Zorro's now 15 months and has never been known for his brains, bless him
. He's always had kind of tunnel vision ("you have a TREAT, I want the TREAT, where's the TREAT, GIMME GIMME GIMME!!!") which has made him quite hard to train because he just focuses on the treat and cannot possibly think about anything else (such as how to get you to give it to him).
I've found it a real challenge as Bella was sooooo easy to train, she always picks things up in about 2 goes and once she's got it, it stays there, whereas with Zorro it's always been a bit painful trying to get anything to sink in. But lately he's started to calm down a tiny bit, and last week I was doing some training with him (using "yes" as a marker instead of a clicker). I decided to try getting him to give his paw, for the umpteenth time since we've had him (with very little success until that point no matter which of several methods I've tried).
So, I got him to sit, crouched in front of him with a treat in one hand, held out my hand, said "paw" and gently lifted his paw into mine, then gave him a treat. Then I said "Zorro, paw" and just held out my hand. And Zorro sat, and sat, and stared at my other hand with the treat in, and sat, and stared, and sat and stared, and then, just as I was about to pick up his paw again to try and help, I saw, could it be true? A little flicker of something going on in those beautiful brown eyes of his (in contrast, if this was Bella, she'd have tried Down, Rollover, Paw, and Other Paw by this time
). So I waited, said nothing, kept my hand extended out to him, and eventually he lifted up his paw and planted it in my hand. "YES!!!!!!!" and a treat, and a very self-satisfied look on Zorro's face.
I tried again, "Zorro, paw!", and held out my hand. Again he sat and stared at the hand with the treat in it, and sat, and stared, and sat, and stared, and thought about it for a looooooong time (he's like the traffic warden in Little Miss Joceleyn, "I am doing this for Queen and country, it may take a lo-o-o-ong time!"
), and then lifted his paw, got a "YES!!!" and a treat.
Third attempt, "Zorro, paw!", and I hold out my hand, and he sits and stares but then quickly and resolutely lifts up that pawand slaps it onto my hand. Bingo! So he gets a bonanza treat. And a few goes later, he's giving me his paw as if he's been doing it for months.
It's a tiny thing but for little mister noodle noddle it feels like such a breakthrough and it's so nice to see him actually thinking and figuring something out. So he's not just a pretty face after all. Hurray for Zorro!
