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New Year, New Trick! Teach your dog "spin"!

New Year, New Trick! Teach your dog "spin"!

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It's a new year, so why not start the year with a brand new trick, with guidance by Roz Pooley!

Teach your dog to spin!

A nice little party trick to teach your dog! Teach your dog to spin clockwise and/or anti-clockwise on visual or verbal cue.

TOP TIPS!

- Be mindful that your dog isn’t slipping when trying. You may need to put a rug down to help your dog not slip.,

- Try to avoid doing too many repetitions, as your dog may lose interest or get frustrated if they get dizzy!,

- Make sure your dog is physically capable of doing the behaviour. Dogs with aches and pains, or conditions such as luxating patella and hip dysplasia may find the behaviour uncomfortable to do.

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How to teach "spin" to your dog

1) Have a treat in your hand and place it to your dog’s nose (these are our top picks for training!). Get your dog to bend body towards their tail by moving the treat to their shoulder, and give the treat as they bend round.

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2. With a treat in your hand, move the treat all the way round (or further round) so your dog gets the treat after more of a rotation, or a full rotation.

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3. Make sure you do the same in both directions. Dogs will often find one side easier than the other.

If you find it difficult to reach as far as needed for your dog to follow the treat and rotate, use a target stick (you will need to teach your dog to target this first).

4. Do the same, but without a treat in your hand (so your hand looks like it’s holding a treat). Give a treat from the other hand once your dog rotates fully.

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5. Start to make the hand gesture different, so your dog is following a pointing gesture. Make sure your rotations/hand movement is as clear and predictable as possible.

6. Make the pointing gesture move higher up, so you aren’t bending over your dog as much. Ideally, you want to shape this towards you standing upright, so your dog is responding to a clear visual cue, rather than following your hand.

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7. If you want to put the behaviour on verbal cue, say the word before you do the hand action. Make sure you call the opposite direction a different name!

Then repeat lots of times over numerous sessions. Keep sessions short. For a behaviour such as ‘spin’, 1-2 minutes maximum is ideal.

You may need to ‘fade out’ the visual cue, so it gets smaller (less obvious). 

Remember, it’s verbal cue THEN visual cue.

“spin” > move hand

Don’t forget to call the opposite direction a different word! This way your dog can do both directions on cue. “Spin” (clockwise turn) “Other way” (counter-clockwise).

Eventually add a pause after the verbal cue and see if your dog starts to move as taught. If they do, praise and treat like crazy. If they don’t move after the verbal cue, return to using the visual cue.

We'd love to see how you get on with training your dog how to spin. Upload your videos to social media, tagging us in (@nutrimentaw)!