Brew-tastic Training: How to Get Your Dog to Bring You a Cold One
Step-by-Step Guide
1) Getting familiar with the beer
Place the beer on the ground next to your dog. I recommend a 12 oz beer and a location with padding on the floor. You can add a can koozie to make it easier for your dog. Start by placing a treat on the beer. When your dog takes the treat, mark it (I use the word 'yes') and give another treat. Continue to reward (mark, petting, treat, etc.) your dog every time they engage.
2) Picking up the beer
Once your dog is familiar with the beer, work on getting them to pick up the beer and move it a short distance. I use a 'take it' command.
3) Grabbing a beer from the fridge
Place 1-3 beers on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator and keep the door open. Use your 'take it' command to signal you want your dog to grab the beer. Note: the beer may break open if dropped on a hard floor. If you haven’t already, I recommend adding a can koozie now.
4) Opening the fridge
Take something your dog is familiar tugging, such as a rope, and place it on the fridge door. Have your dog pull on the rope until the door opens. Note, some refrigerators are difficult to open, so you can crack the door slightly at the beginning of training. Once your dog opens the door, use your 'take it' command to signal you want a beer. Work on going further distances from the fridge until your dog can open the door and grab a beer from across the room.
5) Closing the door
Grab some post-it notes and teach your dog to 'nose it.' You can do this by luring your dog with a treat and rewarding every time your dog's nose touches the post-it note. Once you have this down, place the post-it note on the refrigerator and open the door. Use your 'nose it' command to signal you want your dog to close the door. Note you can also use your 'paws' command, but this can result in scratches on your refrigerator door.
6) Putting it all together
Now that your dog knows the steps, work on teaching the 'grab me a beer' command. You can do this by marking the action with the phrase.
Notes
As you can see in the video below, your beer may arrive a little shaken up. Use caution when opening. Also, remove the rope from the refrigerator door if you're going to leave your dog home alone. The last thing you want is for your dog to eat everything in there!
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