Posts Tagged ‘Best dog training tricks’
Dog Training Tricks – Teaching Your Dog Some Simple Tricks.
September 21st, 2009 | 
Author: Dog Training Tricks
When you first get a dog whether it’s a new puppy or an older dog, you want to be able to have fun with him and the best way to do that is to teach him some basic dog training tricks. There are numerous tricks that you can teach your dog including many complicated routines, however irrespective of the breed of dog you should always start with simple tricks first. It is also important to remember that although the principle reason for teaching your dog training tricks is for you both to have some fun, if you make the learning interesting enough backed up with a suitable reward you will also be teaching your dog a very important lesson in obedience.
As previously mentioned, there are a multitude of tricks that your dog can learn but the best place to start is with simple verbal commands such as sit, stay and lay down. Now while these may not strictly be thought of as tricks they are useful for your dog to learn and will be very helpful when it comes to your own handling of your dog at a later date.
When starting with ‘real’ dog training tricks one of the best and easiest to teach your dog is hello or the simple hand shake. This trick is totally endearing to see any dog perform from the tiniest pooch to a Great Dane and is something that your dog will really enjoy performing, also it’s a trick that comes very naturally to them.
Once you taught your dog to sit, by simply putting some pressure on his rump with the clear command ‘sit’, kneel or sit in front of him, hold your hand out and keep it there for a few seconds. Next lift his paw and place it in your outstretched hand and gently shake it, put the paw back down and with a big grin on your face give him a treat. (the grin on your face is very important as your dog will pick it up, remember dog training tricks are a two way street). Repeat this process as often as you can and be persistent. After not too long when you hold your hand out you will find that your dog will automatically lift his paw for you to hold, at that stage gently shake his paw and say hello. This will always get a big ‘Ahh’ from anyone in the room and kids absolutely love it.
Have you ever walked down the street and seen a dog walking next to its owner carrying a newspaper or bag? How cool is that and it’s not that difficult for your dog to learn. It’s natural instinct for many dogs to hold things like a small ball or stick in their mouth, all you need to do is train them to hold specific objects and not run off with them. This dog training trick consists primarily of four clear commands – sit, take, come and release. As before with your dog in front of you give the command to sit, when your dog has sat, take the straps of the bag or the rolled up newspaper and get your dog to hold it in its mouth with the command “take”, let him hold the object for only a minute or so then gently remove the object with the command “release”. Once your dog has done this make a fuss and give him a treat.
Repeat this process several times over the next few days until rather than you having to place the object in your dog’s mouth, he will take it on the command “take” and let go on the command “release”. Again make sure your dog is rewarded for his actions. Lastly with your dog sitting and holding the object walk about 10 yards away, with the command “stay” if necessary, then pat your leg and encourage him to come to you with the command “here”. Again when he comes to you with the object give him a treat. If he drops the object before he comes to you stop him in his tracks and start again from the command sit. You will be surprised how quickly he learns to come to you with the object in his mouth. These are only a couple of dog training tricks that you can teach your dog and you can find many more in various books and videos that you can find online.
Watch a FREE dog training video HERE
Lastly, throughout this article I have used the term ‘him’ or ‘his’ when referring to your dog, it goes without saying that the same applies to the obviously more intelligent female of the species J
Mike Hooker
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Best Dog Training Tricks – Three simple tricks to try
We have all watched movies with totally adorable dogs as the stars. Sure there may be a well known human face on the screen as well, but everyone knows who the real star is – the pooch. You’ve almost certainly seen the likes of Lassie and Beethoven performing some amazing stunts and it’s obvious that large amounts of time and probably money has gone into producing these kind of results. So the question is “can your ordinary loveable pet learn the best dog training tricks, without the big budget?” and the answer is a resounding yes. OK, maybe they won’t be quite up there with the top dogs but simple tricks such as to wave, play dead, shake hands, dance and crawl are well within the scope of most dogs.
Before we can teach any tricks your pet must have mastered the basic dog obedience commands such as sit, stay, lay and heel and for our purposes here I will assume that this is the case. If not there is plenty of information available for you to teach your dog these basics.
Let’s start with a very simple dog training trick and that is to shake hands. Now here is a quick tip, for some reason – and I will admit to not knowing exactly why – many dogs will automatically place their paw into your hand if you hold it out. So first of all just try simply getting your dog to sit and hold out your hand, if your dog then moves its paw towards your hand gently take it and pet her telling her what a good girl she is (that’s presuming she is a girl J). Then do the same again, only this time before you hold out your hand give the clear command ‘shake’ then hold out your hand, again make a fuss once she has put out her paw and repeat this about five times, no more, as you do not want your dog to get bored. The object of the exercise here is to get your dog to associate the word shake with the action of putting out its paw and being rewarded. Eventually just the command shake will have the desired effect before you even put your hand out.
If on the other hand your dog doesn’t feel inclined to place its paw in your hand when you hold it out, just give her a little bit of help by gently picking up her paw and placing it in your hand with the command ‘shake’. You will be surprised how quickly your pet will pick this up.
Once your dog has mastered shaking hands it’s but a simple step to teach her another dog training trick and that is to wave. Once your dog is sitting, place your hand about five or six inches away and as she lifts her paw to greet you, move it slightly to the right and then slightly to the left saying something like ‘wave girl’. As she follows your hand with her paw increase the distance slightly. If she gets bored and puts her paw down pat her and start again from the starting position and this time give her a treat after the third or fourth wave while all the time enforcing the command ‘wave girl’ or something similar. One thing to remember in any of these exercises is to keep the command short and once established do not change it in any way.
I mentioned earlier that your dog must have mastered the basic commands in order to go on to more complex dog training tricks and this can be demonstrated when teaching your dog to crawl. Give her the command to lay, then get down as much as you can to her level and keep your hand just above the floor and motion her towards you, if she starts to get up, go back to the command ‘lay’ and again motion for her to come towards you when she moves a few steps in the crawling position make a big fuss and give her a treat. This process often works better if you use her favourite toy when motioning her to you from the laying position.
The main thing to remember when teaching the best dog training tricks is to keep them simple to start with and make sure that your dog has a routine to follow and that is a motion (sit, crawl, lay) followed by a clear short command and a reward once these are followed. Start with simple commands and then build on them and soon your dog will go from laying to crawling, rolling over and playing dead, however always remember in all of this to have some fun
