Dog Tricks

Teach these Fun and Cool Dog Tricks


dog tricksIt's easy to teach your dog tricks once you have built a solid connection with them and they see you as a leader. It's a lot more enjoyable than trying to teach your dog good habits while avoiding bad behavior. However, you need to do that before you attempt to do any tricks. Once you get to that point though, the tricks that you teach your dog will strengthen your bond with them ever more! It will keep them pretty happy and healthy all the time, too.

Do You Have to Teach Your Dog Tricks?

You definitely are not required to teach your dog how to do tricks like shaking or rolling over. The main reasons to do them is to spend some quality time with them, build a stronger bond, and to have fun. Dogs can be quite happy if they never do any tricks though. Regular dog obedience training is necessary, but beyond that it's really up to you.

There are a lot of other great reasons for teaching tricks, and they involve building up the confidence of your dog. The more confident your dog is, the happier they will be, the more secure they will feel, and the safer they will be around other people and animals. Plus, it's fun to be able to show people how smart our dogs are and what we have accomplished with them.

Did you know that you can use tricks as a way to calm down dogs that are really hyper? People that routinely walk their dogs and play with them but still find their dog never slows down know how tiring it can be to have a pet with limitless energy. When you practice tricks, it takes a lot of mental concentration in addition to the physical things you are having them do, and this will make them quite a bit more relaxed. For some people, that is reason enough to teach tricks!

The last way that you can benefit from teaching your dog tricks is using them as a way to correct problem behavior. One example would be if your dog always wants to jump on people when they visit or bark at them, you can tell them to do a trick to distract them. Anyone that was scared of or nervous about your dog will feel at ease when they see him or her doing a silly trick!

How to Get Started Teaching Dog Tricks

There is actually an easy step by step way to start teaching your dog how to do tricks. It follows the same patter as obedience training. You need to make your sessions short, focused, and very fun. You need to start with simple things and build on them as time goes on. And as always, you need to stay consistent and practice repetition.

You will really use all the skills that you have learned while trying to teach your dog obedience. You need to make sure that you us positive reinforcement, rewards, and praise whenever he or she does the right thin, and you need to give your dog instant feedback. That is how they learn best, after all! You'll have to be patient throughtout the process, as scaring or intimidating your dog will only cause them to lose focus, worry, and get confused.
 
If you haven't already check out our articles on clicker training and how to properly condition your dog, you should go see read those now. They'll help to get you in the right mindset before you begin training.

Do You Need Anything to Teach Dog Tricks?

You don't actually NEED any special tools if you want to teach your dog how to do tricks. If you are on a budget don't think you need to spend money to do these things. Tools like a clicker and treats can help, but they are definitely not mandatory. You will probably be quite a bit more successful by using a clicker along with tasty treats, especially if you have never taught a dog to do tricks before, and they are not expensive to buy. Consider getting them, and that will help to motivate you to work at it each day.

Fun Dog Tricks to Try

Teach a Dog to Shake - Showing your dog how to shake their paw with your hand is one of the first tricks you should learn. It's very easy to teach and your pet will pick it up quickly. Once they have mastered shaking, you can move on to more advanced tricks!

Teach a Dog to Roll Over - Teaching a dog to roll over is a great trick because it's challenging but it's also really impressive to show to friends and family. Once you get your dog to the point that they will roll over when you tell them to, you'll know that you are becoming a skilled trainer.

Teach a Dog to Play Dead - This is a classic trick that everyone is familiar with but most people don't even know hot to teach their dog to do it! With this simple guide, you'll learn the step by step approach to showing your pet how to play dead with a verbal command and a visual one.

Teach a Dog to Speak - You would think that you would have to be an expert to teach a dog how to speak, but that is not the case! It is actually a very simple command, and once you check out this guide, you will get your dog to bark whenever you tell them to! It's a fun thing to show off to others.

Tricks to Teach Your Dog - Need a concise list of some of the tricks you can teach your dog? If you do, you will appreciate this article. It has tips for the main tricks that you should start teaching your dog, and it gives you some quick tips for how to start doing them all.


 

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