Touch is one of my favorite cues and just so happens to be one of the easiest cues to teach a dog too. Touch is a versatile, foundation behavior that will actually help you to teach other obedient cues later. For example, cues like Up/Off or Come are natural follow-ups to touch. When the dog is ready for a little more advanced cues, you can build onto this foundation to teach directions like front, right, or left for personalized activities like agility or skiing.
Furthermore, the Touch cue invites the dog to engage physically which is a treat in and of itself for most dogs. Shy or anxious dogs can overcome their hesitation to engage with strangers more easily by performing a trained and reinforced behavior.
In this video, you can see the different ways to utilize the Touch cue. Touch can be a simple target, then pivot as more directional to teach Up/off and finally to prompt and train the recall word Come. Download this free exercise sheet and start working on Touch now!
Happy Training 🐾
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