Im not sure if this is the right place to put this thread, but I couldn’t find somewhere better.... mods can feel free to move if necessary. Anyway, has Anyone else taught or are currently teaching their lab to keep a treat on his nose and eat it when you say “ok”? I have a 17 week old lab that I’ve been working on that trick with for the past few weeks. I try to do it at least 1-2 times a day. It’s finally so close. Buddy pretty much does the trick, but I still have monitor him pretty closely to make sure he does it correctly. Just wondering how long this trick took for other people. I taught my older dog this when he was alive and although he learned it at a way older age, he learned it quicker and mastered it to where he flicked it up and snap caught it almost 100 percent of the time. But yea, this one is a tough one, especially for a four month old, but I’m proud of the way my dog focuses on doing it. I’m hoping he will eventually be able to flick it up and catch it but ultimately, I’ll just be happy with him doing it consistently. Hoping to hear what others who tried this trick thought.
Patience @Bud Light/Dilly Dilly all dogs are different. Some learn a skill quicker than others, but then again take relatively longer to master other exercises. I realise you're very proud of his achievement but you seem to temper it with memories of your other dog. I think it's fairer to put comparisons to one side, and revel in the successive approximations from the dog in front of you. For what it is worth, I think it's a very tall order indeed for a dog as young as yours to master such a trick.
Thanks for your reply and advice. I agree with what you're saying. I understand he is still very young, which is why I only will do it 1-2 times a day with him on most days. Hopefully that's not too much. If it is, I can certainly slow it down, but he seems to be doing just fine. My goal is just to get him to learn the trick and for him to learn it at a pace that he's comfortable with, since he is pretty young. I know he will get better with time. I also do understand that he may not be able to master it like my old dog (for a while at least), and that's perfectly ok with me. Just doing the trick is impressive in itself and makes me proud of him.
You should be proud @Bud Light/Dilly Dilly . I imagine you are using shaping to teach the trick. If there are too many unsuccessul repetitions because he lacks the coordination to do it, then he will lose interest in the trick. I would be tempted to go down a level. Get a lot of success and then ask yourself How can I break the next step into a smaller increment so that the dog in front of me wins. It might be something like changing where you put the treat on the muzzle or the dimensions and weight of the treat used for the trick. Then again you might just have to wait for a bit more muzzle to eye coordination, which will come with age. Good luck.
