How to Teach a Dog to Do Amazing Tricks

You must master the basic dog tricks and commands before attempting any advanced tricks. Your dog must be able to sit, lay and give the paw on command. Use food to encourage the dog to follow your hand, then use your hand to show the dog which movements to make. The key to teaching amazing dog tricks is to put the dog in a situation where it performs the desired action voluntarily, then all you have to do is reinforce that behavior by issuing a reward.

Things You'll Need

  • Doggy treat
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Instructions

    • 1

      Create an environment that is free from distractions such as noise, people and other dogs.

    • 2

      Get your dog's attention by calling its name. As soon as the dog looks at you, issue verbal praise.

    • 3

      Command your dog in to the down position, then coax it to roll over by moving a piece of food in front of the nose. If the dog attempts to stand say "No" and withdraw the food. Your aim is to encourage the dog roll over from the lying position. Once this happens, you issue the food reward. Repeat this until the dog understands that obeying the "Roll over" command results in positive stimuli.

    • 4

      Hold a piece of food above your dog's head and issue the "Up" command. Repeat the command until the dog attempts to get the food by standing on its hind legs. As soon as the dog stands on its hind legs, issue verbal praise and give the food. Increase the amount of time the dog stands for before giving the reward and before you know it, your dog will be walking like a person on your command.

    • 5

      Approach your dog with a food reward concealed in your hand. Put your hand close to its nose before slowly moving your hand to the left. As the dog follows your hand, repeat the command "Twirl." Move your hand in a large circle, from the dog's nose around the back of the dog and back to the start. Once the dog completes a full turn following your hand, release the food reward. Repeat this until the dog learns that turning full circle on your command results in food.

    • 6

      Take a food reward from your pocket and hold it in your right hand while saying to the dog, "Take a bow." As you are issuing this command, crouch down and hold the reward low to the ground. The dog may stoop to sniff the food, in which case you do nothing apart from repeat the command. As soon the dog arches its back in to a bowing position to smell the food, issue a verbal praise and release the food. Repeat until the dog learns that taking on the bowing position has positive consequences.

    • 7

      Combine tricks in to routines to impress your friends and always finish on a bow.