By Sue Ridgley, Coco and Gigi
The goal: The ideal would be that you say “Clean up” and the dogs would pick up every toy in the room and deposit it in the toy box or basket. The reality is that you would be happy if the dogs put even one toy in the basket! Coco will do about four toys in sequence, which I think is pretty good, then he gets tired or bored with it! Gigi doesn’t have the hang of this trick yet and we’re beginning to work on it!
The procedure for training:
Back chaining is the process of starting where you want to end up, then teaching the steps from there. What are the steps?
- Dog takes a toy in his mouth and holds it for a second. Click and treat.
(Do this at least 10 times at a time until he/she is successful 8 times.)
- Dog takes a toy in his mouth, holds it for a couple of seconds, then drops it close to you. Click and treat. (Do this at least 10 times at a time until he/she is successful 8 times.)
- Put the container (an open basket or shoe box) you are using in the location he/she has been dropping it. Dog takes a toy in his mouth, holds it for a couple of seconds, then drops it close to the container. Click and treat. (Do this at least 10 times at a time until he/she is successful 8 times.)
- Now, toss the toy just a short distance away from you and the container. Dog should go to the toy, take it in his mouth and carry it to you and drop it in the container. Click and treat for near misses and celebrate successes! Aim for being successful 8 out of 10 tries.
- Further work: Use a variety of toys, say “clean up your toys” as he/she is getting 2 toys, then try for 3 or 4.
This is a challenging trick for Lhasas to learn. It takes patience and repetition, but the dogs enjoy their success! In fact, Coco takes a toy out of the basket so that he can put it back in and get a treat! It is also a foundation for playing basketball as it uses the same concepts (Take, hold, carry, drop)!
Enjoy!