How to teach footsies

This trick reminds me of when little girls dances with their dads and stand on their feet, it’s a bit different but still a wonderful connection is there.  We’re going to teach your dog to walk with his front paws on your feet.

Start with your toes pointed in – for larger dogs you’ll be able to keep a little wider stance, this will make it easier for your dog to find your feet. And like all dog training, timing is very important. 

Lure your dog through your legs from behind and with your treat and as soon as one paw touches your foot reward your pup. It may take a few seconds of luring back and forth to find that sweet spot to get them to step on your shoe – it’s not a natural behavior for a dog, so be patient and don’t give up.  By moving your treat back and forth you can move your dogs body position, you can see I’m not physically moving the dog but letting her figure it out on her own – this will help her make the connection of what I’m asking. 

Practice this and over time increase your requirements to rewarding when both paws are on.

Once your dog is confident with stepping on your feet you cans lowly move your feet a more natural standing position. Continue practicing like this.

The next step is adding a very little movement of your foot and rewarding them for staying, if your pup gets off that’s okay, just try again and be patient. Building up your movement over time.  As your pup gets more comfortable you can add actual steps.

Remember just like when we learn to walk, we need to start with baby steps before we take leaps forward.