Easy Dog Tricks
Learn How to Teach Easy Tricks
“One of the easiest tricks to teach your dog is to shake hands.”
If you are looking for some easy dog tricks, there are lots you can choose for your dog to learn. These tricks are easy to teach and fun for your dog.
Easy Dog Tricks – Remember to teach Basic Obedience Commands, too!
When you want to teach your dog tricks, it always helps if they understand a few basic dog obedience commands first.
While this may not be as critical for easy tricks, basic commands become very important if you decide to go beyond the basics and teach advanced dog tricks. Basic commands often form the foundation for some of the more impressive tricks.
Teach your Dog to Shake Hands or Shake Paws
One of the easiest tricks to teach your dog is to shake hands. This is a trick that lots of dogs know and if you are going to teach your dog some tricks, this is a good one to start with.
In order to teach your dog to shake hands or “Shake paw,” all you need to do is have your dog sitting in front of you. Then reach out and take his paw in your hand and shake. You can use the command “Shake” or “Paw.” Praise your dog and reward him.
Keep practicing. It shouldn’t take very long for your dog to catch on and start offering you his paw on his own. Keep praising your dog and rewarding him with a small treat. You can gradually taper off the treats.
Be warned though: once your dog learns to shake hands, many dogs will do this trick all the time. They are very proud of themselves and figure it’s an easy way to get a treat.
Kisses – An Easy Dog Trick that’s Cute, Too
Lots of people like to have their dog give them a kiss. You can teach your dog to give you a kiss on the cheek or on the hand anytime you want.
You can wait until your dog licks you himself and say, “Kisses,” then reward your dog with praise and treats. Or, you can manage the training a little yourself by putting a dab of peanut butter on your cheek or hand and offering it to your dog, saying “Kisses.”
The peanut butter is the treat, but be sure to praise your dog for the kisses. If you do this a few times your dog should be giving you kisses whenever you ask for them.
Teach your Dog to Catch Treats
You can teach your dog to catch treats you toss in the air, too. This trick is very easy to teach and it just takes a little practice.
All you need to do is toss a small treat for your dog into the air so your dog can catch it before it hits the ground. The treat should be large enough for your dog to see, but small enough so he won’t choke on it.
It may take a little bit of time for your dog to become good at this trick since it takes a little coordination, so just keep practicing.
Easy Dog Tricks – Teaching your Dog to Fetch
Fetch is a trick that most dogs can learn easily, though it takes some dogs some practice. If you have a retriever then fetch should be very easy for them since they are born to go get things and bring them back to you. Other breeds can take a little longer.
If you have a dog that is a naturally good retriever, all you need to do to teach your dog to fetch is to throw a ball and your dog should go get it and bring it back to you. But, if you have a dog who needs a little encouragement, you can throw the ball for him and run with him to get the ball. Every time you retrieve the ball, you can give your dog a treat.
It may seem like you are doing the work for your dog, but after a short time, when you throw the ball your dog should go get it and bring it back to you so he can get the treat. Once your dog is regularly retrieving the ball you can start cutting back on the treats, giving them every other time, then once every three fetches, and so on.
Once your dog learns the concept of “fetch” you can teach him to fetch anything.
Easy Dog Tricks – Final Thoughts
While basic dog obedience training is a plus, your dog doesn’t need to know any previous tricks or commands for him to learn these easy tricks. You and your dog can have fun with them. Using positive dog training methods is the most effective and humane way to teach, and the most fun for your dog.
Having fun with your dog while you train and while you’re doing the tricks is the whole point of teaching your dog tricks. Once your dog starts learning a few tricks it will become even easier to teach him more advanced dog tricks.
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