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.
Watch what your dog does for his own enjoyment. Does he leap into the air pursuing butterflies? Does he like to turn in circles chasing his tail? If some kind of impromptu behavior can be cultivated into an entertaining trick, that will shorten the training process. Be at the ready to use a fitting hand signal and voice command when this behavior is shown and then carry through with an immediate reward.
Some dogs have weight or diet concerns so don't go overboard with the food treats. Training with treats may be a reasonable way to get started and to reinforce your dog's attention and focus but eventually you want your dog reacting and doing tricks as a result of verbal directions, hand signs, and praise for a a completed and well done trick. Once the appropriate signal-command/reaction-trick interrelations are rooted and habitual the use of treats can be limited or finally stopped.
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.
An alternative way to get your dog's undivided attention when working on some tricks is to use a favorite toy. Using a tug toy or a ball your dog likes to play with, just outside of his reach, rapidly move it up and down encouraging him to jump while giving him the "jump" voice command. After repeating until he relates the command and hand signal with the act of jumping, dispose of the toy and use just your hand and the vocal command.
Capitalize on your dog's keen sense of smell... his capacity to recognize smells close up and at long distance is unbelievable. This incredible faculty can be used in teaching many 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 just a few feet away and little by little extend the distance or raise the difficulty in stages, for example placing the box in a different room or up on a shelf.
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.
The dog will usually have no hesitation to hand you their paw, and because of this you will sometimes be able to do the trick without saying anything. Sometimes you might actually have to lift their paw up for them, and even if this is the case then you'll still need to give the dog some praise so that they'll be willing to do it on their own next time.
Once a trick has been learned it's usually no trouble to augment it. "Give me five" can without difficulty be expanded into "sit up" by slowly lifting the paw so that the other paw will naturally raise up. By then haging on to both paws so that the dog is in a "sit up" position, vocalizing the command and rewarding with praise or a treat, he will, with repetition, draw the association.
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!
Related posts:
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- Easy Dog Tricks That Will Shock Your Friends
- Parrot Tricks To Learn In One Afternoon
- Crate Training Dogs
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