Luring
A teaching technique: we lead the dog into the desired position with a treat in our hand, then gradually fade the visibility of the treat.
Luring is the fastest way to teach a new behaviour. The dog follows the treat with their nose, which gets them into the position you need on their own.
Process:
- Treat visible — the dog clearly sees and smells the treat. Repeat 5–10 times.
- Empty hand — make the same movement, but the hand is empty. The treat comes from the other hand after success.
- Fade the gesture — the hand movement gets smaller and smaller.
- Verbal cue — once the behaviour is reliable, add the word before the Hand Cue.
A note: Luring is great at the start, but keeping the treat in your hand for too long teaches the dog they only work when they see the treat. So step 2 (empty hand) needs to come quickly — usually after 5–10 repetitions.
The alternative is Shaping — the dog experiments with behaviours on their own, without luring, and you reward what fits. Slower, but it builds stronger behaviours.