The (light) Touch Cue - A Sheltie Thing?

[Justicemom]

lol
cuz they stomp their feet, that's why! Toffee always also offers his paws if things are not going quick enough for him!
I swear they are pointing at what they want for lack of thumbs! Because we are dumb humans and not dispensing treats fast enough?? LOL

I swear some days the girls think the behavior is stomp stomp stomp poke click treat.

 

[DogIsMyMantra]

I use the hand touch quite a bit with my dogs and have found that as their confidence builds over time the nose pokes get harder. We added a new dog to the family a few months ago and his nose touches were nearly impossible to feel at first. As time went on and I worked on building up his confidence his nose touches have gotten harder and faster.

Bella has also picked up some confidence/craziness lately with the new dog in the house and her nose touches have gotten harder as well. (and yes, this includes the 'poke him' command where she runs over and jabs my husband. Not sure he appreciates the increase in jab, but I sure find it amusing! )

 

[corbinam]

As I mentioned, Bentley's nose touch is very light. Sort of an air touch. Close enough? Haha. He will do it better if you don't reward him, but it's a command that we sort of stopped using with him (for whatever reason).

Lexi, on the other hand, is much more excitable and drivey. Her nose touches are harder, though I would says still not crinkle-nose worthy We use the "nose" command for her a lot. She tends to get wild in between exercises on the field, so it's a great way to get her back paying attention, and in the right position. (Of course she now thinks "nose" = touch mom's hand and sit down at the same time...but that's okay!)

I think Dogismymantra is right. If you keep working it, and then start rewarding the more consistent ones, even shelties will jab you if it means they get a cookie!

 

[SheltieChe]

Che is pretty pawsy and it was hilarous to watch when he was hitting target light at the end of contacts with his paw- he was hitting hard...
I believe SG teaches hard nose touch as developing speed and drive. We working with Che and I reward his hard touches... consistency is the key

 

[Toffee's Mom]

Che is pretty pawsy and it was hilarous to watch when he was hitting target light at the end of contacts with his paw- he was hitting hard...
I believe SG teaches hard nose touch as developing speed and drive. We working with Che and I reward his hard touches... consistency is the key

Yes I agree with both of you
Anne, from the seminar trained some with Susan, so yes, she definitely believes in this.
Here is a video that demonstrates it, how her dog performed it for us, too
http://www.youtube.com/user/djewiss#p/a/u/0/FWBLbydx8nE

 

[romeosangiovese]

I was saying in Toffee's Mom's thread that Romeo smashes his nose into my palm when I ask for a touch. He reeeally pushes against my hand, whereas Juliet gives dainty licks and light taps (better now tho').

I was also saying that I would reward the nose touch using the same hand that was nosed coz I think it builds value.

Then reading this thread I remembered that I also taught Romeo to close a door using his nose (targeting a little pink coaster at first). That might have helped with the pushing using his nose coz the door ain't light and he can slam it sometimes!

I do also think that if you're not happy with a light nose tap and you don't reward that with the really great smelling treats that are somewhere near their eye level, the dog will nose your palm harder. That's how I'm getting Juliet to be more pushy coz I know she sooo wants the treats. But I won't wait too long (like if 2 taps were already offered) coz the dog will likely try something else. I wait too long and Juliet is licking, pawing, jumping.

 

[k9kreationz]

I finally got video of my friend's dog doing touch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF-fSbIBU2A (sorry it's sideways, YouTube won't flip it from my phone)

Although she's pushing with her hand, you can clearly see him shoving his nose into her hand. She makes fun of my wussy Sheltie touch. lol.

Looks like it's probably a Sheltie thing. Good then it's not just Koji.

 

[k9kreationz]

Yes I agree with both of you
Anne, from the seminar trained some with Susan, so yes, she definitely believes in this.
Here is a video that demonstrates it, how her dog performed it for us, too
http://www.youtube.com/user/djewiss#p/a/u/0/FWBLbydx8nE

I happened to be reading an article in Clean Run about this. The woman said she doesn't teach a nose touch, because she doesn't want her dog slamming their nose into the ground. I had to laugh, but it made sense. So she taught her dog a paw touch instead.

BTW, using the target/touch method has really helped Koji's contacts...and by that, I mean it literally transformed them almost overnight. Amazing!

 

[corbinam]

I happened to be reading an article in Clean Run about this. The woman said she doesn't teach a nose touch, because she doesn't want her dog slamming their nose into the ground. I had to laugh, but it made sense. So she taught her dog a paw touch instead.

I find that really interesting. I teach a nose touch because I want to teach the dog that their head should be down, driving forwards.

It's the same reason that you reward down, on a target plate, for example, rather than from your hand (up, looking at you).

 

[Toffee's Mom]

I find that really interesting. I teach a nose touch because I want to teach the dog that their head should be down, driving forwards.

It's the same reason that you reward down, on a target plate, for example, rather than from your hand (up, looking at you).

Target/Touch really is working for us regarding contacts.. but I don't want him looking up, if he touches it with his paw he is still looking at me while stomping his feet.. LOL His frustration level is kinda low (uhm, like mine.. LOL) so if he doesn't get results or doesn't understand somethign he barks *sigh*