Dog Tricks

Although teaching your dog tricks may seem like a difficult task, it doesn’t have to be. The main words you need to keep in mind before getting started are consistency and reinforcement. Some dogs have a better trainability rate, which means they might not need as much consistency as other dogs that are a bit more independent or strong willed. But all dogs thrive off of reinforcement and consistency when it comes to dog tricks.

With this in mind, it is important to remember that a puppy or young dog may be easier to train than old dogs, but that the old saying, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” isn’t always true either. It may just take a little more time, patience and consistency to teach an older dog trick training, but they can be taught. Remember that while younger dogs are easier at teaching tricks to, starting when puppies are too young might make it difficult as they are still in the playful mindframe and might not adjust well to learning tricks.

Starting To Teach Tricks

Of course dogs will also pick up on some these cool tricks easier than others. One dog that learns “sit” within a few days may take months to learn to be dependable at stay or heel. Sit is usually the easiest of the dog tricks to learn, so this should be one of the first you start with.

In order to begin teaching your dog to sit, you will want to place your hand on their lower back or butt region right above their tail. Place light pressure on the lower back, which will force them to sit down onto their hind legs. As they are doing this, speak the word “sit” with a clear, assertive voice. You will want to continue this gesture every time you want them to sit, until you feel you can move to standing in front of your pet and telling them to sit without touching their lower back.

Moving On To More Difficult Tricks

Once they have grasped sit without hesitation, you can move on to teaching a dog to stay, heel or come. Stay and come are a bit more difficult, although they are still considered fairly easy dog tricks to teach, as long as the owner or trainer has patience.

While heel may seem as easy as pulling on the leash to make your dog stay next to you, heel should actually teach your dog to stand next to your side while walking without being pulled by the leash. In order to train your dog to heel, it is best to practice with a non-retractable leash. This way you don’t give them too much lead. Grab the lead close to the collar and hold the dog near your side. As the dog tries to tug on the leash, as he will probably be excited about a walk, simply command him to “heel.” If the dog continues to pull the leash, make him stop altogether and stand by your side, as you do this, continue to repeat the phrase “heel” to let him know that this behavior is a heel. If he heels, you will praise him for his behavior and continue on with your walk.

In order to get started with stay, you will need to get the dog into a sitting position and then place something in front of them that the dog would be tempted to run after. This could be a ball or a favorite squeaky toy or could even be the owner, which they would almost always run towards. It will work best if someone is standing in front of the dog and someone else stays nearby the dog. The best method is to speak the word “stay” while also placing your hand up or leaving your hand on them in order to let them know that they should not go anywhere. You may also want to try leash training them for the first few times you command them to “stay.”

Of course if they don’t stay, then you will want to tell them “no” and have them return to sit and repeat the process. If they stay, then they should be praised to let them know they have done well. The opposite of stay will of course be “come” and you can integrate these two together by saying “come” once you feel it is okay for them to get up and move towards you. If you praise them or shake a favorite toy at them as they come your way, they will follow more easily the next few times.

Things You Should Not Do

Although it may seem easy to reinforce a good sit, heel or stay with a treat, doing so will almost always reinforce to the dog that their dog tricks will always be rewarded with a treat. This leaves the owner or trainer in a position of finding an animal that may later require a treat in order to perform tricks. Instead, it is best to simply praise the dog with a pat on the head, a rub around the neck or a high pitched “good boy” to let them know you are proud of their behavior.

It is also best not to use multiple word commands or different commands when you begin teaching your dog a trick. Dogs almost always learn a dog trick by the pitch of an owner’s voice, which can most easily be ascertained by a simple one or two syllable word. So stick with commands like “sit,” “stay,” “come,” or “heel” instead of “sit down” or “stay here.”

Another important factor to keep in mind when working with word commands is to remember not to say the dog’s name before introducing the command. The first thing a dog or puppy learns is his or her name so if you command “Buster, sit,” they will pay attention to their name instead of paying attention to the command that follows. Make it as simple and clear as possible to the dog, and this will ensure they learn the dog tricks more quickly and consistently.

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