How to Train Your Dog to Act Ashamed

First things first, you’ll need to find a quiet spot where you can teach your pooch to act ashamed without distractions. Settle your pup into a nice ‘down’ position and give them a couple of treats to warm them up.

Take a treat into your hand and hold it in front of your dog’s nose. While your dog is still in a ‘down’, lower the treat to the floor until your dog’s face and nose is touching the floor. Once their head is lowered all the way, immediately praise and release the treat.

Continue luring your dog until they are readily following your hand to the floor. At this point, you’re ready to add a cue. Think creatively here, as it will be your trigger to get the dog to perform their trick. “Bad dog,” “who’s a bad dog?” or “shame” are all great choices and can be worked into your routine later. Once you’ve selected a cue, add it in every time you lower the treat to the floor.

When your dog is performing this task and after you’ve worked the cue in 30-40 times, it’s time to remove the lure. Don’t worry if your dog doesn’t lower their head the first time, or if they look confused. Simply take a step back and repeat a few more times with the lure before moving on.

Once your dog is reliably performing on the cue, practice in multiple areas of the house to be sure your dog associates the behavior with the reward rather than the specific room or setting. Your dog will be doing their best, “who, me?” impression before you know it.

The first step for teaching this method for your dog to look ashamed is to set up a minor annoyance that makes your dog paw at their nose. Put your dog into a ‘down’ to set up the trick. Try putting a Post-it note on your dog’s nose to make them paw at their nose. You may need to experiment with a few different items to find the one that works for your particular pooch.

Observe your dog carefully and when they perform the desired behavior, putting their nose down and pawing at it, treat and praise. Continue to do this numerous times, each time singling out the correct behavior. Eventually your dog will start to figure out that they receive a treat when they cover their nose with their paws.

Once your dog has started to figure it out, it’s time to add in the cue word. Remember that this behavior will be part of your dog’s act, so pick something that works easily in, such as “ashamed”, “bad dog”, etc.

Once you’ve repeated the cue word, treat and praise at least 40-50 times, it’s time to remove the physical trigger. Ask your dog to act ashamed without the post it note. Don’t worry if Fido acts confused or if it takes a few minutes for him or her to perform the behavior. If your dog still won’t touch their paws to their nose after multiple attempts, go back a few steps and repeat your fundamentals a few more times.

Once you’ve successfully managed to get your dog to tuck their nose under their paws on command, repeat the behavior in multiple settings. Ask your dog to perform in different rooms of the house, outside, and from a stand or sit. Each time remember to treat and praise effusively for the best results.

Step one for this method of training your dog to act ashamed involves setting up the perfect scenario. Pick a cushion or similar object in your house where you will hide a treat. The cushion should be light enough to allow your dog to place his or her snout under it. Chair cushions work perfectly for this. Grab a treat and, while your dog is watching, place it under the cushion.

Allow your dog to retrieve the treat from under the cushion. The moment they do, praise your dog and provide another treat. Try to make the treat that you praise with slightly higher in value than the treat under the cushion.

After your dog has retrieved the treat numerous times, add in an appropriate cue word such as “ashamed” or “bad dog”. You can also add in a hand gesture with the verbal cue such as pointing at the cushion. This will help your dog know where you want them to hide their snout when performing the trick later on.

After you’ve repeated the hide, cue, praise, and reward routine 50-75 times, remove the treat from under the cushion and request the behavior with only the verbal and physical cues. If you’ve successfully imprinted the behavior, your dog will push its snout under the cushion. Praise and treat your dog if they perform successfully. If your dog doesn’t push its nose under, go back a few steps and keep training.

After your dog is pushing its nose under the cushion on command, start practicing in multiple settings with different cushion arrangements. Try asking them to put their nose under their dog bed or other objects. Use your physical cues to teach the dog where you want them to “hide”. Remember that multiple settings strengthens the behavior and helps your dog learn that it’s the action that gets the treat, rather than where it takes place.