# How to teach dog to cover eyes/nose



## breyer08 (Jul 4, 2012)

I've seen videos and read about teaching this trick by placing a little piece of tape on the dog's nose, and then capturing the behavior when they try to wipe it off with their paw. I tried to do this with Ava, but she didn't really seem to care at all about the tape being on her nose! Is there another method I might try to get her to do this trick?


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

how old is your dog?


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

sort of like this?






I know this is unconventional and may be a bit cruel but I would tickle Smokey's whiskers with my fingers. He would swap my hand away and that's sort of how he learned the behavior. It isn't perfected but it's a semi-start


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## breyer08 (Jul 4, 2012)

She is 5 months. She already has more than 20 learned commands which she performs beautifully every day, but she is getting bored with them. I haven't taught her anything new in a while, so I thought this would be a good challenge for her. Any suggestions on how to teach it without the tape trick?

ETA: Sheeva, that is what I meant! I might have to try that. Perhaps it would also be easier at first with her on her side, like Smokey here.


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

If that doesn't work, try tickling the eyelashes. (I hope I don't get yelled at for doing this ). It might be irritating to the doggy but it'll get you sort of what you want...


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## breyer08 (Jul 4, 2012)

Did you try the tape method? It worked with her for the first two attempts, and after that she didn't even care about it being on her! hahaha! All the videos make it look like most dogs react the same way... but not Ava!


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

breyer08 said:


> Did you try the tape method? It worked with her for the first two attempts, and after that she didn't even care about it being on her! hahaha! All the videos make it look like most dogs react the same way... but not Ava!


No, I didn't try the tape method. This was my own idea. I hate when my hair get's in my face and tickles it. I figured Smokey would dislike me tickling his face/whiskers/eyelashes as well 

I also noticed how he would cover his face if a fly landed on it. It's just irritating...lol


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## SueDoNimm (Jul 3, 2012)

I almost have my dog doing this, but it's still spotty. I tried tape and Post-Its on different spot on his face, but he really didn't care and would leave them there. Then I started putting my hand over his eye and he would always swipe at it with his paw, but when I remove my hand and give the command, he'll reach for me with his paw instead of his eye.

Maybe a large pony tail holder/scrunchie-type thing fitted loosely over the muzzle? Or maybe something like a bandana tied loosely and slipped over the eyes? The problem with teaching this trick is you kind of have to annoy the dog to teach it!


Sent from my iPhone using PG Free


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## Mooch (May 23, 2012)

You have to position the post it note so they can see it out of the corner of their eye  Right in front of the eyes/nose seems to be a blind spot


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## Jo Ellen (Aug 30, 2011)

What command do you associate with this behavior?


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## TaZoR (Jan 26, 2012)

Tazor cant grasp this concept either. I gave up for now. Im going to try it again after he calms down. Hes ten months and PUMPED full of energy. I use the command UH..ooohh. Hopefully someday.


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## prockerb (Sep 3, 2012)

You know I just started this trick today with my dog, and he is so smart that he rubs it off on my pants. My mistake I think was that I didn't have him laying down doing this (of course not in a down command). Look at this vid.. 

Dog Trick Tutorial: "Cover your eyes!!" - YouTube





SueDoNimm said:


> The problem with teaching this trick is you kind of have to annoy the dog to teach it!


This can be a anoying trick so the guy in the video said it is really important to have a high value reward. 


Anyways I wouldn't be doing any whisker "tickling" with any dog. I don't want mine to associate my hand to be anything bad. I am not saying that I never touch my dog's whiskers. 

Plus you never know a dog might get anoyed, and react badly.


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## breyer08 (Jul 4, 2012)

Thanks for all these ideas! I will definitely give it another shot a little later on. I decided to put that one to the side for now to work on recognizing and lifting right paw vs. left paw so I can teach her to "dance" with me.  So far that one is going a lot better!


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