3 Easy Dog Tricks

Teaching your dog tricks does more than just give you a way to show off to your friends. By spending just a few minutes teaching these easy dog tricks you will be spending quality time with your pet. It's a great bonding time that is fun for both you and your pet. It's playtime together.

When teaching easy dog tricks, you must have some form of reward handy. A nutritional treat works well for this. It should be something your dog really likes. You'll also need a quiet place and about 10 minutes of free time. Try to keep any training to about 10 minutes. Any longer and your dog may become bored, and your efforts will prove counterproductive. You'll become frustrated and so will your pet. Remember you want to start out with easy dog tricks that he can be successful with quickly.

We'll start with perhaps the easiest of all, teaching your dog to offer you his paw on command. With your dog sitting, say the word "paw" or any other simple command you want to use. Just make sure you use the same command every time. As you say the word take his paw and give him the treat. Do this a few times. Now do it again, only this time don't take his paw immediately. Silently count to one before taking it. By now he should be starting to lift his paw as you give the command. If not, go back to taking the paw as you say the command. Slowly progress to waiting an extra second or two before taking the paw and giving the treat. Typically it will only take two or maybe 3 training sessions for your dog to learn this one.

For the next trick will simply build on the first one. We are now going to teach our dog to give us a "high five." Basically we'll be doing the same thing but holding the treat a little higher than we did in the previous trick. Your pet's natural assumption is that you want to do the paw trick again so he'll likely reach up for the treat. As he does so, simply say "high five" as you give it to him. If he has the first trick down this one will be learned quickly. And after a couple of sessions he'll probably be doing it based on your hand signal and no voice command will be needed.

For our final trick we are going to teach our pet how to jump through a hoop. Naturally you need a hoola hoop or something similar. Use some common sense here and don't start with the hoop way off the ground. The last thing you want is for your pet to hurt himself. Now, with your dog sitting on one side of the hoop, hold a treat on the other side to attract his attention. Release him from the sitting position. He will probably try to go under or around the hoop. If he does, go back to the beginning. Dogs are smart and he'll learn quickly that going around the hoop does not get him the treat. When he does go through it, say "hoop" or whatever your command may be and let him have the treat. It won't be long before he'll be jumping through when you say "hoop."

If you have a small dog, you may want to start with the hoop on the ground, then slowly lift it as he gets used to doing this trick. With a medium sized dog (a lab for instance), start with the hoop about six inches high and again, gradually raise it. It won't be too long before you're holding it waist high.

If you are serious about teaching your dog tricks and training him properly, you really should check out Dove Cresswell's Dog Training Online. Watch the free sample lesson to get a good feel of what it's like. We're convinced you'll love it, and we're just as sure your pet will too.