Dog Training - Pet Tricks Training

Dogs are usually high strung and are eager to do whatever the owner wants. Dogs are happiest when they have something to do, and even more so when they actually receive some sort of treat for having done it. These are things that you’re going to want to use to your advantage as you try to teach them to do different tricks. The things that they do naturally can be very useful in teaching them to do new things. These habits that they have developed along with the treats that you give them make it a lot easier to train a dog.

See what your dog does for recreation, and then determine whether or not you can use any of it to your advantage. If there is something they do that looks like it could be a decent trick then some of the work is already done for you. When you see your dog doing something that might be considered cute, use a hand signal for that particular action, and then give them a treat. The dog will then know that when they do that act after a hand signal there will be a treat, and therefore they will be quite eager to do it whenever you want.

Some dogs have weight or diet concerns so don’t over do it with the food treats. Providing treats may be a reasonable way to get started and to encourage your dog’s attention and focus but eventually you want your dog reacting and executing tricks based on verbal directives, hand motions, and praise for a a completed and well done trick. Once the correct signal-command/reaction-trick interrelations are established and habitual the use of treats can be decreased or totally terminated.

Most dogs don’t take very long to get the hang of it because they recognize quickly that when they do the trick they get the treat. This makes the training pretty simple, and you can use simple commands as a gateway to other tricks. One example might be using the command ‘down’ instead of ‘play dead’. This will be a good starting point, and eventually you can move on to ‘play dead’. ’stay’, ‘come’, and ’sit’ will also come naturally to the dog once a little bit of practice is done.

You can try using a favorite toy in the training, and you can do this pretty easily. Hold their toy close to their nose, and then command the dog to jump. The dog will jump, and though it won’t understand at first, it will soon come to realize that “jump” means jump. There will come a time when you don’t even require the toy to get the dog to jump, you can just use the verbal command and/or hand signal.

Take advantage of your dog’s perceptive sense of smell… his ability to distinguish smells close by and at long distance is fascinating. This incredible capacity can be utilized in training varied types of “hide-and-seek” tricks and games. Again, using a favorite plaything or chew ball, hide it under a box or other object. Start-off close by and slowly stretch out the distance or increase the difficulty in stages, for instance placing the box in a different room or up on a chair.

What about giving you five? That’s a great trick for a dog, and it’s actually pretty easy. Most dogs have a tendency to give you their paw immediately, and you can show them your hand or “paw”, and then say ‘high five’ as they give you theirs. After a while this will become second nature to them, but at first you will need to reinforce this behavior using a treat.

Quite often the dog will offer you his paw immediately. With some dogs you will need to help them catch on by lifting their paw whilst using the verbal command. Remember to praise even if you have to elevate his paw into position, then place the paw back down and repeat.

Once you’ve taught your dog a few tricks, there are some other things that you can do. Once you teach them to give you five, you can extend it into telling them to ’sit up’. You can lift the paw slowly, and the other one will rise up by reflex, and then the dog will actually be sitting up. Make sure you reward the dog with a treat after you do this.

Of course there are many different types of training. A lot of it is for behavior manipulation, safety, appropriate house manners, and so forth. Developing tricks is for you and your dog’s pleasure, relaxation, and to help fortify the relationship between you.

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