Teach Your Dog to Cover His Nose: Guide in 3 Steps

Cover your nose is one of the tricks that impresses onlookers the most. The dog places a paw over its nose as if ashamed. In reality, the trick is based on a simple reflex: something is stuck on the nose, and the paw wipes it away. We gradually shape this reflex into a trick.

The trick works through the natural reflex to remove a foreign object from the nose. The tape is just a training aid that disappears completely over the course of training. In the end, your dog performs the paw movement on your verbal cue alone.

The 3 Steps

Step 1: Tape on the nose. Have your dog sit. Stick a small strip of painter's tape or sticky note on the bridge of the nose (not over the nostrils). Your dog will try to wipe the tape off with a paw. The exact moment the paw touches the nose: mark and reward immediately. Stick the strip back on and repeat. 5 to 8 repetitions per session is plenty.

If your dog shakes their head instead of using the paw: wait. Don't help. Eventually they'll try the paw. Some dogs need 2 to 3 sessions before they figure out the paw. If they ignore the tape completely, use a slightly larger strip.

Step 2: Shrink the tape. When your dog reliably wipes with the paw (8 out of 10 attempts), make the strip a little smaller each round. From a 3 cm strip to 2 cm, then 1 cm, then a tiny piece. Your dog still makes the wiping motion because they've learned: paw on the nose means a reward. This step takes patience. If the strip gets too small too fast, your dog forgets the movement. When in doubt, go back one step.

Step 3: Introduce the verbal cue. Remove the tape completely. Your dog now knows the pattern: in a sit, lifting the paw to the nose earns a reward. Before they lift their paw, say "cover your nose." This way, they connect the word with the movement. At first, they might not understand what you want. Then briefly stick a tiny piece of tape on as a reminder, mark, reward, and try again without tape on the next attempt. When they respond 9 out of 10 times without tape, the trick is solid.

Common Problems

The dog only shakes its head. This is normal at first. Ignore head shaking, only reward the paw movement. If they still haven't used the paw after 3 sessions, press the tape on a bit more firmly (not too firmly) or use a wider strip. Some dogs need a stronger stimulus to try the paw.

The dog tries to eat the tape. Use painter's tape or sticky notes, not regular tape. After each reward, remove the strip and only reapply it for the next round. This way, your dog gets used to the tape being part of the training.

The paw doesn't reach the nose. At the beginning, reward any paw movement toward the face, even if it doesn't touch the nose yet. Then gradually reward only when the paw actually reaches the nose. This is called shaping: forming the behavior in small steps.

The trick stops working without tape. The tape was removed too quickly. Go back one step: practice with a small strip again and fade it out more slowly. The transition phase (tiny piece of tape to no tape at all) often takes a week.

In our dog tricks overview, you'll find all tricks sorted by difficulty.

The exercises in this article are an excerpt from the Hundeo course "Dog Tricks." With Hundeo Pro, you get all lessons as video tutorials with step-by-step instructions, plus training tracking and personal help from real trainers if you run into problems.