Teaching Your Dog Tricks

Fortunately for many dog owners, dogs tend to pick up things they are taught very easily. As a result, you should be able to teach your dog how to perform some exceptional tricks.

In order to get your dog to start doing tricks, you need to find a trick that you know he could easily adapt to. That is to say, if your dog likes to fetch things you could teach him to fetch the morning newspaper.

No matter which trick you choose to teach your dog, make sure you’re consistent in your training and you reward him for his efforts.

Your guests will be in awe if you teach your dog to sit down and shake hands with them.

Dog training experts say that this is the easiest of tricks to teach your dog. After you teach your dog how to sit you can start teaching him how to shake hands. This can be done by saying the word “shake” while holding his paw and shaking it.

Be sure to reward him. If you repeat the word while you hold his paw he will start putting two and two together and associating the word with the action. Repeat the action everyday and he will be able to do it on command anytime you’d like him to.

Seeing a dog dance is also another amazing trick that you can teach. Since many dogs tend to jump on people that visit the house, by teaching your dog to dance you can bypass that unwanted behavior.

When your dog excitedly jumps up on you to play, gently hold his front legs. Then you can command him to “dance” a few times after which you should give him his treats.

Then when guests come over, have your dog dance rather than jump on them. Teaching a dog to dance is usually easier for owners of smaller sized dogs, and in fact, many small dogs can dance on their own without needing their owner to hold their front paws.

Finally, teaching your dog to fetch something is a time-honored tradition. Dogs can be taught to fetch items and will remember the various names for items.

This can be not only a fun trick, but a handy one if you’re unable to easily get things for yourself. You dog can learn to fetch all sorts of things by name – toy, ball, bone, newspaper, shoes, etc.

Start with one word, and really emphasize the word. When he’s consistent at fetching that item, you can add another word, and so on.

Take the time to teach your dog some cool tricks. Yes, they’re fun for you and you’re able to show off your dog, but your dog likes them too because you’re giving him tasks to do and quality time with you.