The world of dog training is really wide. This is due to the fact that dogs have a high learning capacity, which has allowed them to stay by our side over time, learning the most varied tasks. And it is that, whether your dog is a chihuahua or a German shepherd, his ability to learn is still latent.
Because of the above, teaching your dog different exercises is a fun way to stimulate him mentally, helping him to be a he althy and balanced dog. In this article on our site we want to show you step by step a few easy tricks for dogs that you can do with your partner.
Before we start with tricks for dogs
Teaching your dog tricks can be the most fun for you and a most entertaining and rewarding activity for your dog. But to do this, you must first take these points into account:
Plan the sessions well
Training sessions should be short in duration and with simple objectives If you wonder why, the reason is that you can get more out of it of a session of about 20 minutes, in which your dog is totally concentrated and motivated, than of one of a whole hour in which your dog will end up getting tired and distracted. In addition, during these sessions you should propose simple exercises that he can complete to gradually increase the difficulty. On the other hand, if you ask very difficult activities from the beginning, your dog will not understand you and will end up getting frustrated, which you want to avoid.
Find a tasty treat
Not all dogs are motivated in the same way by the same treats. In other words, one furry friend may love cheese, but another loses his head over ham. Knowing which reward motivates your animal the most will be key for it to learn quickly and be aware of you when you ask for something.
In the same way, the use of caresses is not usually recommended, since although your dog surely likes them a lot, they are not something special because he receives them every day regardless of whether or not you are teaching him something. Therefore, for him they do not have the same value as a piece of food that he never has within his reach.
Have a positive attitude
If one day you feel discouraged or lack strength, it is advisable to give yourself a break and not do any exercise with your dog. This is because in training sessions your attitude also acts as positive reinforcement for your dog. He is happy if you are and it is not consistent for him to see you sad while you reward him.
Be persistent and consistent
You must be constant in training your dog, perform the exercises several days a week, even for a short time, to make sure your dog internalizes them. In addition, you must be consistent, that is, be repetitive in terms of the signs and voice prompts that you give (which must be short words). It cannot be that one day you say "sit down" and another day "sit", since you will end up confusing him.
Make sure your dog is okay
Finally, if your dog suffers from any pain or pathology that prevents him from doing any exercise, keep it in mind. In turn, if you see that your dog's attitude is not the best, that is, if for some reason he is tired and not very receptive, give him a break that day so that the next day is full of energy and eager to learn.
See the Symptoms of a Sick Dog to learn how to identify them.
Trick 1: teach your dog to shake
The “shake hands” or “shakes hands” trick is relatively easy to teach a dog, even as a puppy. This is because you have probably noticed that your dog often rubs its paw against you to ask you for something, and it is precisely this natural behavior that puppies perform that you are going to take advantage of to start learning. Let's see what the procedure is:
- To start, you'll need to ask your dog to sit. Sit on your ankles or crouch so that you're level with himand you don't have to lean over him to get closer. In this way, you will avoid intimidating him (especially if he is a fearful dog).
- Next, show him that you have a prize in your hand and close it. You must also hide the other hand with another prize.
- Your dog will be tempted and will try to ask you for it (or directly try to take it away if he is very impatient), licking your hand and rubbing against you with paw.
- When your dog paws at your hand, reward instantly by opening your hand or giving him a treat with the other, so that you can never predict where the prize comes from. Don't forget to say affectionately "very good!" so that he sees you happy with him.
- If you see that your dog has understood the action, ask him for his paw with your open hand without the treat and give him the treat with the other. Also, Say the word “paw” or “hand” to associate the action with an oral instruction.
- You can teach him to give you both paws differently, that is, ask for the right or left paw. For this, you must first teach him to give you only one of his paws and assign him a specific word (for example "right") and, later, teach him to give the other paw in a different order.
There is also a second procedure to teach your dog this trick in case the first method fails. It consists of, once seated, you say the slogan "leg" or "hand" while you gently take their leg with one hand and give them a treat with the other. If you do it right, it will immediately understand and will raise its paw when you say the instruction and before you pick it up.
This second procedure, although apparently simpler, is better left as a second option. This is because dogs, as a general rule, prefer that we do not use physical manipulation on them. And, although it is obviously not traumatic for them to take the paw gently, the truth is that in training sessions it is always interesting that the dog learns to perform exercises by initiating the action, thus learning to behave reflexively. and collaborative, especially if later you want to teach more complex exercises.
To better see the trick, we leave you this video from our YouTube channel.
Trick 2: teach your dog to greet
If your dog already knows how to shake its paw, you can teach it to greet you with its paw. To achieve this goal you must follow these steps:
- Ask him to sit down and hide one of your hands with a treat.
- Ask him to give you his paw, but this time hold your hand a little higher so that he has to raise his paw to reach your hand.
- Little by little, increasing the height. Don't start from the beginning by asking him to raise his leg a lot, as he won't understand and will end up getting frustrated.
- As you get him to raise his paw in the form of a greeting, say the oral command “say hello” or “hello” while you make the gesture of greeting him.
Trick 3: Teach your dog to kiss you
This trick for dogs can be quite simple, since few dogs you will know that are not kissers! Basically, the goal is to get your dog to kiss you when you tell him to With this intention, what you will do is say a short word, like “kiss!”, every time he licks you on the cheek or, if you prefer that your dog does not lick you on the face, on one hand. Right on cue, reward him with praise, petting, and food.
Progressively, and if you are persistent, your dog will learn to associate the instruction with the action. No doubt, there will come a time when your dog hears “kiss”, he will immediately launch into a lick on your face. When he does, you should reward him effusively so that he sees that he has understood correctly.
Tip: if your dog is not very keen on kissing you (unusual but possible), you can always encourage him by putting some food like a bit of butter or the like to lick it off.
And if you wonder if it's bad to kiss your dog, don't miss this article: "Is it bad to kiss my dog?".
Trick 4: lying down and turning
To teach your dog to lie down, you must have first taught him to lie down. Next, the procedure to follow will be:
- Ask him to lie down on the floor and show him that you have a prize in one hand. Hide the other hand with another prize.
- Let her smell your closed hand with the prize inside and, little by little, move her so that she follows her.
- Now you'll need to move your hand over his torso as he follows you with his head. You will see how, little by little, he will incline his body towards the side to which you are guiding him, making him lie down.
- In the process, as he leans over, rewarding successively so that he doesn't lose interest and ask him for the oral instruction, for example “lie down”, so that it relates the action it is performing with the order.
- Progressively move away from him and modify your movement with your hand, so that he can associate your hand gesture with the order “lie down”.
To teach him to turn over on his own body, that is, to “make the croquette”, you must follow the same procedure as from lying down For this, once he is in this position, you will have his hand follow you, guiding him to the opposite side to the one he is lying on, so that he tilts his whole body to this side. In the process you must also use an oral command, such as “turn” or “croqueta”.
If you haven't taught your dog to lie down, don't miss this video.
Trick 5: Teach your dog to beg
This is one of the most complex tricks for dogs, but if you've managed to succeed with the previous ones, you can try to teach him. It consists of your dog standing on its two hind legs, maintaining a vertical posture. It should be noted that dogs are not anatomically prepared for this position and, although they can adopt it for a while, if you notice that your dog is in pain or has any pathology that could harm it (hips, for example), it is not recommended that you teach it., since your dog's well-being is more important.
For this exercise you must follow these steps:
- Ask him to sit down and show him that you have a treat in one hand, while hiding the other with another treat.
- Keep your hand above his nose, so your dog will have to try to get up to reach it.
- As soon as he tries to get up, even if he only raises one leg, give him a treat and praise him. Gradually increase the demands of the exercise.
- When your dog raises both front paws, gradually increase the amount of time he must hold this position before giving him the treat and gradually add the order “ask” or similar to relate it to the action.
- If he can't balance for a long time, try to help him for a while at first with something he can hold his legs up to get used to (it can be held on your leg if he's a small dog) and take it off little by little.
Don't get frustrated if you can't do it, as we have mentioned, not all dogs can or should do this exercise, since it requires an effort in the back that not all dogs can do, either because of their musculature or anatomy. So find another dog trick to teach him, there's a huge repertoire to try!
Watch your dog to teach him more tricks
You already know how to teach tricks for dogs, so don't hesitate to put them all into practice. Of course, it should be noted that many times to teach your dog a trick it is not necessary to complicate life very much. You have an infinite world of possibilities if you look at the natural behavior of your dog. For example, you can teach him to bark or yawn on command. How?, you ask. Well, in the same way that you can teach him to kiss you. In other words, to do this you must devise situations in which your dog can naturally carry out these behaviors and, before he does so, give him the oral command to reward him effusively after the action. If you are persistent and constant in your day to day, your dog will associate the slogan with the action and you will have managed to teach him a new trick.
Remember that throughout this learning process, positive reinforcement will always be your best ally. Likewise, we want to highlight that they are all tricks for small, large and medium dogs. Some of them can be difficult tricks for older dogs or, conversely, very young ones, so adapt them to your dog's circumstances.
