Advanced Dog Tricks: How to Teach Your Dog Advanced Tricks

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Advanced Dog Tricks
Learn the Principles of Teaching Advanced Tricks

“Go slowly and teach each step along the way. Be patient with your dog
and train with lots of praise and rewards.”

Advanced dog tricks are usually tricks that have several different components to them. You may need to teach your dog several smaller, easier tricks before putting them all together to do one impressive, advanced trick.

The Foundation for Advanced Dog Tricks

It’s usually very helpful if your dog already knows some basic dog obedience commands before you try to teach him any advanced dog tricks. Basic commands can form the foundation for some of the more impressive tricks.

Teach your Dog to Get the Mail

One impressive advanced trick you can teach your dog is to get the mail. Your family and friends will be very impressed when you can send your dog out to fetch the mail and have him bring it back to you. This trick has to be taught in several small segments.

You will first need to train your dog to go out by the mailbox and do a sit and stay. You can teach this lesson the same way you would train your dog to “Go to your place” and send him to his doggy bed.

Walk your dog out to the mailbox and tell your dog to sit and give him the stay command. You can have him stay in this position for a few seconds and then call him to you, giving him lots of praise and treats. Keep repeating it.

Next you can teach your dog to get the mail from the box. The box will need to have the door open at first, though your dog should be able to paw it open later. You can use any kind of paper material as a substitute for actual mail.

Advanced Dog TricksOffer your dog the paper from your hand and encourage him to take it in his mouth. Then praise and reward him when he does.

Add the command “Get the mail!” Then start placing the mail on the edge of the mail box and saying, “Get the mail!” Praise and reward your dog for getting the paper and holding it.

Once your dog has mastered getting the mail and holding it, you can practice the recall, which means having your dog return to you when you call him.

Finally, you can start combining the different parts of the trick. Send your dog to the mailbox and tell him to “Get the mail!” then call him back to you. It’s a very impressive trick when you put all of the parts together.

Advanced Dog Tricks to Impress and Refresh!

You can also train your dog to do a neat little trick and bring you a cold drink. This is an advanced trick that involves several different parts. You will need to teach your dog to open the refrigerator, then grab a can of your beverage, and finally bring it back to you.

You can make opening the refrigerator much easier for your dog if you will tie a small rope to the door handle so your dog can grab it with his teeth. You can get a colored rope or something that looks nice so it won’t look bad in your kitchen.

Practice getting your dog to take hold of the rope outside the house first, making a game of it. Praise and reward your dog when he picks up the end of the rope.

Next, attach the rope to your refrigerator door and encourage your dog to take it in his teeth. Praise and reward your dog.

It may take you a few days to make the move from outside the house to the refrigerator door with the rope, so be patient with your dog. Encourage your dog to pull on the rope and praise and reward him when he does. Keep encouraging him and he should be able to open the door with just a little bit of pulling. You can also play tug o’ war with your dog with a rope toy to teach him the “pull” command.

Next you can single out the can you want your dog to touch by placing a treat on it. This should encourage your dog to touch it. You can add the “Can” command when you do this.

Dogs who already know the “Fetch” command should learn this lesson easily. Place the can on the floor and practice getting your dog to pick it up, giving lots of praise and treats when your dog picks it up.

Finally, you can practice sending your dog to the refrigerator and recalling him.

Putting it All Together

After teaching all of the individual parts of this advanced dog trick, you can start putting all of the parts of the trick together. Go slowly and continue to give your dog a reward for each step along the way: for going to the refrigerator, for pulling open the door, for taking out the can, and then for bringing it back to you.

Once your dog has learned all of the individual pieces to this dog trick, you can slowly start eliminating individual commands and start giving your dog the command “Bring me a drink.” Make sure you give your dog lots of praise and rewards for doing such a great job!

If you want to start with something a little less complicated, start with easy dog tricks like “fetch” or “kisses” or “shake.” Once you build your confidence (and your dog’s), you can move on to the more advanced tricks.

Principles of teaching Advanced Dog Tricks

The more advanced the trick, the more time it will take to teach. Advanced tricks generally contain several smaller commands that your dog needs to learn before he can pull off his big, impressive trick.

Go slowly and teach each step along the way. Be patient with your dog and train with lots of praise and rewards. Positive dog training methods work the best. Make the whole thing fun for your dog and he will learn what you want him to do. Plus, your neighbors will be very impressed (is their name Jones?).

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