Teach a dog to take off your socks

Equipment-

• A dog.
• A pair of socks.
• An animal training clicker.
• Dog treats.

Method-

1. Familiarize the dog with a single sock, put some treats inside the sock and wave it around in front of the dog and make it seem as exciting as possible. When the dog sniffs the sock, reward him/her by using the clicker and a treat.
2. Next, repeat step one but instead of rewarding the dog when he/she sniffs the sock, reward him/her when they take the sock in their mouth- make sure you are holding the sock, use the clicker and a treat to again reward the dog.
3. Now repeat step two- but make sure you are not holding the sock this time and reward the dog again with the clicker and a treat.
4. Put the sock a quarter of the way over your foot and then when the dog pulls the sock off of your foot, use the clicker and give the dog a treat.
5. Repeat step four but with the sock half way up your foot and use the clicker and a treat when the dog retrieves the sock again.
6. Now repeat step five but with the sock almost completely covering your foot and when the retrieves the sock again, use the clicker and give the dog a treat.
7. Next, repeat step six except with the sock completely on your foot, if the dog accidentally nips or bites your foot whilst removing the sock say "ouch", remove your foot away from the dog and then try again and if the dog if successful in pulling off the sock, reward him by using the clicker and giving him/her a treat.
8. Put both socks on your feet and one at a time present each foot to the dog, so that he/she may retrieve one sock after the other, then use the clicker and a treat.
9. Now try using a command so that the dog knows when to remove your socks. When the dog goes to preform the trick and remove your socks say "socks off".
10. Next, it is time to assess your dogs ability to preform the trick. Put your feet out and if the dog takes your socks off without you saying the command, remove your feet and try again. Then wait and say the command and reward with the clicker and a treat if the dog takes off your socks. This will make sure that the dog does not randomly take off your socks all the time.
11. Try using different socks and if the dog does the trick successfully, reward him/her with the clicker and a treat, but if the dog does not do the trick, repeat all the steps again.
12. Make sure you practise with the dog each day so that they remember the trick. By doing this for a while you will be able to preform the trick for special occasions and build on the trick, e.g. making the dog take off other peoples socks, making the dog put your or other peoples socks in the wash after they have preformed the trick or making the dog preform the trick in front of friends, etc.
13. You have now taught your dog to take off your socks, congratulations!

Tips-

• Do not let your dog chew or consume the sock- it will cause damage to both the dog and the sock.
• Do not try to teach or preform the trick if your dog is over-excited, tired, hungry or agitated.
• Be patient and try to encourage the dog rather than discourage the dog during training and preforming the trick.