The other day, I felt like doing something new with LarryDog, so I picked up the Maran Illustrated Dog Training book (the link takes you to my review of it) and decided to teach “Cookie on Paw.”

Here it is on Amazon. It’s a comprehensive book, covering many aspects of dog training in text and illustration:

I didn’t bother with a clicker for this training session, since the cookies themselves were immediate rewards.

This was easy partly because my dog already knew “Down” and also because when we feed him, he has to sit and stay until we say “Okay!” before going to his dish. So he is very used to having to wait for food. But I was a little surprised at how quickly he picked this up.

I have to admit that he didn’t seem to like this trick much. I got the sense that he felt it was beneath his dignity.

But then when I began doing it with bits of cheese or hot dog on the backs of his paws,  the dignity issue disappeared.

He would eat them when I said okay, and then he stayed in position looking expectantly at me. Sure enough, he had me trained to do it again! Teach your dog tricks and he may teach you some!