as I'm walking Inky on the lead at the moment, I thought we'd revisit Magic Hand. We've only done it standing still before but last couple of days we've done it walking past people and dogs. Amazingly it does work and inky is more interested in my hand than anything else. A question though because as usual I feel I've only learnt 1/2 of it. Do you just extend the time before you drop the treat or is the idea that in the end you don't treat at all?
I generally use it as a game rather than as a reward that will be faded. So we sometimes play for a few minutes at the start of a walk to get focus, or if there’s a tricky section, or just for fun. I have progressed with all the dogs to moving backwards with it as well as forwards so it’s a great game for them to keep alongside me as I move both ways.
The essence is dropping treats from between the fingers of your hand for the dog to catch. It's good for creating a good position at heel. For obedience-types, also for upwards focus, but I don't want that which is another reason I only play it as a two- or three-minute game rather than throughout the duration of a lead walk. Obviously if you're doing it all the time, it's simply bribing - not to mention unmaintainable
