Hand TargetDog bumps their nose to your palm
The most useful trick in the book. A dog that will touch your hand can be moved, redirected off a distraction, and repositioned without a leash. It is also the base for later handling work.
Also known as: Touch, Nose Touch, Target
At a glance
- Tier
- 0 · Foundational
- Time to fluency
- 1–2 weeks
- Practice
- 5× per week, 5 min each
- Equipment
- Small soft treats
How to teach hand target
Lure
Offer a flat palm just off their nose
- Hold your palm two inches from their nose and wait
- Curiosity does the work. Mark the sniff, then the bump
- Reward from the other hand so the target hand stays clean
- Move the target an inch further each rep
Hand Signal
The presented palm is itself the signal
- Present, wait, mark, reward
- Vary height and side so it is not one memorised position
- Take one step back so they have to come to the hand
Verbal Cue
Name it as they commit to the bump
- Add the word once the behaviour is reliable, not before
- Use it to move the dog past distractions on a walk
- Reward enthusiastically when it beats a distraction
Success criteria
- Unlearned
- Ignores the presented hand
- In progress
- Comes to touch on the word with the hand held low and still
- Mastered
- Leaves a mild distraction to touch, outdoors
Common mistakes
- Pushing the hand into the dog's face, which makes them back off
- Holding food in the target hand so they lick instead of bump
- Only ever practising at one height