Easy Dog Tricks – Step by Step

The world of dog training is really vast. This is due to the fact that dogs have a high capacity for learning, which has allowed them over time to remain by our side, learning the most varied tasks. And, whether your dog is a Chihuahua or a German shepherd, his ability to learn is still latent.

Therefore, teaching your dog different exercises is a fun way to mentally stimulate him, helping him to be a healthy and balanced dog. In this article we want to teach you step by step a few easy tricks for dogs that you can perform with your partner.

Before you start with dog tricks

Teaching your dog tricks can be the most fun for you and a most entertaining and rewarding activity for your dog. But for this, first, you must take these points into account:

Plan your sessions well

Training sessions should be short in duration and with simple objectives. If you wonder why, the reason is that you can get more out of a session of about 20 minutes, in which your dog is fully concentrated and motivated, than of an entire hour in which your dog will end up getting tired and distracted. In addition, during these sessions you should propose simple exercises that they can do so that, little by little, the difficulty increases. Conversely, if you ask very difficult activities from the beginning, your dog will not understand you and will end up frustrated, which you want to avoid.

Look for a succulent prize

Not all dogs are motivated in the same way by the same rewards. I mean, one hairy guy may love cheese, but another loses her head over ham. Knowing which prize motivates your animal the most will be key so that it learns quickly and is aware of you when you ask for something.

In the same way, the use of caresses is usually not recommended, since although your dog surely likes them a lot, they are not something special because he receives them every day regardless of whether or not you are teaching him something. Therefore, they do not have the same value to him as a piece of food that is never available to him.

Have a positive attitude

If one day you are discouraged or you lack strength, it is advisable that you take a break and do not do any exercise with your dog. This is because in the training sessions your attitude also acts as a positive reinforcement for your dog. He is happy if you are and it is not consistent for him to see you sad while rewarding him.

Be persistent and consistent

You must be constant in educating your dog, doing the exercises several days a week, even for a short time, to ensure that your dog internalizes them. In addition, you must be consistent, that is, be repetitive in terms of the signs and voice prompts you give (which should be short words). It cannot be that one day you say “sit” and another day “sit”, since you will end up confusing him.

Make sure your dog is okay

Finally, if your dog suffers from any pain or pathology that prevents him from exercising, keep that in mind. In turn, if you see that your dog’s attitude is not the best, that is, if for some reason he is tired and not very receptive , give him a break that day so that the next day he is full of energy and eager to learn.

Trick 1: teach your dog to paw

The trick of “shaking hands” or “shaking hands” is relatively easy to teach a dog, even as a puppy. This is because you have probably noticed that your dog brushes you with his paw many times to ask you for something, and it is precisely this natural behavior that puppies perform that you will take advantage of to start learning. Let’s see what the procedure is:

1. To begin, you will need to ask your dog to sit down. Sit on your ankles or squat down, so that you are level with him and you don’t have to lean your body over him to get closer. In this way, you will avoid intimidating him (especially if he is a fearful dog).
2. Next, show him that you have a prize in your hand and close it. You must also hide the other hand with another prize.
3. Your dog will be tempted and will try to ask you for it(or will directly try to take it away if he is very impatient), licking your hand and brushing his paw.
4. When your dog touches your hand with his paw, reward him instantly by opening your hand or giving him a treat with the other, so that he can never predict where the treat is coming from. Don’t forget to affectionately say “very good!” so that he sees you happy with him.
5. If you see that your dog has understood the action, ask him for the paw with your open hand without the treat and give him the treat with the other. Also, say the word “leg” or “hand”so that he can relate the action to an oral command.
6. You can teach him to give you both legs differently, that is, ask him for the right or left leg. For this, you must first teach him to give you only one of the legs and assign him a specific word (for example “right”) and then teach him to give the other leg in a different order.

There is also a second procedure to teach this trick to your dog if the first method does not succeed. It consists in that, once seated, you say the slogan “leg” or “hand” at the same time that you gently hold their leg with one hand and give them a prize with the other. If you do it right, he will understand it immediately and will lift his leg when you tell him the slogan and before you take it.

This second procedure, although it may seem simpler, is best left as a second option. This is because dogs, as a general rule, prefer that we not use physical manipulation on them. And, although it is obviously not traumatic for them to grasp its paw gently, the truth is that in training sessions it is always interesting for the dog to learn to perform exercises by initiating the action himself, thus learning to behave reflectively and collaborative, especially if you later want to teach him more complex exercises.

Trick 2: teach your dog to say hello

If your dog already knows how to give the paw, you can teach him to greet you with it. To achieve this goal you must follow these steps:

1. Ask him to sit down and hide one of your hands with a treat.
2. Ask him to give you the paw, but this time, place your hand slightly elevated, so that he has to raise his paw to reach your hand.
3. Little by little, increase the height. Do not start from the beginning by asking him to raise his leg a lot, since he will not understand it and will end up frustrated.
4. As you manage to raise the leg in the form of greeting, say the oral slogan “say hello” or “hello” while you make the gesture of greeting.

Trick 3: teach your dog to kiss you

This trick for dogs can be quite simple, since few dogs you will know that are not kissing! Basically, the goal is to get your dog to kiss you when you tell him to. With this intention, what you will do is say a short word to him, such as “kiss!” Each time he licks you on the cheek or, if you prefer that your dog does not lick you on the face, on one hand. Right at the moment, reward him with praise, petting, and food.

Progressively, and if you are persistent, your dog will learn to relate the slogan with the action. Undoubtedly, there will come a time when your dog hears “kiss”, he will immediately lick your face. When he does, you should reward him effusively so that he sees that he has understood it correctly.

• Tip: if your dog is not very keen on giving you kisses (unusual but possible), you can always encourage him by putting some food such as a little butter or similar to lick it.

Trick 4: lie down and turn

To teach your dog to lie down, you must have first taught him to lie on the ground. Next, the procedure to follow will be:

1. Ask him to lie on the floor and show him that you have a prize in one hand. Hide the other hand with another prize.
2. Let him smell your closed hand with the prize inside it and, little by little, move it so that it follows it.
3. Now, you should move your hand over his torso as he follows you with his head. You will see how, little by little, the body will tilt towards the side to which you are guiding it, making it lie down.
4. In the process, as he leans forward, reward successively so that he does not lose interest and ask him for the oral instruction, for example “lie down”, so that he relates the action he is taking with the order.
5. Progressively, move away from him and modify your movement with the hand, so that he can relate the gesture of your hand with the command “lie down.”

To teach him to roll over on his own body, that is, to “make the croquette”, you must follow the same procedure from lying down. For this, once he is in this position, you will have him follow your hand, guiding him to the opposite side of the one he is lying down, so that he leans his whole body to this side. In the process, you should also use an oral order, such as “back” or “croquette”.

Trick 5: teach your dog to ask

This is one of the more complex dog tricks, but if you have managed to get away with the previous ones, you can try to teach it. It consists of your dog standing on its two hind legs, staying in an upright posture. It should be noted that dogs are not anatomically prepared for this position and, although they may adopt it for a while, if you observe that your dog is in pain or has any pathology that may harm him (hips, for example), it is not recommended that you teach it. , since the well-being of your dog is more important.

For this exercise you must follow these steps:

1. Ask him to sit down and show him that you have a prize in one hand, while hiding the other with another prize.
2. Keep your hand above his nose so your dog will have to try to get up to reach it.
3. As soon as he tries to get up, even if he just raises a single leg, give him a treat and praise him. Increase the demand for exercise progressively.
4. When your dog raises its two front legs, increase the time it must stay like this before giving the prize and add the command “ask” or similar to relate it to the action.
5. If he can’t balance for a long time, try to help him for a while at first with an object that he can keep his legs up with to get used to (it can be held on your leg if he’s a small dog) and gradually remove it.

Do not be frustrated if it does not succeed, as we have said, not all dogs can or should perform this exercise, since it requires an effort on the back that not all dogs can do, either due to their muscles or anatomy. So, find another dog trick to teach him – there’s a great repertoire to try!

Observe your dog to teach him more tricks

You already know how to teach tricks for dogs, so don’t hesitate to put them all into practice. Of course, it should be noted that many times to teach your dog a trick it is not necessary to complicate life much. You have an infinite world of possibilities if you look at the natural behavior of your dog. For example, you can teach him to bark or yawn on command. How? You ask. Well, in the same way that you can teach him to give you a kiss. That is to say, for this you must devise situations in which your dog can naturally perform these behaviors and, before he does, tell him the oral order and then reward him effusively. If you are persistent and constant in your day to day, your dog will associate the slogan with action and you will have managed to teach him a new trick.

Remember that throughout this learning process, positive reinforcement will always be your best ally. Likewise, we want to highlight that they are all tricks for small, large and medium dogs. Some of them can be difficult tricks for older dogs or, on the other hand, very young, so adapt them to the circumstances of your dog.