Sit, Take it, Hold it, Sit & Give

In the previous couple of examples, we chained together two separate behaviours. In the next example we will now show you how to start chaining more behaviours that will allow you to work towards more complex sequences.

Down, Take it, Chin and more

When building your trick sequences, start using any of the core tricks you have learnt so far. Get used to chaining the individual tricks in lots of different orders to come up with fun sequences. As you get adept at building more complicated sequences you will find that the transitions between them will start to become seamless. Use your imagination develop and apply what you have learnt to come up with new tricks.

Bow and Chin

Another simple trick to start developing your chaining skills is to start with the “Bow” and then chain this with the “Chin” to the floor.

Emily shows how to achieve this with Phoebe and Leo in the next short video.

Hold and Wave

Chaining the “Wave” and “Hold it” you can achieve a produce some fun results. I used the “Wave” and “Hold it” with Mozzie for him to be begging for treats with a little bucket as the introductory image for the course.

In the following videos I go through the steps I used to achieve this with both Manouk and Mozzie

Chaining the Games

Using games that you and your puppy have learnt throughout the puppy school you have rehearsed and reinforced a lot of desirable behaviours. Please be aware that it may still take you and your puppy some additional weeks or months to master some of these individual games.

When your puppy has mastered some of the individual games it is possible to start to chain them together in a sequence and only reward at the end of the chain behaviours these games produce.

Start by playing games that result in compatible behaviours. Start with two games and if your puppy is responding well, then add a third one. For example:

  • Emergency recalls then “Close”
  • Emergency recall then “Sit”
  • Emergency recalls then “Say Hello”
  • “Sit” then “Say Hello” then “Close”
  • Emergency recall then “Wait” then Emergency recall
  • “Wait” then Emergency recall then “Sit” then “Say Hello” then “Close”

When it comes to chaining it is important to keep your puppy’s focus. Some good tips for maintaining focus are:

  • Do not chain too many games together to start with; build the length and the complexity of the entire chained sequence slowly
  • Reward at different stages of the chain. Ensure you reward for the games you know your puppy is struggling a little bit more with. Use two levels of reward, a low-level value halfway through and a high value at the end of the sequence. As an example, with Manouk I would reward with a treat midway and with a toy at the end.
  • Treat the whole sequence as a game
  • Do not forget to give a big reward at the end

The video demonstrates how some of the games you have learnt have been chained into a fun chained sequence with Manouk.