Tricks don’t have to be complex routines but might be perfectly simple, such as sit up and beg, shake paws, etc. On the other hand, complicated tricks are usually taught, and learned most easily, by building up a series of short, simple routines. Also they can be done in stages, building, for example, distances and complexity.
Pointers to training your dog to do tricks include:
- Work with your dog’s inclinations and not against them. It’s worth researching some of the breed traits to see which type of trick might be relatively easy to begin with.
- Try and extend or adapt your dog’s current behavior, initially using rewards and linking a command or gesture. To give a simple example, extending the sitting position to lifting your dog’s paw then giving it a reward will soon lead your dog into doing it naturally.
- Similar examples would be training your dog to wheel around you on command with “spin” if it has learned to heel properly, or telling it to “roll” or “play dead” from a lying position, associating a gesture and initially rewarding.
- Gradually, praise will be sufficient to replace the reward, and this should be an early objective as well as the behavior itself.
- Even the initial or some of the early rewards don’t have to be food, in some cases a favorite or even a new toy will suffice.
- There is no doubt that food does work well, though, and by being a little creative with how the food is positioned relative to the dog’s body, without going to silly or frustrating (for your dog) extremes, you might be surprised how quickly your dog learns!
Above all, remember that your dog should be clearly enjoying the activity, so that you can too!