Teaching your dog tricksPart of · Teaching your dog tricks

“Touch”: teach the nose target

7 min read

“Touch” teaches your dog to come and press his nose to your open hand. You offer your empty palm, you wait, and the moment his nose makes contact you mark it with a “yes” then reward with your other hand. Simple, no equipment: it's the trick that opens a hundred others.

Why touch is the best first trick

The real gift of touch isn't the gesture, it's what the dog discovers: his own action triggers the reward. He's the one driving the game. For a puppy or a reserved dog, taking that initiative is a genuine confidence builder: he dares to offer a behaviour, with no pressure and no physical constraint whatsoever. And the mechanics are sound. The more a dog is rewarded, the better he masters a new task, and a trick is exactly that (Rooney & Cowan 2011); dogs trained with rewards look at their owner more and show less stress than those trained through coercion (Deldalle & Gaunet 2014). A dog who doesn't dare to touch isn't being difficult: he's telling you something about his history, so we make it easier.

“Touch” step by step

A calm setting, a few treats in your pocket, and one principle that never changes: it's the dog who comes to the target, never the hand that moves towards his muzzle.

The first contact

Offer your flat hand about a palm's width from his muzzle, slightly to one side. The dog sniffs it out of curiosity: mark the exact moment his nose makes contact, then give the treat from your other hand.

Vary the positions

To the left, to the right, higher, lower, without ever making him jump. He then understands that it's the target he's looking for, not a fixed spot.

Add the word

Once he touches reliably, say “touch” ONCE, just before you offer your hand. The word comes before the gesture, never the other way round.

Add distance

Offer the target a step away, then two, then three: he moves to come and touch. Touch becomes a repositioning tool and a mini-recall.

The marker is a short, cheerful word, always the same one: a “yes!” let out right at the moment of contact. No need for a clicking gadget: your voice carries the emotion and is always to hand. Remember too to take your hand away between each attempt and offer it again, that's what keeps the eagerness alive.

Extending the target: hand, stick, sticky note

The hand

Flat palm offered at nose height, slightly to one side.
The hand stays empty: it's a target, not a lure.
Only mark a clean contact, never a nose that merely brushes past.

The target stick

A simple wand with a noticeable tip is enough, no special equipment needed.
Offer the tip where your hand used to be: most dogs transfer within a few attempts.
It takes the nose where your hand can't go: near the ground, into a narrow gap.

The stuck-on sticky note

The dog first touches the note held in your hand, then stuck on a wall or a door at nose height.
It's the starting brick for “close the door”, “ring the bell” or “step onto the scales”.
Raise one criterion at a time: new note OR distance, never both at once.

The engine behind a thousand tricks

Once a target is learnt, it's a skill you can reuse everywhere. Here's what it unlocks, from the simplest to the most useful.

Reposition without contact

Get off the sofa, clear a pathYour hand guides him into place, with no physical handling at all.

Go to his matYou bring him where you want without pulling him.

Manage the town

Redirect from a triggerA well-timed “touch” brings the nose and the attention back to you when you cross paths with a dog or a passer-by.

Pocket recall over a short distanceThe dog moves to come and touch: a mini-recall in disguise.

Cooperative care

Step onto the vet's scalesThe dog follows the target and climbs up of his own accord.

Rest the chin (chin rest)The chin target opens up examining the eyes and ears without restraint.

Practical tricks

Close a door or a drawerThe sticky note transferred onto the panel becomes a genuine everyday service.

Ring a bell, press a buttonThe same target, moved elsewhere, operates a device.

The raised versions (light switch, bell on the wall) call for weight on the hind legs: keep them for a healthy-hipped adult dog, never a growing puppy, and always choose a wireless device rather than a real 230 V switch.

AVSAB — Position statement on humane dog training (2021)
Deldalle & Gaunet — Effects of two training methods on stress-related behaviors and the dog-owner relationship, Journal of Veterinary Behavior (2014)
Rooney & Cowan — Training methods and owner-dog interactions: links with dog behaviour and learning ability (2011)
Demant et al. — The effect of frequency and duration of training sessions on acquisition and long-term memory in dogs (2011)

To go further

guide“Watch me”: eye contact“Watch” brings the eyes back, “touch” brings the body back: the attention duo.Read the guide guide“Close” the door and the drawerThe first truly useful transfer of the sticky-note target.Read the guide

Frequently asked questions

How do you teach a dog to touch?

Offer your flat, empty hand at nose height and wait: the moment his nose touches it, mark it with a “yes!” and reward from your other hand. Then vary the positions, add the word “touch” once he touches reliably, and step back. No equipment, very short sessions.

What's the point of teaching a dog to touch?

It lets you reposition him without touching (get off the sofa, clear a path), bring his attention back to you on a walk, and open up a host of useful tricks: closing a door, ringing a bell, stepping onto the vet's scales or resting the chin for care. It's the most rewarding trick in the repertoire.

What's the first trick to teach a dog?

Touch is a great starting point: beginner level, no prerequisites, no physical risk, and it serves as the building block for half the other tricks. “Watch me” is its ideal partner: one brings the eyes back, the other brings the body back.

Do you need a target stick to teach touch?

No. A flat hand is enough to start everything, and it's actually simpler. The target stick only comes later, when you want to take the nose where your hand can't go (near the ground, into a narrow gap): a simple wand with a noticeable tip does the job.

My dog licks my hand instead of touching it, what should I do?

It's almost always because a treat is lingering in the target hand: it becomes a lure and he sniffs instead of touching. Keep the target always empty and bring the reward from the other hand. Only mark a clean nose contact, never a brush past.

From what age can you teach a puppy to touch?

Very early: it's a ground-level trick, with no jumping or effort, so no risk to his growing joints. Keep the sessions ultra short, a handful of repetitions, and stop while he's still asking for more.

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