To teach your Otterhound tricks, even simple ones, you should have in hand some small snacks, go to a remote suitable place and always keep the instruction sessions to under 15 minutes or your Otterhound will start to get tired. Take note that when he gets something right offer him lots of appreciation and a reward treat, yet beware not to get him excessively thrilled or he could lose focus.
Teach your Otterhound to offer you his paw
To get your Otterhound to give you his paw, first get him to sit, then as you say the word ‘paw’ take his paw in your hand and give him a treat. After that repeat this, and after a couple of practices do not take his paw so fast. State the word ‘paw’, count to 1 and then take it. You must see that he is bringing his paw up as you state the word. If he doesn’t then go back to stating it at the very same time. Do it a few more times then slow your response again. After a few sessions most Otterhounds pick this trick up quite quickly.
Teach your Otterhound to give you a high 5
Like a lot of tricks the high five is a continuation of a more basic trick, and in this case the paw trick. Place a snack in between your fingers and lift your hand a little bit higher than you would for the paw trick. Your Otterhound will presume you wish to do the paw trick and will reach for the treat with his paw as we had instructed him in the previous trick. While he reaches up you say “high 5” and offer him the treat. When your Otterhound has mastered the paw trick this one should be very simple to learn and with just a few sessions he will be accomplishing it on hand signal instead of vocal commands.
Teach your Otterhound to leap through a hoop
Before you begin this 1 I would just like to ask you to be a little practical and not suspend the hoop higher than necessary as you don’t want your Otterhound to hurt himself while carrying out the trick. Place your Otterhound on one side of a hula hoop, get him to take note of your hand on the other side of the hoop. Place a treat in your hand and give the Otterhound the command to stop sitting. At first he may attempt to walk around or underneath the hula hoop. If this occurs start once again. Your Otterhound wants the treat and will soon learn that going around or below doesn’t work so he’ll quickly begin going through it. Once he does, say “hoop” and give him the snack. He will quickly be leaping through the hoop on the command of “hoop”. When I began doing this trick I owned a medium sized dog, so I started with the hoop 6 inches from the ground and gradually increased it to waist height. On the occasion that you have a smaller sized dog you may wish to start with the hoop touching the floor so he simply goes through the hoop and then slowly lift it as he gets used to the trick.
I know you have enjoyed learning these 3 tricks you can teach your Otterhound. Have patience with your Otterhound and most of all, have a good time!
Don’t forget to check out these other articles about Otterhounds
Was this post helpful? If so, please take a minute to Tweet and Share below on Facebook. I would also love to know your thoughts so leave me a comment 🙂
Follow