Taught these a few weeks ago but just for the record …
I lure shamelessly for sits and downs, but as soon as they start to “get it” the lure goes away and it becomes a big, honkin’ hand signal. Gradually I fade that to something “normal” and introduce the verbal.
Once you teach a sit and/or down, its a good idea to teach #4 – STAY … or else you’ll end up with a lot of pictures like this …
One of the things I like about Raven is that if the other dogs (or I) aren’t in the mood for playing with her she’s perfectly content to play by herself. She could spend hours amusing herself – pouncing on her toys and zooming around the house. She loves to use her paws!
Eventually she brings her toys to the little green dog pillow, where she rolls around and chews them.
With my world class collection of dog toys, she thinks she’s one LUCKY puppy! Every few days she goes to the toy bin and finds something new to play with. The other day she reached way in the back and found Santa and has been showing the jolly old guy NO mercy.
If you don’t get any Christmas presents this year you know who’s to blame!
So the #1 thing to do with a puppy? PLAY with them 
!
After a rocky early start with the clicker (the sound was a natural aversive for her), Raven has finally caught onto it and is becoming more operant so I’ve been starting to teach her a bunch of different tricks. I thought it would be cool to post all the things I teach her in her first year or so here, under the category “101 Things to Do With A Puppy”.
Not in any particular numerical order, here’s the first – I’m calling this one “Puppy in a Tub”…
The object of the game is “put all 4 feet in the tub”. Not too difficult for the size-challenged Raven!