Paws up!

Two years ago (!) I had my Command Clinic: Pawmania post, wherein I listed the paw tricks Elka had, such as "give me your paw", "high five", "pattycake", and "Testify!"  Since then, I've added one more, or am in the process of.

See, I can hold my arm out as though to receive a falcon in flight and tell Elka "paws" and she'll put her paws on that arm. I'm expanding that cue, so that she'll put her paws on the object I'm indicating, rather than the arm I indicate with (so, if I use my left arm to indicate, rather than my right, she puts her paws on the object, not my arm. This required a few trials [I have a fading scratch on my bicep], but she's getting it.)

It can be difficult to get a picture of, as Elka is still at the "I did it, give me a treat!" phase of reinforcement. I need to praise her, treat her, and tell her to "wait" all before she hops down again.

Dogs are allowed in our bank, and the tellers have treats, so they've actually in the past been disappointed that she wouldn't put her paws up and see them. So, we can show this off now. We certainly did at the vet's last week! I could, theoretically, also use this as an intermediary step in the chain of behaviors required for her to turn out a light. It's also the first step in a complete "hop up", which is what I tell her to do when she's getting in the car.

Also, I finally got a video of "Testify!" It is very short, and I think I sound funny, but there you go. It was at the park, and Elka really wished we would get going and I'd stop messing around with the flashy box.