How To Teach Your Dog To Untie a Gift Bow This Christmas

EXPERTS at a leading dog training app have unwrapped THE best gift for dog owners this Christmas, a pawfect ribbon trick to delight guests and spread Christmas cheer the only way big-eyed pooches can!

While there’s much joy to be had at home with our furry family members at this time of year, Christmas can send dogs crackers and good behaviour at home can wobble with the excitement of it all.

To ensure your pooch is firmly on the nice list this year, Annie Mae-Levy, dog behaviour expert at Woofz, the first truly dog-centric app, has revealed just how to have the best dog-friendly Christmas at home – and you might be surprised:

“It’s easy to lose track of the days at Christmas, as daily patterns and routines go out the window and every day feels like the weekend! Well, for dogs with no concept of calendars or dates, it can be a strange and therefore unsettling time as more and more guests are welcomed in to the home, and everyone is behaving a little bit differently to usual.

As dogs are context-dependent learners, it’s best to practice good and well rewarded behaviours in various settings around the house and the best way to do this is with lead work inside the home!

It may sound odd, but the constant at Christmas for dogs can be wrapped-up in one word – temptation. Whether that’s the Christmas tree itself, decorations that look like playful balls or the increased amount of amazing smelling food left out on every surface – Christmas temptation is too much for all of us, whether two legs, or four!

Having a lead to hand and being able to practice ‘paws on the floor’ rules when guests enter the home, or being able to ‘park’ your dog by simply putting on their lead when food comes out or gifts are being unwrapped, literally ‘grounds’ all temptation for dogs and they understand the context of wearing a lead and what behaviour is expected of them.”

Christmas is also a time to enjoy each other’s company, and so why not involve your dog in the Christmas games and let your pooch lead on the party tricks this year with Woofz new Christmas Ribbon 5-step Trick:

Step 1:
Get a ribbon, a clicker (or you can use your marker word “Yes”), and some treats. Start playing with your dog, teasing them with the ribbon so that they catch it with their mouth. The moment they do so, click or say “Yes” and give your pooch a treat.
Step 2:
Place the ribbon on the ground next to you. Ask your furry friend to pick it up (you can point to the ribbon with your finger and encourage them with your voice), and the moment your dog does so – click or say “Yes” and reward them. If your dog doesn’t understand what you want from them – try teasing them a little with the ribbon and then throwing it on the ground so that they’re more eager to pick it up.
Step 3
Hold the ribbon with one hand placed on top of it (or you can hold it with your knee) so that your dog can try to pull it out as if it were a bow. Ask them to take and pull it (help them by pointing your finger at the ribbon and use a “Get it” voice cue). Remember to say a marker word (or click) and treat your furry fellow when they get it right.
Step 4
Tie a bow around a box or some other object, making one of the bow tails long so that your dog understands which one to grab and pull (your bow should be very small at the beginning so that it’s easier to untie) Ask your pooch to “Get it” (to grab and pull), and the moment they untie the bow, click (or say “Yes”) and reward them. Repeat several times until your fluffy friend is confident about it. Next, you can make your bow a little bigger. If your dog started to pull but couldn’t untie the bow, don’t stop them, just encourage them to continue until they succeed.
Step 5
Now it’s time to practice with a real gift! Prepare your dog’s gift and tie a bow around it (both tails can be the same length, a normal bow that you use for all the other gifts) Ask your dog to grab one of the bow’s tails and pull it (a “Get it” cue)
Praise and reward them the moment they untie the bow.
Woofz is a tried and tested dog app that helps you unlock the secrets to what makes your pet tick and create a more harmonious pet-person relationship with dog training lessons, pet tracker functionality, a puppy log, and a handy pet clicker tool all in one app.

Woofz is available on both iOS and Android devices via the App store or Google Play Store.