Trent DeLucia: Teaching Your Dog Tricks 2

Teaching Bear tricks turned out to be a lot more enjoyable than training him so I decided to do that again.  Sitting wasn't much of a challenge for me to teach or for Bear to learn so I chose a more difficult one this time around.  Teaching Bear how to stand up will be a trick that tests both my teaching and his ability to learn new things.  The "Imitation Rule" teaching method that I used to teach Bear how to sit was very effective, but I have decided to use a new method for standing:

"Lure-Reward Training: The trainer entices the dog into the desired position by typically using a hand-held food lure, like a treat. For example, the trainer lures a dog to sit by placing a treat in front of his nose and moving it backwards over his head. The dog follows the treat or 'lure' into the desired position. Reinforcement is generally giving the food reward along with verbal praise at the completion of the desired behavior (Fugazza 43)."

Fugazza, Claudia. "Imitation." Do as I Do: Using Social Learning to Train Dogs. Wenatchee: Dogwise, 2014. 43. Print.

"Lure-Reward Training:

1. Show your dog the treat.
2. Move the treat in the direction/motion of the trick you want your dog to complete.
3. If your dog doesn't pick up on the motion, force them to complete it until they get the general idea of the trick.
4. Give your dog the treat and a lot of praise after each attempt whether failure or success (Fugazza 44)."

Fugazza, Claudia. "Imitation." Do as I Do: Using Social Learning to Train Dogs. Wenatchee: Dogwise, 2014. 44. Print.

Even though the example given with the "Lure-Reward Training Method" is sitting, it will work perfectly with teaching Bear how to stand.  I started Bear's lesson by showing him the treat.  After this I slowly moved the treat above his head so he was looking up at it.  I then moved it higher and higher so he was still very intrigued.  His first reaction was to bark and growl when it got too high.  I finally found the perfect height so he was able to stand up and eat the treat.  Even if Bear growled instead of standing, I still gave him a lot of praise and the treat as well.

It took about two hours for Bear to consistently stand when I showed him the treat.  After all this teaching, all I have to do to get Bear to stand is to put the treat anywhere above his head.  I showed my family what I taught him and they were very impressed on how quickly he learned.  Does Bear sound like an unusually stubborn dog, or do you think all dogs respond to training similarly to him?