Many dog owners want their four-legged friends to know more than just standard commands like "sit," "lie down," and "shake paw." Sometimes, you just want to impress your friends with their pet's circus-style tricks. Today's article will explore five spectacular, yet simple, tricks.
Give me ten
This is a simple trick where the dog touches both paws to the owner's hands. The first thing to do is teach the "give paw" command. Next, teach your pet to alternately give paws with the "high five" command, so your friend touches your palms with his paws.
Once your dog has learned to give you both paws alternately, move on to the next step. Now you need to teach your dog to touch both hands simultaneously. At first, it may be confused, as it has previously only used one paw. To quickly progress through this stage, reward your pet for every correct movement. Rehearse the command until your dog performs everything correctly.
If you have a medium or large dog, you can try teaching it to touch with its paws while jumping. To do this, gradually increase the height of your hands. This trick should be taught gradually, as the previous step is mastered.
Thimbles
The task is simple: find the treat under the cups. First, teach your pet to flip the cup. Place a treat underneath and encourage your dog to retrieve it. Reward only when the dog tries to flip the cup.
Next, increase the number of cups and line them up. Make sure the dog can see which cup contains the treat and where it is as you move it. Use the "seek" command to encourage the dog to search for the food.
You also need to ensure that your dog only turns over the right cup. To do this, reward it only when it turns over the right one the first time. Later, you can replace the food with any other object, but it must have a strong enough scent for the dog.
Snake
During this trick, the dog must snake between the legs of the walking handler. To train it, you'll need treats in both hands to serve from the right and left.
Stand up straight and place your pet at your right leg. Take a step with your left leg, hold the position, and, using a treat, guide your dog between your legs to the left. If your pet performs correctly, praise them.
Then repeat the action, but this time stepping with your right foot and leading the dog to the right. As the new action becomes more familiar, you can introduce the verbal command "Snake" and praise the dog randomly, rather than for each step. This will motivate the dog to perform this command for as long as possible and earn more treats. Soon, the dog will perform the command without the treat.
Seal
The trick involves having the dog sit still with a piece of cheese on its nose. Cheese works best: it can be cut into cubes and sits comfortably on the nose.
Command your dog to "sit," lightly close its mouth, and say "freeze." After 5 seconds, release the dog's muzzle and repeat this command 5 more times. The dog's goal is to learn to sit with its mouth closed for a period of time. After this, take a break.
After the break, repeat the training, but this time place a piece of cheese or other food on the dog's nose. If necessary, clamp the mouth shut again. After 5 seconds, release the dog, say "done," and remove the treat from the muzzle. If the dog balances the treat for 5 seconds, be sure to reward it with a different treat. Remember to take a break after every 5 attempts. Continue training until the dog balances the treat for at least 15 seconds.
Kiss
Probably one of the easiest tricks to learn and not too difficult to master.
Place a piece of sausage, cheese, or any other treat your dog likes on your cheek. Then encourage your dog to take the piece from your face. Once your dog is confident in this action, add the command "kiss me."
Next, remove the treat and have the dog perform the same trick without the food. Soon, your dog will begin to kiss you only on command.
All these tricks are easy to perform, but they can bring so much fun and delight to the audience. Good luck with your learning!
