Many dog training program include teaching a “hand target.” Some people call it a “nose target.” This behavior is simply a dog touching your hand with his nose, so either name is correct!
What a Target Behavior Looks Like
Some people have their dogs ram their noses into their palms. Others have dogs touch the tip of their index finger, extended like they are pointing at something. You can teach your dog to hit your closed fist with his nose, like he’s doing a fist bump. He can touch the back of your hand instead. The way you present your hand is completely up to you.
What is the Cue for Your Target Behavior?
The cue is typically the presentation of your hand in the form you’ve chosen. Some people present the hand and say, “Touch!” at the same time. I’m only a fan of using the two cues together if you intend to teach your dog to differentiate; in other words, to ONLY touch the target hand when you say the word.
It’s OK to give both cues at once. This is just between you and your dog. But I want you to learn to be aware of exactly what cue their dogs are responding to. Does your word actually have an effect? Or is your dog only responding to the hand that’s presented? Training is in the details!
How to Teach a Nose-to-Hand Target Behavior
Teaching this trick is just so simple. You always want to make success easy for your dog, so present the target hand only an inch or two in front of his nose. Be ready, because he will likely touch it the first time!
Think about it – dogs put their noses on things that are presented to them. Lucky us! Click as he touches, while keeping your hand right where it is. Present a treat in front of your hand to continue building a good association between your hand target and good things.
That’s it! Do it many, many times. If your dog doesn’t touch your hand at some point, take it away for a second and present again a little closer. Make it easy for him to succeed!
As you practice, start presenting your hand a little to his left or right, higher or lower – but only an inch or two differently at a time. Practice with both hands. Keep it up, and you’ll soon be presenting it at the end of your arm with your dog across the room. You have to build these changes slowly and carefully, with clicks and treats each time so your dog gets to win every time. This is an easy game for dogs and they typically like it a lot once they understand it. Your dog will enjoy this game for life.
What is the Purpose of the Target Behavior?
We can use the nose-to-hand target behavior in so many ways! This is an easy game for dogs and they typically like it a lot when it’s taught well. Because it’s fun, we can offer the game up in a variety of situations.
Something to Do
When you take a child somewhere, you usually take along toys, snacks, and these days, maybe an iPad to make sure they have something fun to do while waiting for an appointment or whatever. Dogs don’t like waiting quietly any more than children do! While waiting in the vet’s lobby, you can start a hand-target game using a small space right in front of you. You can have your dog turn his head in both directions and reach up or down to touch your hand, with him facing you so that he’s not as distracted by other dogs or activities nearby. He’ll earn lots of treats with each repetition and have fun while waiting quietly for his turn in the exam room.
Send Your Dog!
A nose-to-hand target behavior can help you build other behaviors. With some practice, your dog will follow your hand wherever it leads. You can send your dog to a bed, into the tub, or over a jump. Then, you can establish cues for each of those behaviors There are some studies that explore how dogs respond to a pointing finger naturally, without training. They seem to innately do this, some dogs better than others. But training is the way to develop the target behavior into something you and your dog can use. Your dog will learn to seek out your hand and follow it.
You’ll have to practice. If you want your dog to get in the bathtub, you may need to first get him to stretch his neck over the edge to touch your hand. Progress to having him put one front paw, then two, on the side of the tub. When he’s comfortable with that, you can ask him to jump in. It will probably help if you’ve already played around with using your nose-to-hand target to get your dog to jump over something very easy out on the grass. Jumping into the tub takes a precision set of movements to prevent hitting one’s little canine knees on the side!
You can set up a broomstick on some bricks in the yard and simply have your dog come with you, following your hand as you step over. The next step is to stand at the side of your homemade jump and just lean over to lead your dog over with your hand. Have fun with your target behavior and backyard agility!
Position Your Dog
Back to the vet’s office: you can use a nose-to-hand target to turn your dog in the direction needed on the exam table or on the floor. Maybe the vet needs to first look at his face, then wants the rear toward her. No need to shove or drag your dog around to position him properly, just use your hand target and give a treat when he gets there.
Leash-walking
As you teach your dog the leash skills he needs for pleasant walks, you can use your nose-to-hand target to lead him to the side you’ve chosen for him to walk on. You can lead him from in front of you, along your side and back behind you. Then turn him around so he ends up with his head at your leg. This is important so he doesn’t end up with his head in front of you, already ahead of you before you even get started. Giving him a treat in the position you want him in helps cement this routine in his little doggie brain.
Freestyle
I saw a video the other day of an older Freestyle performance where the handler used hand targets on both sides to have her dog move back and forth. It was a lovely display. Freestyle is “dancing with your dog,” a newer competition in which handlers choreograph a dance sequence to a particular song and perform it with their trained dogs. The team wears costumes that help illustrate the theme of their song and dance. The performance is off-leash and can contain just a few behaviors or many.
In part of their song, this team moved around the stage as the handler cued the dog with hand targets to prance first at her right side, then her left, back to her right, etc. Watching Freestyle performances on YouTube will help you learn how very simple behaviors can be built into intricate sequences. In the video, you’ll see the nose-to-hand target behavior used for other tricks, too.
This team is practicing their Freestyle routine, in which they use the nose-to-hand target behavior.
Building Other Tricks
The nose-to-hand target is a perfect foundation behavior for tricks like spinning in a circle. You can also use it to teach positions like “sit,” “down,” and “stand,” even for sitting up or “sitting pretty.”
Transferring contact from your hand to a door can help you build other tricks like pushing a door closed. Whether cabinet door or entry door, dogs can be very helpful when they push doors, and even drawers closed.
Transferring contact from your hand to an object can help you build a great retrieve. After learning to touch the object, a dog will usually naturally start to open his mouth to begin the behavior of grabbing it. This makes it easy for you to start to get him to put his mouth on the object and then pick it up. Careful criteria shifting will allow you to get your dog to reliably pick up, carry, and bring an object to you.
You can build duration to the nose-to-hand target in order to use the behavior to help your dog hold his position for a veterinary exam, or to easily lead him away from a situation he needs to get out of when out on a walk.
Target Behavior for Emergencies
Having a variety of skills prepared to help you and your dog to get yourselves to safety is ideal. If you encounter a loose dog while out on a walk, it’s good to have practiced an emergency u-turn that you can call on. But a hand target can help you attract your dog to get that behavior started. Just instigate the game by presenting your hand in front of your dog’s face, lead him around, and give him a treat as you quickly walk away. No need to give your dog the time to decide to respond with barking or trying to chase the dog away. Use your hand target to get in front of that.
Target Behavior to Call Your Dog
Have you ever heard that you have to choose just one behavior that a particular cue will produce? Yes, that’s true if you want to be a good partner to your dog. If you say “Sit,” you can only give a reward when your dog assumes a “sit” position, not when he lies down. Otherwise, he won’t have any idea what you want when you say that word, and he’ll probably just do random behaviors that he knows.
But you can certainly reward a “sit” prompted by approaching a door to the outside. You can reward a “sit” when your dog offers it as you prepare his meal. You can even ask your dog to “sit” in Spanish: “Sientate!” It’s OK to have several cues that all indicate the same behavior. So why not have that nose-to-hand target be an extra cue for the recall? It’s an important behavior, so having several ways to get it to happen can be helpful.
Other Types of Target Behaviors
There are so many other target behaviors you can teach! Dogs can learn to target something with each of their four paws, both front or back paws, their sides or hips, even the tops of their heads, chins, and cheeks.
Teaching these tricks is fun for dogs and you. It follows the same protocol as teaching the nose-to-hand target. Positive reinforcement training provides mental stimulation and thus enrichment for your dog’s life.
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