Tricky T-day: Moose in the Box edition

This week we decided to get Moose to get in a box, also known as Dexter's Trick! Last Week Mango's momma decided to train both RH and Pee wee to do this so not sure why we are calling it Dexter's and not Mango's trick but I guess the black labs like to stick together!
Why you ask are we doing this? Because we can, I say! Plus I had a really big box that needed to be taken to the recycling place and this way we get to put it off a little longer!
I basically just did the same thing that they did which is to click any interest in the box and progress from there. I 'cheated' a little because Moose sort of knows what to do when I say 'go on in' whether it is a car or the front door or whatever (though I never formally taught him). I can also point and Moose will go to where I point so a few times when he was standing around I would either point at the box or say 'go on in' to guide him in that direction so I guess it is not, strictly speaking, free shaping but it helped get the ball rolling!
The video is really not very good (he is sometimes not even in frame!) but if you want to see go for it. Turn your volume down or you will hear lots of loud "whatagoodboy"s.


In the beginning you will see him get a toy and try to drop it in the box which cracked me up and scored him a treat. We are also working on 'clean up your toys' and I guess when he was not sure what to do with a box he figured 'why not put a toy in it!'. It really surprised me because as I understand it dogs do not generalize and this box looks nothing like his toy box and is in a room where we have never had the toy box and has never had toys in it. Guess it made sense to him and he got a treat because it made me giggle. ;-)
I thought the box was big but if I want him to get all the way in I am going to have to find a longer one...