[Petee]

I have an 11 year old giant schnauzer and I am deciding to teach her some tricks again . Years ago I taught her to sit, and shake hands and taught her to distinguish left from right hand when shaking, and since then I have never used those commands and I am surprised that she still knows them.

What are some good tricks to teach an old dog? I don't think she would be willing to roll over on account of her leg injury.

One more question, how can I get her to do tricks without food? I remember when I was teaching her tricks in the first place a few years ago she would ONLY do it for food, I tried for weeks but nothing worked so I gave up. Apparently this breed tends to act like that...

Any tips?

kthx

 

[Amaryllis]

Clicker training! kikopup has 140 videos on it and it works great!

Trick ideas:

Retrieving
Drop it
Find it
Spin (depends on how bad the leg is)
Hide (behind your legs, it's surprisingly cute)
Beg (depends on how bad the leg is)

Training old dogs isn't any more difficult than training young dogs, and easier than training puppies, other than any physical limitations an old dog may have.

 

[Petee]

Thanks, I don't think my dog will be able to drop anything lol. She is 11 years old and in her entire life she has never dropped anything for me.

 

[petpeeve]

One more question, how can I get her to do tricks without food?

Food seems to be the standard when teaching tricks ... not sure why you'd have reservations about that, since tricks are typically all about laid-back FUN !!! not a 'life or death' matter.

If for some reason you're absolutely firm on not using food, then you can try utilizing other reinforcers ie: access to the backyard, a favourite toy, a game of fetch or tug, etc, whatever encourages the dog to repeat the desired behaviour. Regardless, there should always be SOMETHING rewarding in it for the dog, especially when it comes to tricks.

 

[Avery]

Food seems to be the standard when teaching tricks ... not sure why you'd have reservations about that, since tricks are typically all about laid-back FUN !!! not a 'life or death' matter.

If for some reason you're absolutely firm on not using food, then you can try utilizing other reinforcers ie: access to the backyard, a favourite toy, a game of fetch or tug, etc, whatever encourages the dog to repeat the desired behaviour. Regardless, there should always be SOMETHING rewarding in it for the dog, especially when it comes to tricks.

I think the OP meant "how can I get my dog to perform a trick without needing a treat as a motivator?" I don't think they're asking (from my understanding) how to train a trick without food.

To answer that question, I would search for tips on "fading the lure."

I can also tell you what I've done with my dog, which was this:

Once he is giving me the desired behavior on command fairly reliably (getting a treat every time) I will hold a treat in my hand as I normally do, ask for the behavior, but sometimes I will give lots of petting and praise instead of the treat. Maybe for every 3 times he gets a treat I'll give him praise instead. Then I'll gradually decrease how often he gets a treat.
"Sit" and "Touch" are two that he knows really well, and doesn't get a treat for them most of the time. However, he does still get a food reward for them now and then, just for a good reinforcement.

Take note: I'm not a professional, in fact, I'm still a novice at this dog training business and I've only been at it for a couple months, but this has been working for me.