Dog Training: Train Your Dog Some Tricks

• Dog Training- Teach your dog some tricks
  By: Brittany Chesley
   
  Training your dog some tricks is always a fun activity for both you and your pets. Here are a few simple tricks you can teach with just using treats and your dogs! Stay tuned with our dog blog for more training posts in the future
  Sit:
  Probably the most common and easiest tricks to train your dog is sit. It’s a great way to teach them patience and can use sit for many different scenarios.
  Here’s how to train this command:
  • Get on your dog’s level, you can sit on the floor or on your knees. If your dog is large, standing is fine.
  • Have a treat and hold it close to their nose and draw your hand up over their head. As their nose follows the treat, they will sit.
  • Once dog has sat, immediately reward them with the treat and telling them good job.
    Here is an example from Howcast:

• Stay:
  Teaching your dog to stay is a trick you want to teach after mastering sit or lay down. Once those tricks are down though, you can begin teaching your dog to stay put as you move around the room.
  Here’s how to train this command:
  • Have your dog sit or lay down for you and reward with treat
  • Take a step back and giving some distance, if they got up from position you left them in have them get back in that position before rewarding. Once they maintain the position you commanded (sit or lay down) while you step back and forward again, you can reward them.
  • Practice a few times and each time getting further in distance, also adding a command or hand signal.
    Here’s an example on Howcast:
    

• Hold treat on nose:
  This trick can be a fun one but will take patience. Your dog should already have practiced patience and self-control to help speed up this process.
  Here’s how to train this trick:
  • Have your dog sit for you
  • Once sitting, place hand under chin and holding snout steady
  • Place treat on snout and use your command, a good one is “leave it”
  • Leave treat for just a second to start and say “okay” to let them eat the treat.
  • Once they get that down, you can leave the treat for longer periods of time, this will take time and patience though.
     
     Here’s an example from Trick my Pup:
    

• Dance in a circle:
  Here is another fun trick you can teach and show off to your other dog lovers! This again will take repetition and patience as your dog learns this command.
  Here’s how to train this trick:
  • Have your dog in a sitting position, leer them up by having a treat in your hand and raising it up above their head. If they raised up give them a treat
  • Practice that a few times and then try it without contact, having them stand up by just your hand movement. If they perform this action, reward them
  • You can then have them stand for longer periods, and they will start walking around. Move in baby steps to get to longer periods of stance.
  • To get them to dance in a circle, start moving the treat in a circular motion above their head
    Here’s an example from Howcast:

• Play dead:
  This trick is a big hit, and everyone loves to watch you command your dog to play dead. Your pup should already know how to sit and lay down to train this trick.
  Here’s how to train this command:
  • Start by having your dog lay down and reward them for doing so
  • You will then move their body onto their side while giving the command “play dead” and rewarding them for staying stationary in that position
  • Be patient, and eventually try this without using your hands and just the command. Reward them if they complete the action
    Here’s an example from Howcast:
    

We hope you are able to try some of these tricks and get your pups to master them!

Have comments or suggestions? I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment or contact me for any suggestions you have for me to post, this blog is for your entertainment and knowledge!