Teaching Your Dog a Halloween Hold Trick for Stunning Photos

Going to grandmother’s house. I freely admit it. I taught Mr. N a “hold” purely for photo purposes. Now he’s quite good at holding things in his mouth for photos although he still doesn’t like metal objects.

I had a bit of trouble getting him to do it originally as he kept trying to retrieve the item instead of holding it in his mouth. What helped was having him do it in a down as then he couldn’t move to retrieve the item. I think I taught it backwards and most people start with the hold so this is probably not a common problem.

Basically, I rewarded him for any interaction with the object and then mouthing. Once he started holding it his mouth, we built up duration slowly. And Mr. N is super non-mouthy so if he can do it, any dog can! I had to teach him how to fetch using a bully stick.

Originally, I was going to have him hold a toy saw but I have no idea where we stowed it in the basement and I couldn’t find it. So we improvised and did a Red Riding Hood-themed hold instead. Other objects that could work: bones, zombies (the stuffed kind), pumpkins, and treat baskets.

Do you have a favorite Halloween-themed trick?

Welcome to First Monday’s Positive Pet Training Blog Hop hosted by Tenacious Little Terrier and Rubicon Days. Please share your responsible pet owner positive pet training tips by linking a blog post or leaving a comment below.  Our theme for this month is Halloween-themed tricks but any positive reinforcement training posts or comments are also always welcome. The Positive Pet Training Blog Hop goes all week long. Our next hop will begin November 7th and continues for a week. November’s theme is indoor activities and games and December’s is training gifts (a training gift you have given your dog, such as working slowly through something scary like nail trimming, or conversely, a training gift your dog has given YOU!)