One of the great ways to put some excitement in your pet's life is to teach them some fun tricks. Trick training is known to stimulate your pet both physically and mentally, and it is also an excellent way to bond with your best friend and have some fun time. Training dogs is a snap if they know the essential obedience commands to "sleep," "sit," etc. You can train all breeds, including canines that are known to be a bit stubborn and less obedient than other breeds. At times you may need to have patience, determination, motivation, and use positive reinforcement.
Below are some general rules to keep in mind to get the most out of these training sessions.
Keep the session fun and engaging
Do not keep the sessions going for more than 10 minutes each
Don't do more than two sessions a day
Make sure you are in a good mood
Appreciate and praise the dog when it does well
Never get frustrated or use negative reinforcement
Always end the session with a bit of playtime (this will lead to your pet to look forward to the next session)
If you begin to feel angry, stop immediately
As we step into January, the National Train Your Dog Month, we talk about five easy tricks to teach your dog:
1. Roll Over
This is a cute trick that is fun and easy to teach. If your dog understands the "down" command, explaining how to rollover will be a breeze.
You need to put your dog in the "down" position. Now get a treat in your hand and let your dog sniff it without giving them the treat. The natural reaction for dogs will be to start rolling over to sniff the treat. In case they catch the treat, you will want to have another one handy, for the session to continue.
Practice this a few times, and you will see your dog rolling over in no time.
2. High Five
As your dog knows the "Shake" command, it's much simpler to teach them "High Five." Make sure you have some treats handy to reward them when they do well!
Start this training with the "shake" command, hold your palm out, and entice the little friend to touch your palm. As it hits your palm, say "high five." Do this a few times, and your dog will know how to give a high five.
3. Shake Hand
This is one of the cuter tricks your pup can learn quickly. Teaching how to shake hands is quite simple, as it is one of the most natural things to teach. Your dog knows naturally to paw at you if they want something.
When you begin, have a handful of treats in your hand. Show a closed fistful of treats to the little one, and they will be forced to paw at your hand. Once they start to paw, start saying "shake", repeat this process several times, and you will notice your dog has learned a brand new trick.
4. Fetch
This would require some patience, as you would notice that some dogs won't cooperate. Some dogs don't want to fetch, some don't want to come back after fetching, or don't want to release the object after coming back.
To begin, have your dog's favorite toy in hand. Throw the toy at a reasonable distance, so the dog is interested in fetching and bringing it back. If you throw the toy too far, they may give up on fetching it. As your pup starts chasing the object, keep cheering for them, and they will fetch it and bring it back to you.
5. Hug
There's nothing more adorable than a dog that knows how to hug. Now maybe you are hugging your dog, but imagine how heart-warming it will be if your pup hugs you back.
To start, give your dog the sit command. Make sure they are sitting in a square position and not leaning on either side. Now, slowly lift the dog's paws gently and place them on your shoulder and say "hug." After a few seconds, say "okay," which indicates that they should sit now.
We hope this was helpful and informational. If you're interested in getting a 'health-happiness' checkup scheduled for your little pup, call Us Today to book your appointment or use our online scheduling tool.