decided that when I teach his other foot I will be using my foot as the cue/target from the start rather than trying to switch it over later. It's easier to just move the cue farther away rather than to switch it complete IMO, much less confusing to both the dog and myself.

Edit!

Video! With Beg and Bang thrown in as well. You can't see it in the video and it's harder to tell(too low) but Beg is on a hand signal and voice cue, he's not being lured.


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## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

Kit knows beg already, so we started working on cross paws a couple of days ago. I've been using a box of staples as a target object because it makes a small noise when touched. At first she was very confused and did a lot of bangs and roll overs in frustration. Only after shaping our paw command (shake with the right paw) did I see improvement. We had a breakthrough today, though: she figured out that the box on the floor was there for a reason - because I wanted her to touch it! We'll stick with this for a few more sessions before moving on so that we don't go to fast. I really want her to understand that the right paw is the one I want, and no nosing of the box, scooting it under her, under furniture, or anything else.

Side note: I'm jealous of all these great videos - your dogs are so calm! Kit won't sit still - she's all over the room when I get out the clicker and treats. I'd need a second person to aim the camera if I wanted a halfway decent video. That's puppyhood for you, I guess. That and I'm beginning to suspect she has ADD!


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## FourIsCompany (Apr 18, 2009)

*Wolfiee*, You can start with Deezel right away! I was working with Jaia when he was about 9-10 weeks old. Jaia and the Clicker (My husband's timing was lousy!!!) LOL

*ShadowSky*, your visual cue for crossing paws is terribly cute! I love it! Jake has got that down! Congratulations! His beg looks great too. I think it's harder for the larger dogs. 

*GottaLuvMutts*, Mia is NOT calm. LOL It takes some time to get her calmed down to the point where she can work. She's very excited about the whole affair and she's not even that food motivated. It's just part of her personality, so I'm not sure Kit will settle as she grows up. She may just be hyper, like Mia.


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## ShadowSky (Aug 6, 2008)

FourIsCompany said:


> *ShadowSky*, your visual cue for crossing paws is terribly cute! I love it! Jake has got that down! Congratulations! His beg looks great too. I think it's harder for the larger dogs.


Thanks! Yeah it took him a while to build the muscle to be able to hold beg- he probably wouldn't have gotten that far if I'd only been trying to teach it this month. But it's my mom's FAVORITE trick, so he gets a lot of practice at it lol. In fact I should get a video of Buck's 'Sit Handsome', it's practically his signature trick mom likes it so much...


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## KBLover (Sep 9, 2008)

Wally will kinda sorta do it...if he's standing on his hind legs. (Don't ask, he's wierd)

What he'll do is get on two paws, put one paw on my knee and then move the other one around to try to paw at my hand for a treat. He'll reach over a little before I guess he feels like he'll fall and then he'll switch paws, but I have gotten a cross out of him.

Don't ask me why he came up with that. I have no idea. I guess he just likes standing on his back paws a lot. He certainly does it readily and easily almost like he was meant to be good on two paws.

Though, he'll almost do it if I make him do a big-dog down (i.e. fold back), somehow his front paws often end up pointing like an arrow. Almost a cross.

I'm not quite sure what sit-pretty is (first time I've ever heard of it).


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## Squeeker (Dec 15, 2007)

OK, so we have been working on this a bit more, but not as much as I would like. Luckily I have a less busy week this week!

Cross paws: I know, it is a LOOOOONG video... I just set the camera up and forgot about it. I suggest watching in FF. In the middle, Libby tries playing dead again, haha! She's doing well... I think by the next session I will be able to fade the target. I need to continue to add the cue.

One thing she continues to do is try to use the wrong paw the first time. I am trying to fade that. This trick is working out to be a bit tougher than I thought it would be!

Video! 

Sit Pretty is going well, too! Here is a video, and it is of reasonable length, LOL! In the video, I lure the first hadful of times, and every time after that there is no food in the "lure"/cue hand. She is doing very well. No more lures from this point on... now we need to work on holding the pose longer.


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## KBLover (Sep 9, 2008)

Ahh so that's what sit pretty looks like.

Hmm....that might something he can grasp relatively quickly. Challenge might be me not letting him get all the way up like I know he'll want to do.


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## FourIsCompany (Apr 18, 2009)

Great videos! I love Libby's frog position. 



Squeeker said:


> This trick is working out to be a bit tougher than I thought it would be!


It's good to hear you say that! LOL Because I've had some real problems making it happen. It's also good to see you re-orienting Libby's feet because I find myself doing that sometimes. I thought it might be cheating, but I'm not afraid to cheat. LOL Libby is doing MANY of the same things I'm seeing here.  

I'm working with B'asia now because Jaia's chest just seems to wide for him to cross his paws. He always lies down with his legs splayed. But B'asia had a breakthrough yesterday and she got it! Yay! Video will come later. 

I was using the same candy bar wrapper and once B'asia started reliably touching it, I tore it in half, then smaller and smaller, until there's just a small piece of it by her paw. That's working. 



> now we need to work on holding the pose longer.


I discovered that Mia has an easier time balancing with a rug under her. Gives her something to grab with her back feet. 

She had a breakthrough yesterday, too, in holding the position. 



KBLover said:


> Challenge might be me not letting him get all the way up like I know he'll want to do.


That's exactly what Mia was doing. She finally "got" that launching herself up didn't earn a treat, so she improved her position. She gets SO excited about training, it's hard to keep her on task.


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## KBLover (Sep 9, 2008)

FourIsCompany said:


> That's exactly what Mia was doing. She finally "got" that launching herself up didn't earn a treat, so she improved her position. She gets SO excited about training, it's hard to keep her on task.


And, sure enough, he did it.

Part of it is my fault because it's the position I taught for getting him up on hind legs (which he is scarily good at...I swear one day he'll start walking upright...)

I did get him to do the sit-pretty position. I had to hold the treat closer to him so he didn't raise up as far. I made sure both front paws up significantly off the ground and held the position for a second before getting the treat. 

Now that I know he can do it, it's a matter of getting him to do it and then thinking of some sort of cue for it. That's where it will really get interesting. 

Oh, I better stop here. He's nose-touched me like 10 times now, he must need to go out or something.


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## FourIsCompany (Apr 18, 2009)

Well, I broke out the tripod for the first time. And I cut everyone's heads off!  I need to practice because I thought for sure the dogs were completely in the picture... Oh well... 

Here's a 2 minute video that has B'asia (cross paws) and Mia (Sit Pretty) on it. 

Video


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## Squeeker (Dec 15, 2007)

OMG, you really need to put Mia's "bounce" on cue... that is seriously cute!


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

Is this going to continue next month (with a new trick)? Sadly, this month has just been too crazy for me to be able to participate (lots of travel and, the acquisition of a new puppy!).

Anyway, July will be busy for me too, but I'd really like to play along!


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## Squeeker (Dec 15, 2007)

> Is this going to continue next month (with a new trick)? Sadly, this month has just been too crazy for me to be able to participate (lots of travel and, the acquisition of a new puppy!).
> 
> Anyway, July will be busy for me too, but I'd really like to play along!


New tricks come at the beginning of every month! If you want to cheat, see if you can find the list of tricks I posted a while back


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## FourIsCompany (Apr 18, 2009)

Cool! I found the list on this page.


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

Awesome!! I'm looking forward to it.


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## ShadowSky (Aug 6, 2008)

Looking at that list, I really need to catch up on the tricks! I didn't have time during the school year to stay current... I'll definitely have to make sure to make time in November, though. I'm looking forward to those!

Trying to teach Jake to cross the other way... so far I can't get him to budge that paw


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## Squeeker (Dec 15, 2007)

> Looking at that list, I really need to catch up on the tricks! I didn't have time during the school year to stay current... I'll definitely have to make sure to make time in November, though. I'm looking forward to those!
> 
> Trying to teach Jake to cross the other way... so far I can't get him to budge that paw


Feel free to dredge up the old "trick of the month" threads and add to them!

About crossing the other way... are you using the same target object? If so, try using something completely different. And try starting from a different position, too... like sitting and having him "shake a paw" with that target object in your hand.



> I say huge thanks for links on useful videos! very interesting!


Yeah for youtube!


Here are a couple videos of Libby's progress (and lack thereof). Sit Pretty is pretty much finished... now I just want to get her to the point where she will do it with only the verbal cue, and then without having to ask her to sit first.



Cross Paws is not going as well. Problem #1: She is targeting my HAND, not the CARD, I realized after making this video. We're working on that. Problem #2: 50% of the time she throws the left paw first. I'm still working on that, too. I still have to fade the target, AND do the other paw... yikes! She is having fun, though!


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## ShadowSky (Aug 6, 2008)

Squeeker said:


> Feel free to dredge up the old "trick of the month" threads and add to them!
> 
> About crossing the other way... are you using the same target object? If so, try using something completely different. And try starting from a different position, too... like sitting and having him "shake a paw" with that target object in your hand.


Actually I've been trying to get him to target my foot, so it will be easy to just move it back as a signal rather than trying to switch the signal from a pointing finger to a signal from my foot later. He just won't budge the paw at all, which makes even shaping for movement difficult. 

Sit Pretty looks great! As far as the Cross Paws, Jake kept throwing the other paw for a while too but only if I was going too fast and trying to put the target too close to the under paw too soon. Usually if I got him to get in a few good hits on the target and then moved it over, he would hit it with the proper paw, then I would move back over to keep his success rate up before trying it further over again. That's just what I found out that worked with Jake. 

I love Libby's enthusiasm, by the way! She's so cute.


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## FourIsCompany (Apr 18, 2009)

Libby is a hoot! Her frog position is so funny! 

With Mia's sit pretty, I just stopped holding my hand above her head and instead, just raised my eyebrows expectantly. She took that as a cue and then I worked from there to add the verbal cue. It seemed as long as I was using my hand as a cue, she was concentrating too much on that, hoping there was a treat in it, and not on the verbal cue. Does that make sense? 

I'm not going to do B'asia's other foot. LOL Getting one to work was pretty tough, harder than I thought it would be, so the one paw is good enough for me.  

It did help to make the target smaller and smaller, though. She was targeting my hand at first, too, so I just put the candy wrapper down and pointed to it and pulled my hand back real fast. She eventually got it. Then once the behavior was pretty solid, I made the wrapper disappear by making it smaller and smaller. 

Great month! But I'm done.  I've been working on getting the Shepherds to stack now. I was going to take pictures today for their pedigree database pictures, but it's raining and I don't know if I'll get them. 

But I'm looking forward to next month's tricks and new participants (hopefully)!


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## MaddieTheDog (Jun 3, 2009)

I know it's been awhile since this post had been "alive" but I wanted to share my update on Maddie. We've forgotten the "cross" for the last few weeks....but today I was sitting with her and she crossed her paw when I asked for another command. So it reminded me of the crossing and I just started asking her to cross. She started to do it, several times in a row, without me having my hand out....which was where we were at when we last worked on it. She would only do it with my hand there. 
Ha, then my boyfriend decided to try. Maddie was so intent on me behind her....so I turned the corner. I guess she knew I was there because she still paid no attention to him. He suggested I stand behind him....which I knew wouldnt work because she'd be staring at me....and she stared at me. So I left the hall and went to my office. I think she did it once for him then.

It was just so cool to see that from her.


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## Squeeker (Dec 15, 2007)

Hey, that's great! Sounds like Maddie is getting it!

Don't be afraid to keep the old months' tricks alive! Libby and I are still working to master "cross"... I don't know WHY this one is so hard for us, but we're having a heck of a time. If we EVER progress, I will be posting here!


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## Squeeker (Dec 15, 2007)

Woo Woo, we finally have "cross" down pat, with one paw anyway 

It took a lot of practice, but eventually we were able to fade the target. I don't know why this trick was SOOO hard for her to get, but I think it was because she is more of a "nose" dog and not so much of a "paw" dog.

We're still going to work on getting the other paw. I'm going to use "switch" as the cue, I think.



(Pardon Libby's red legs... she's been really itchy; I think she has seasonal allergies. She's started on Benadryl, and we are just waiting for it to kick in.)


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## Squeeker (Dec 15, 2007)

3 months later, and we FINALLY finished "cross paws"...

I hit a major roadblock when teaching Libby to cross with the other paw. She had the first one figured out no problem, but when I tried to get her to target with the second paw, she just wasn't getting it.

I used a different target, and a different cue, "switch". I trained it the same way as I did the first paw. Half the time she would target it with her nose instead, and the other half of the time she would pick it up in her mouth. I was trying everything I could to fade this mouthing behaviour...

I was at my wit's end... when I realized my error...

"Switch" was too close to "Fetch"! The poor dog thought I was asking her to fetch, and she was trying to get it in her mouth, but being discouraged from doing so! STUPID OWNER!

I changed the cue to "Cross" (it's now cross for both paws, I will probably always use the physical cue of crossing my feet anyway) and the problem 100% fixed itself! duh!


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