Touchscreen devices can be used to teach a nose touch, which is a basic, building-block behavior that School For The Dogs' trainers teach almost every dog they work with. A nose touch can be taught with a person's hands and a dog's nose; the person clicks when the dog's nose touches the screen, and then the dog receives a reward. Using a touchscreen device and one of a handful of apps, you can take the clicker out of the equation and your dog's nose will register a sound when it makes contact with the screen, essentially doing the job of any good marker signal.  Annie discusses the origins of her use of touchscreens with dogs and talks about some of the more advanced work that can be done with screens, such as teaching a dog to read, teaching cue differentiation, and more.

Episode on teaching touch: 

https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/episode-60-the-most-important-behavior-youll-ever-train/

More on using touch screens:

Dogs Take Selfies Too - https://anniegrossman.com/2013/11/training/dogs-take-selfies-too-48370/8225/

Teaching Dogs to Use iPads in London - https://anniegrossman.com/2014/03/training/school-for-the-dogs-studies-abroad-teaching-dogs-to-use-ipads-in-london-80528/8330/

Teaching Pets to Use iPads in NYC - https://anniegrossman.com/2013/08/training/idog-teaching-pets-to-use-ipads-in-nyc-56551/8127/

The First App Made Specifically for Canines - https://anniegrossman.com/2013/09/science/app-for-dog-the-first-app-made-specifically-for-canines-79647/8190/

Three Apps Your Dog Can Use to Make Art - https://anniegrossman.com/2013/12/training/3-apps-your-dog-can-use-to-make-art-35313/8246/

Apps mentioned: 

Doodle Buddy - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/doodle-buddy-paint-draw-app/id313232441

App for Dog - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/app-for-dog-free-puppy-painting-button-clicker-training/id968928583

Yes No App - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/yes-no-from-i-can-do-apps/id635649909

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Partial Transcript:

[Intro and music]

Annie:

A few years ago, back when Kate and I were running School for the Dogs out of my living room, in 2013 I got a spate of prank phone calls. They might’ve all been from the same person. I don’t know. One was someone asking me if I could help them teach their dog to navigate the worldwide web, because right now he only knew how to do one thing online and it was to watch porn.

Another caller asked if I could teach the dog to use the remote control. That one I actually, I thought was legit for, for half a second. I said, I guess I could teach a dog to use a TV remote, but why would you need to do that? And he said, well, I’d like it if he could change the channel when I’m masturbating.

Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcast

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