Talk About It
Dogs are usually high strung and are eager to do whatever the owner wants. Dogs are happiest when they have something to do, and even more so when they actually receive some sort of treat for having done it. These are things that you’re going to want to use to your advantage as you try to teach them to do different tricks. The things that they do naturally can be very useful in teaching them to do new things. These habits that they have developed along with the treats that you give them make it a lot easier to train a dog.
Watch what your dog does for his own amusement. Does he jump into the air pursuing butterflies? Does he like to turn in circles chasing his tail? If some kind of casual behavior can be expanded into a clever trick, that will shorten the training process. Be in readiness to use a fitting hand motion and verbal command when this behavior is shown and then follow with an immediate reward.
It’s important to not feed your dog an excessive number of treats. If you feed them too many you risk them either becoming sick, obese, or immune to the treat if you know what I’m saying. Treats will be good in the beginning, but you need to slowly wean your dog off of these treats so that he or she will do the tricks after seeing your hand signal or receiving the verbal command.
Most dogs don’t take very long to get the hang of it because they recognize quickly that when they do the trick they get the treat. This makes the training pretty simple, and you can use simple commands as a gateway to other tricks. One example might be using the command ‘down’ instead of ‘play dead’. This will be a good starting point, and eventually you can move on to ‘play dead’. ’stay’, ‘come’, and ’sit’ will also come naturally to the dog once a little bit of practice is done.
Another way to get your dog to pay close attention while you are trying to perfect tricks is to use their favorite toy. You can dangle this close to your dog’s nose and say ‘jump’. It may take a few minutes, but the dog will soon realize that the word ‘jump’ means…well…jump. After a while you won’t even need the toy.
Your dog’s ability to smell is a huge factor in the training. One thing that you can do is play a little game with your dog that involves hiding a favorite toy or treat and then having them find it. You can start out by putting the toy in a close location so that it’s easy for them to find the object, and when they become more adept at that you can hide it farther away so that they have to work for it. After a while you will be able to use this as a viable trick to entertain your dog as well as any guests that you might have.
Do you want your dog to shake hands? The best way to train for this trick is to utilize your dog’s attachment to you as his owner and possibly his natural behavior of offering you his paw. You can stimulate this by kneeling in front of your dog, presenting your “paw” and speaking the command “shake”, “high five”, “give me five”, “five”, or whatever command you think up to apply. When he reacts correctly, reward him with accolades or a treat. He will rapidly get the idea.
Sometimes you may find that the dog doesn’t lift its pay when you want it to, in which case you’ll have to resort to other measures. You’ll have to physically lift their paw, but make sure you praise them and give them a treat. After a while they’ll do it immediately without you lifting the paw as long as they know there is a treat for them.
Once you’ve taught your dog a few tricks, there are some other things that you can do. Once you teach them to give you five, you can extend it into telling them to ’sit up’. You can lift the paw slowly, and the other one will rise up by reflex, and then the dog will actually be sitting up. Make sure you reward the dog with a treat after you do this.
Training a dog can be fun, and it has a few other benefits as well. By training your dog and spending time with him or her you will create a strong bond. You and your dog will become very close and you both will be a lot happier!
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Posted in Dogs · November 10th, 2009 · Comments (0)
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