Lucy limping on command...

[3muttsandaboston]

I haven't been around but wanted to share this. I taught Lucy how to limp on command. It took 1 week but today she got it.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9FQDX6jwq_g

[chocolatepuppy]

Good girl is right Lucy! Not only pretty, but also smart!

[Ginger's Mom]

That is very cute. Good girl, Lucy.

[Alysser]

How cute is that? But now she's gonna think it's okay to just limp whenever she wants? Sassy used to limp to get treats because we used to go "aww poor baby" when she was really hurt.

[k9krazee]

Oh how neat!

How did you go about training this? I've tried with Jack in the past and only got as far as him holding his foot up, but I can't get him to move and keep it up. Any pointers?

[3muttsandaboston]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

K9krazee, This trick is a hard trick and takes a long time for them. They have to develope muscle memory and it's very unnatural. Here are two methods you can use. I used a mixture of both. Now when she got to the point of almost knowing what I want her to do I took a hear tie/scrunchie and wrapped it around her leg a few times. The pressure of it didn't keep her from being able to put her foot down but reminded her with pressure of what she should do. If she doesn't get it with the scrunchie I would go a step backward again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uraY7pmUSlw

One more method...

Teach your dog to LIMP!

Foreword: This is a very hard one to teach!
Directions:Start with having Rover on a leash. Stand in front of him and loop the leash under one of his forelegs, so you can elevate his wrist. Now gently pull on the leash so that he must elevate his leg. Now call Rover to you. ROVER, COME, LIMP. If he takes a couple steps with only three legs, praise him! Now let him rest and try again.
If Rover does not like being three legged and tries to pull away, get a second person to help you. Have her hold onto Rovers collar and leg while you call him to you.
Once Rover starts to get it, relax a little on the leash and have him walk a bigger distance. Now you can also try it off leash. Make a sling around his wrist and attach it to his collar. Now call him to you using the LIMP command. If Rover tries to walk on all four legs go back a step. If he does LIMP you can now remove the leash and try him. If he LIMPS, your work is finished! Good job!!!
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[elizabethann]

Wow. Talk about smart. I STILL can't get Fenway to "give paw"!

[Varga]

Haha. That's just amazing

I really got to try teaching Tiki to do that... and perhaps Taggart. But he's not all that bright, so I don't know about that lol

[Freedom]

Hey Lucy, good girl! Hope Mom didn't make you work TOO hard learning that trick. At least we know you got rewards.