How To Teach Your Dog Tricks

cool tricks to teach your dog

Tricks to teach your dog

No matter how massive or small your dog is; no matter how old he, or she, is and no matter how intelligent, it is quite doable to instruct your dog to perform tricks. You might think that teaching a dog to ‘do’ tricks is unnecessary. However, training your dog is a wonderful way to build your relationship. In addition, it grants the dog to use its brain.

 

Remember, dogs are among the most intelligent creatures and they will become bored if not stimulated. Moreover, once you have mastered the basic compliance training, which is imperative to ensure a happy, healthy dog, it is very easy for a dog to master easy tricks. Even though some people feel that this is demeaning, a dog doesn’t feel degraded, it just has a lot of fun! If you wish to instruct your dog tricks, here are some of the things that you should bear in mind.

 

The single most important thing to remember when training your dog is patience. It is now widely recognized that positive reinforcement and reward methods of training are by far the most successful. Remember, dogs are hot to please their owners, so with the right attitude to training, you can instruct you dog a trick within a few short sessions.

It is equally important to keep your training sessions short. The exact time will depend upon the attention span of your individual dog, but, typically, it is advisable to train for no longer then 15-20 minutes at a time.

Similarly, if you plan to instruct your dog a trick, it is wise to begin with small steps. In other words, if you would like to instruct your dog to play dead, you first have to get him, or her, to lie down and roll on to his, or her, side/back.

Use your dog’s favorite toy or a tasty treat to encourage specific behaviors. These things can be used not only as rewards, but also as a way to entice your dog to lay down, stand up etc. (see example below)

Consider your dog’s physical abilities before trying to instruct a trick. For example, some dogs, such as short-legged breeds, find it difficult to stand up.

 

Teach Your Dog to Roll Over

  

‘Roll over’ is a easy trick that can be performed by any breed of dog. Here, we will place the advice above into practice. So, get your dog to lie down (all dogs need to be taught to sit and lie down before attempting any tricks). Then, take one of his, or her, favorite toys and wave it over his, or her, shoulder in a rolling motion. Most dogs will roll over to try to reach the toy, if your dog does roll, state the words ‘roll over’ and give the dog lots of praise.

 

On the other hand, if your dog starts to get up to reach the toy, gently take his, or her, front paws and roll him, or her, over. Again, state the words ‘roll over’ and make a huge fuss of your dog. You might also like to offer a treat if your dog is particularly motivated by his, or her, stomach. Remember to be enthusiastic and show excitement when the dog has performed the required action, because this will make it all the more fun for your dog and he, or she, will want to do it again.

 

After a few repetitions with the toy, try the command ‘roll over’. If your dog has not quite grasped it yet, then keep trying. However, most dogs will comprehend what you want after just a handful of repetitions.

 

Training your dog to perform tricks is a great way to spend some calibre time with your animal and it helps to reinforce your position as pack leader. However, it is also a great deal of fun for your dog and will keep him, or her, both physically and mentally active.