Teaching Dog Tricks The Easy Way

By Andrew Strachan

If you were to ask what the quickest and easiest method was for teaching your dog a new trick, the answer would be - work with the nature of your dog, not against it. What we mean here is that you should look at what tricks your dog naturally does, or look for a dog trick in the making, like naturally putting a paw on your knee or rolling over etc.

If you choose a dog trick that naturally occurs, half your work is already done. Your dog will probably be eager to please as most dogs are and should therefore respond well to rewards. You can build on this to reinforce your dogs’ natural ability rather than starting an entirely new dog trick.

Which Dog Trick Do You Choose?

Observe your dog and watch out for a potential dog trick. This may be something as simple as crawling along on its belly to, catching a Frisbee or a ball. As soon as your dog performs one of its natural tricks, associate it with a hand gesture or verbal command and then reward your dog with its favorite treat. It wont be long before your dog learns the procedure.

Eventually over time, you will be able to cut back on the rewards until your dog will perform the dog trick with just the hand gesture or verbal command such as fetch or go get. Now that the new trick is firmly lodged in your dogs head, you will be able to build on it.

For example, if you have taught your dog to catch a Frisbee, how about increasing the distance that he will catch it from, or throw two Frisbee’s one after the other. Get your dog to catch one, drop it and then run for the other!

Popular Dog Tricks

Some of the most popular dog tricks are sit and come etc. These are pretty simple to teach. To teach your dog to sit, with your dog standing firmly press on its hind quarters directly above its back legs whilst at the same time saying the word Sit quite assertively but NOT shouting. Most dogs will naturally sit. At this point, heap lots of praise on your dog and then give them a treat. After several repetitions of this, your dog will soon learn what Sit means. Do not try this on older dogs that may have arthritis in their hind legs or hips.

If your dog does not sit when told, NEVER scold it. Just ignore it and try again another time. Otherwise your dog will associate Sit with being scolded. If your dog persistently fails to sit, try another trick.

Each dog has different talents.

To teach your dog to come is simple. When your dog is at a distance, say loudly but not shouting Come here or Come. This will usually get your dogs attention. Repeat the statement Come on, Come here. Most untrained dogs at this point will probably look away and carry on with whatever it was doing.

At this point walk up to your dog but keep within around 5 feet away. Say Come here. Your dog will probably now come to you. When he does, its time for a lot of praise and a treat. Repeat this but increase the distance that your dog has to walk towards you more each time. Eventually, your dog will instinctively come to you whenever it hears you shout Come here, from any distance.

Again, if your dog fails to come to you, DO NOT scold it. I once got asked "Why wont my dog come to me?” On further investigation I found out that every time the dog ran away and then failed to come back, the owners would scold the dog when they got hold of it again. WRONG! The dog started to associate the command Come here with a scolding. Totally the opposite. No wonder the dog failed to come to command.

Another dog trick you can try is Paw. This involves saying Paw then gently lifting the dogs paw with your hand followed by lots of praisetreats. After a while saying Paw will cause your dog to raise its paw. You can extend this to two paws where your dog Sits pretty on its haunches.

Another trick is Speak. This usually works best with a naturally vocal dog. Every time your dog howls or makes a funny noise, praise the dog whilst saying the command Speak. Eventually your dog will speak on command.

Teaching your dog a new dog trick should be a fun experience for both of you, and will give you lots of quality time together. Enjoy!

Article by Andrew Strachan. Find out more about dog behavior training and types of dogs at http://www.types-of-dogs.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Strachan

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Dog Training Teaching Command Words

Command words:

Make your command words have meaning. Dogs have the ability to learn a lot of language. It is important to know that when you begin your obedience program you save certain command words to be used only when the dog is on leash and when you are planning on backing up the command should it fail. The reason being is that you want these words to have a lot of meaning to your dog. If you tell your dog to come while they are off-leash somewhere (before they have been off-leash trained) and they do not come you have just destroyed the meaning of that word to your dog because they know you cannot catch them. You can of course use these command words off-leash after you have completed the obedience program and have a dog that is off-leash trained. But when your dog is just now learning the words they have to have a serious meaning to them.

Bottom line is that if you want your dog to listen to that command you would have had to very consistently made that command have meaning. In order for that command to have meaning you begin to use that word only when they are on-leash and you are doing a training session and teaching them in that moment. Use another word to call your dog to you should you find yourself in the early stages of training and your dog is off-leash but not yet trained well. For example, say something like: "hey pup" to get your dog to come rather then use the word "come" because we are saving that word for use only when we have our dog on-leash to back up the word should they not come. That way, whenever they hear the word "come" they know that that is a serious word that they ALWAYS have to come for, no exceptions.

When we use our command words only for the times that we are going to make sure that command is completed then we have now made those words have a lot of meaning to our dogs.

Commands where you say dogs name first. You always want to say your dogs name to gain their attention onto you before saying the following Commands: (because here you are asking them to do something so you want to gain their attention and keep their name positive)

1. "Sit"

2. "Down" (this is for laying down, not for jumping on you)

3. "Stay"

4. "Come"

For example if your dogs name is Fido, you would say, "Fido, Sit".

Commands you do not say the dogs name first DO NOT say the dogs name when disciplining or trying to stop a behavior because you do not want the dog to associate their name in a negative way:

5. For example...say "Quiet!" When trying to stop barking but do not say name first.

6. Say "Off"! When dog is jumping on you.

7. "Leave it"- use this command for things you NEVER want your dog to take in its mouth.

Adding words to the "No" command.

It is a good idea to add words to your no commands so that you are not only saying the word no. Examples: "No Bite" "No Chew" "No Sniff"

Other Commands:

"Give"- say this command when you want your dog to drop something from their mouth and give to you.

"Release"- this command is used when you are telling your dog it is ok to end their obedience and they can be free until you ask them for something again. This is a very important command because it distinguishes between when they are to be serious and listening to your commands and when the lesson has ended. (I have a whole article on this for you to read on my website: www.webdogtrainer.com)

Dogs can learn many words so keep them challenged by adding more and more. You can give all your dogs toys, balls, bones, etc. names. When giving your dog the item, make sure you use a name to describe it every time so they can learn it. For example: "Find your chew bone!" "Go get your duck". "Get your ball". "Find your Kong".

Have fun with your dog and teach them lots of language!

Julie Bjelland Lokhandwala is founder of webDogTrainer, LLC. and has created the interactive Online Dog Training Guide and Consultation http://www.webdogtrainer.com

You can ask Julie any dog question!

"Julie had an immediately calming effect on us as dog owners. She can explain the canine perspective and how we as humans can interact with our dog in a positive way, even when disciplining. Julie was super patient with all of our questions and even fielded our email questions after training ended," said Sina and Ed of Fremont, California.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Julie_Bjelland_Lokhandwala

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