"Touch" Command

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

We had a very successful obedience class last night. Last week, DH and I spent oodles of time training Peri to be better at staying in a down position, responding to name, etc... It finally seemed to have paid off, because for once, Peri listened and stayed for quite a while with the trainer in front of the whole class. Usually she is so excited because she loves our trainer and cannot contain herself :)

Last night we learned a new command: TOUCH. This is new to me and seems very effective. You hold out the palm of your hand right in front of the pup and say "touch". As soon as they put their nose to your hand, you click the clicker and then treat from the other hand. Within 5 minutes, she was following me around the room and would run from 4 feet away to "touch" my hand. Many of you seasoned trainers probably know they train service dogs with this word to learn how to close cabinets, turn on lights, etc....

I wanted to put this in a blog just so others know about this command. We are still working on "come" and our trainer said that some dogs are not good with that word. She said "touch" is often like a game for them and many of her clients use "touch" to get the dog to come to them in certain situations.

Just wanted you to know about this if you don't already because it is a pretty easy command that Peri likes. She followed me around the whole house this morning - I kept rotating hands and clicking along as we went!

[Leigh & Allie]

I tried it last night and Allie did it!! Now we will see if she does it often and in different situations. I think she just thought there was a treat in my hand. Glad you shared!!

[Adina P]

I see Allyson! It probably depends on how the dog was taught. I can say "c'mooon in!" or "come to momma" or "c'meeere puppy!" or any variation of the word come and Rosco may or may not care. But when I say "Rosco, COME" he is quite reliable. That's because he was taught that way and other variations of the command don't sound the same and aren't the same thing. It's quite amazing how I can call him with all sorts of sounds and words when he's outside and he kind of picks and chooses whether or not he should come to me. But if I use the official command he learned while training, he does his job.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Adina, she means that we overuse come in everyday language. Peri is not good with that in an emergency situations yet. My trainer taught us just as Carole describes below.
I use "let's go" a lot too!

[Adina P]

We did quite a bit of "touch" with clicker in our Spring Training group. My dogs are curious enough and have to sniff anything I hold so it was fairly easy to teach them to touch just about anything. What did the trainer mean "some dogs are not good with that word [come]"??? Did she mean the actual sound of the word "come" or something else? Seems kinda odd just at first glance...if a dog is trained to the recall (whatever word)...it's trained to the recall, you can't 'overuse' something that is well trained. Now in the MEANTIME...before it's well trained you can overuse it if you're not prepared to reinforce/correct if the dog does not obey.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Great idea - I will start to train it right away. I use "let's go" to not overuse "come" . But come or come on occurs a lot in everyday speaking. Thanks for sharing

[Carole (*Koda*Monty*Bindi)]

Our trainer taught us the same command. He explained to us that quite often we overuse the "come" command. That after a while dogs can go deaf to it. (selective hearing) He taught us "touch" and to use it sparingly and in case of emergency only. To not overuse it like "come". The dog will think it's a game and not a "come" command and run right to you. We utilize it with Gaston when we need him to come immediately. He knows we mean business and he's typically rewarded with a much loved kiss on the nose. He flies like the wind for "touch". For "come" he'll still give us a look as if to say "I will when I'm done playing!" LOL.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Yes, I think it is a great command. My trainer also uses it in RallyO and Agility. She says it is amazing what you can get them to do with that command.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

Touch command is very important also in agility training, they learn the touch command to also learn to "Spot". When they come off the A frame or the Teeter totter, you give the command spot....they need to touch the ground or a dish with a treat at the bottom, while keeping all four paws on the bottom of the A frame or teeter totter and not jump off. The touch command is also usefull for them to learn in RallyO because they can follow your hand as a guide and NOT forge in front of you while going through the RallyO maze. Also with training you can put string cheese inbetween your fingers and will also help you train while heeling, but would only recommend using this once your dog has the basic obedience down.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Our Lucy does the greatest "Touch It" commands I've seen! She is so enthusiastic when she does it! Of course she is enthusiastic in just about anything she does. Her "Downs" are hiliarious! She doesn't just slowly lay down, her front feet I think actually come off the floor up in the air and then plop down with a thud! If you aren't giving her treats quickly enough she will just start taking her nose and touch your hand repeatedly! Just recently I've gotten her to jump up and touch my hand on command! Again, she does it with enthusiasm! I haven't actually used it like you mention above, but I have some things I think that would be useful for so I'm gonna give it a try!

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

I love the "touch" trick! I love the feel of their spongy big noses bonking my hand, They look so cute doing it too! Good job Peri!