“Now wait a minute,” I hear you asking. “What does touching a target have anything to do with foot handling? We’re not even touching the foot!”
As a retired dog groomer, I am a pro at not getting bit. When handling a dog’s feet, especially if they don’t really like it, it’s really easy to misread a dog and push them too far. On the flip side, many nice dogs are pushed beyond their comfort level without showing any signs, just because they don’t bite.
Touching a target is a good starting point because if your dog is reactive, it doesn’t require you to touch their paw at all. You don’t have to touch them in any way to begin this request for their feet. You are simply saying, “If you’d like a hotdog piece, push this button.”
Easy, right? What dog would say no?
But this does more than just show your dog how to operate a hotdog vending machine. It’s establishing communication. Things like:
“You can use your feet to earn snacks.”
“It’s possible for humans to ask for things that involve feet.”
“When a human asks for something involving feet, it’s fun.”
If the first training experience with their feet pushes a boundary, it’s going to sour the mood, and mood is the most important part of this training process. Remember we’re trying to change how our dog feels about having their feet touched, either from feeling bad to feeling good or from feeling neutral to feeling great.
And if it happens you have a dog that is very tolerant of their feet being touched, you’re turning that toleration into joy, and feeding them snacks for it. It’s a win for everyone.
If you take nothing else from this article, remember, you can’t create positive feelings by force.
We’re going to do our best to make using their feet on cue as fun as possible for your dog, so bring forth the joy, and the treats!
Step one: Present the Target
Grab any random, flat object from your house. A yogurt lid, a Tupperware top, a block of wood, even a rag folded into a square. Just anything that will easily fit one doggo foot. This should be too small to confuse your dog with platform, but large enough your dog will easily be able to get a foot on it.
Did they look at or sniff the target? HOOZAH! SNACK!
If you have a clicker, click to let them know the target is what we are working with today, and reward them for any interactions at first. Since we’ve rewarded any interactions with several different objects now, your dog should understand that they are working with the target today.
Step two: Give a Pause
Our next step will be to lure one foot onto the target, but hold up a moment! Your dog has likely become operant from our last few lessons. They now understand that when you are training, high-value food is available, and that we’ve indicated an interest in the target.
They may surprise you by touching the target with their foot by themselves. If they do, praise and reward lavishly. Make it clear this is exactly what you want! If they do this, you can likely keep giving pauses to see if they will do it again and work from there. (We’ll have a quiz about this later to get you the right homework sheet.)
Dogs are incredibly clever, and they may also try nose-bopping the target, barking at the target, or even picking it up. This is okay and shows a willingness to work, don’t reward for clarity, but just move on to step three.
Step three: Lure onto the Target
If your dog needs a little help understanding what you want, use a hotdog piece to try and lure one foot onto the target. Reward even if the barest tip of a nail contacts the target. Repeat this several times, luring the dog onto the target.
If your dog really seems confused, you can try making a big show of hiding the treat under the target. Your dog may paw at the target to try and get the treat. Reward lavishly!
Be prepared for some surprising creativity from your dog here. Remember you’ve worked on the platform and the wobble board before. It may be your dog attempts to stand all four feet on it like a circus dog. They may put two feet on a very small surface.
Reward the closest approximation to what you want. If they get two feet on their, reward that before it becomes four feet. If you can reward when they only have one, all the better! Try to use the lure as much as possible to guide the dog into what you are looking for.
Step four: Name the Command
Before you name the command, remember that you are likely going to want a cue for giving each individual foot. You’ll want to practice all four feet eventually. This means if you say, “Paw!” for the left front foot, you’ll need a different cue for the right front foot, and so on.
You might do:
- Paw
- Other Paw
- Back
- Other Back
Once you’ve decided on a name, use it every time you lure. Do this for several sessions, luring every time. Then say the word, but don’t lure. What happens? Does your dog do it? Great! If not, try again but fade the lure by just using your fingers and no treat to guide them. (Reward them afterward, so they know they still get the treat even with no treat in view.)
Eventually, your dog should readily touch the target on request. You can then go on to the next step with that foot, or train the other feet to touch the target. The choice is yours.
Quiz:
There’s no “best” choice here. There are 3 different ways to communicate what you want to your pet. Each homework sheet offers a different method for the same result. This quiz goes by ‘weights’ and may not give a perfect answer, so if you feel like your dog would do better with a different style, go with your heart.
Homework Options:
Option 1, for dogs who prefer to be lured with a treat
Option 2, for dogs who respond well to digging for treats
Option 3, for dogs who are operant and willing to figure it out
Similar Posts:
- Foot Handling: “Give Me 5!”
- Introducing Foot Handling
- How to Teach Your Dog to Use a Scratch Board
- Introducing the Groom Lead
- Water Desensitization, Part 3
That’s a really insightful point about anticipating resistance – it’s so much easier to avoid a struggle when you’re aware of how they’ll react beforehand.