How To Train A Dog To Wake Up
This tutorial is part of The Ultimate List Of Dog Trick Ideas which contains 99 other tricks like this!
This is a truly heartwarming trick used by dog trainers when teaching a dog to respond to the alarm clock and wake a deaf person in a morning. You can teach your dog to do this too although it will take time and patience it is great fun and very rewarding.
- Have a friend hold your dog on the floor by your bed and set an alarm for a few seconds away, then show your dog that you have a treat for him and get into bed.
- When the alarm sounds encourage your dog to jump onto the bed and have your friend release him.
- Hide the treat under the blankets or quilt and when your dog tries to encourage release of the treat simply reinforce and reward this attempt, this is what will become the scrabble which will wake you.
- Progress to asking your dog to wait by the bed then encouraging him to jump on you at the sound of the alarm clock, reward when he jumps up then reward again when he attempts to scrabble you for a second treat.
- Now simply increase the time between settling into the bed and the alarm clock going off at the same time as keeping the confidence of your dog high with lots of encouragement and reward.
Top tip; this trick can be difficult to teach because your dog may lack confidence to respond to the sound and/or jump on the bed. Remember this is fun and keep everything easy with lots of encouragement. It takes professional dog trainers months to teach this trick well so don’t put too much pressure on yourself or your dog.
Dog trainers love this trick because it’s a great experience to be woken by a keen and loving canine rather than the electronic sound of an alarm clock.
