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Friday, 14 September 2012

How to teach a dog to do tricks

By Jerry Welsh


For thousands of years dogs have been the most valued loving and entertaining companions of man. Dogs are much loved pets that are even considered as the "baby" of the family so that all eyes will be turned to the dog and all the antics of the pet will be noticed and appreciated. The dog's fun and loving nature is the reason why the pet is always taken around but a dog that can do tricks would make an owner show off the pet's abilities. The dog's ability to roll over, to pay dead, shake hands, to beg will certainly make a positive impression on people. Teaching the dog to do tricks would be an impressive accomplishment for any pet owner.

Teaching a dog to do tricks is not easy. Without a doubt, encouraging the dog to learn new things would be a daunting task. Dogs have varied characteristics. Some dog breeds would be interested with the challenges given by the owner while others would simply ignore an owner's commands. Don't be discouraged if your pooch looks at you as if you are speaking some foreign language that cannot be understood by the pet. Training the dog to do tricks is definitely not for a lazy person as a single trick entails countless repetitions before it can be learned by the dog.

Obedience training and teaching the dog to do tricks requires the same training techniques. Trick training, similar to obedience training would need the owner to be persistent and to have a lot of patience to undertake the many repetitions needed to make the dog learn the trick. For the training to gain the desired result, an owner has to establish the position as the alpha dog to secure the respect and obedience of the pet. So that the command will be easily understood by the dog it has to be clear and simple.

One technique to make the dog easily understand what must be done is to reinforce the given command with hand gestures. For instance, holding out the hand while giving the "shake hands" command would cue the dog what must be done. Use an authoritative voice to give a consistent command until the trick is learned.

Dogs naturally want to please its people. A smile from the owner, a pat or lavish praise would make the dog understand that it has done something good. Being food motivated, dogs will be encouraged to respond well with the training with treats. Apart from being energetic, dogs are curious animals as well. Training the dog to do tricks must be conducted in short sessions and in an area where there are few distractions.




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