Trick Challenge – Palm Touch
DashDash has known how to touch her nose to my palm for quite awhile. However, I have only been asking her to do it when she was close to me. It was my way of getting her to focus.
I started using it as a warm up game and turned it into a high energy activity. A pleasant side effect is that for her, it has turned into a fun and reliable recall. When my neighbor’s dogs charge the fence, I’ve been able to call her to me with a palm touch. During agility practice, I’ve been able to get her to abort a very desirable tunnel with a palm touch.
The foundation for the palm touch took about 2 minutes to train. All the puppies in my puppy foundation class learn it in the same amount of time. It only took a couple training sessions for DashDash to decide it was more desirable than fence fighting.
You can learn how to train this trick in Baebea’s Dog Training Trick Classes.
The highlighted behaviors are the ones DashDash has learned since I started her Trick Challenge to learn 50 tricks in a year.
1. Back up
2. Balance disc
3. Barrel Racing (run around cone)
4. Basketball
5. Beg – be a poodle
6. Behind (pass behind me while walking)
7. Bow
8. Come
9. Crawl
10. Directed Jumping
11. Directed Retrieve
12. Doggy push ups
13. Down
14. Drop it/give
15. Fetch to hand
16. Figure 8 (through legs)
17. Find me
18. Find object with my scent (scent discrimination)
19. Front
20. Get dressed(stick head through collar)
21. Head cock
22. Head down
23. Head nod yes
24. Head shake no
25. Hike back leg
26. Hoop jump
27. Jump
28. Jumping figure 8
29. Kennel up
30. Leave it
31. Nose touch
32. Nosework
33. Palm touch – high energy
34. Paw touch
35. Paws on arm
36. Paws up
37. Perch work (pivot with front legs on perch)
38. Pickpocket
39. Play dead
40. Ring toss
41. Scent discrimination (Utility Scent Articles)
42. Settle
43. Shake hands
44. Shell game (find the toy)
45. Side step
46. Sit
47. Spin
48. Stack bowls
49. Stand
50. Stay
51. Teeter
52. Touch my hand
53. Tug (she’s a Doberman, after all)
54. Tunnel
55. Walk
56. Walk on loose leash – heel
57. Watch me/focus
58. Weave through legs
59. Weaves
60. Which hand holds the treat