I tried doing this in class the way Ursula suggested but ran into difficulty. Her method was to use the "paw" that we'd taught, cue it and then as the dog reached for it, to pull the hand away and click/treat. What I discovered was that Gimme found that punishing and quit trying after 2-3 repetitions. I believe this comes from my snatching my hand away when she muggs me for food.
So I've been trying to free-shape it with minimal success. I got lots of repetitions, but not much height. We've done several sessions and just seemed to be stuck. Tonight I decided to try it on the grooming table. Then I could stand back far enough that Gimme really had to reach for it - and click before she whacked my hand and not have to pull back. We made some amazing progress very quickly - probably a three minute training session.
I realized that my hands could be the signal for the move, and that I could make them kind of dance like. So I tried to tape this little video of the hand signal I envision to see what it was going to look like from a different angle. Clearly this signal needs to be refined.
I only share this with you because the moment Gimme saw me doing it, she tried to get into the act. I can hardly believe that my brilliant little girl picked it up so quickly. Though why it should surprise me after so many instances of brilliance, doesn't make sense. I guess I'm just a slow learner...
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