For the most part dogs are enthusiastic to do what their owners want and try their best to please when it comes to receiving a reward for doing so. These are dog tendencies that need to be used when it comes time to teach them tricks. It makes sense to take advantage of their natural predilections. By building on these natural 'dog' attributes and behaviors in combination with rewards to develop pet tricks, the operation becomes easier than trying to teach a trick from square one.

Watch what your dog does for his own amusement. Does he spring into the air pursuing butterflies? Does he like to lay on his back with his feet in the air? If some kind of instinctive behavior can be fostered into an enjoyable trick, that will quicken the training process. Be ready to use a fitting hand motion and verbal command when this behavior is demonstrated and then follow with an instantaneous reward.

For most dogs there are dietary requirements that you'll need to pay mind to, and bearing that in mind you shouldn't actually give your dog an excessive amount of treats. Treats are a great way to get started, but later on the hand signals and some praise will suffice. When you get everything down pat, you can decrease the amount of treats or stop giving them period.

For the most part dogs learn very fast and they'll understand that a treat waits for them so long as they perform the trick when you give the command. Sometimes you might have to improvise, so for example after you teach them "down" you might from that position teach them "play dead", and you'll have to get the dog to associate the new command with the additional trick. After a bit of training you can use other commands such as "stay", "come", and even "sit" and add on tricks from those starting points.

Another way to get your dog's undivided attention when working on some tricks is to utilize a favorite toy. Using a tug toy or a ball your dog likes to play with, just out of his reach, rapidly move it up and down coaxing him to jump at the same time giving him the "jump" vocal command. After repeating until he relates the command and hand motion with the act of jumping, dispose of the toy and just utilize your hand and the vocal command.

Your dog's ability to smell is a huge factor in the training. One thing that you can do is play a little game with your dog that involves hiding a favorite toy or treat and then having them find it. You can start out by putting the toy in a close location so that it's easy for them to find the object, and when they become more adept at that you can hide it farther away so that they have to work for it. After a while you will be able to use this as a viable trick to entertain your dog as well as any guests that you might have.

Having your dog give you a high five is also great, and the good news is it's not a hard trick for a dog to pull off. The majority of dogs will just hand you their paw as soon as you show them your hand, but for those that don't there might be a little more work involved. You may need to teach them several times, and make sure you give them a treat every time they do it properly so that they know there's an actual reason to do it for you!

Quite often the dog will present you his paw at once. With some dogs you will have to help them get the idea by elevating their paw whilst using the verbal command. Bear in mind the need to praise even if you have to elevate his paw into position, then lower the paw back down and repeat.

After a trick has been taught it's simple to augment it. "Give me five" can without difficulty be expanded into "sit up" by slowly elevating the paw so that the other foot will spontaneously raise up. By then holding both feet so that the dog is in a "sit up" position, vocalizing the command and rewarding with praise or a treat, he will, with repetition, connect the dots.

Training a dog can be fun, and it has a few other benefits as well. By training your dog and spending time with him or her you will create a strong bond. You and your dog will become very close and you both will be a lot happier!

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