4 Fun & Easy Tricks to Train Your Dog

After mastering the basic skills, it’s always fun to teach your pup some new, exciting tricks that may impress a few friends if you get it right! Teaching your dog extra tricks is a great way to keep your barking buddy mentally stimulated and is a great way for you to bond as well as reinforcing basic commands. Each trick has a positive lesson behind them and teaches your dog more than just an entertaining party trick.

Here’s 4 fun and relatively easy tricks that you and your dog can get stuck into learning this year:

Give Kiss

Training your dog to give a kiss on command is one of the easiest tricks to teach! Simply balance a little treat on your face, add the command and soon you’ll be receiving a lot of love and affection from your dog on demand. Although not everyone likes a wet and slobbery kiss from a dog, teaching this trick is a great way to stop unwanted licking.

Back Up

Back up is a fun and entertaining trick while also being very useful in a lot of situations. Once your dog knows how to back up you can prevent them from crowding you around the dinner table, running out of the door or keeping them safe when they start to head towards an area which could possibly be unsafe. It can also be a very entertaining and comedic trick to impress your friends with! Start by telling your dog the basic command to sit, walk a few steps away, tur back to face them and start walking toward them again. They may start to retreat themselves without being prompted but they may need a little encouragement. Once they have mastered the movement, add in the command! As always, with every little win, make sure to praise your dog and offer treats to encourage the behaviour.

Wave

Waving is developed from ‘Shake Paws’ as it’s a very similar action. To teach them to wave, start with the ‘shake’ trick but raise your hand higher so they reach up further, and eventually above their head before giving them the treat. Once your furry friend has gotten used to raising it’s paw higher, introduce the new command – you can use ‘wave’, ‘say hello’ or ‘wave bye’. After multiple repetitions, you can stop using the ‘shake’ command and just use ‘wave’.

This trick is an adorable one to watch once it’s been mastered and will gain your dog a lot of attention!

Take A Bow

‘Taking a bow’ is arguably the most challenging trick to teach but, then again, it all depends on the dog! ‘Take a Bow’ involves your dog lowering their chest to the ground while keeping their hind legs up. Although it may sound difficult and perhaps unnatural, it is actually a position which comes as second nature to dogs, especially while they’re playing with one another. For this trick, start with ‘stand’ and slowly lower a treat down to the ground next to your dogs’ front paws. Now that their ‘elbows’ should hopefully be on the ground, lift the treat back up before rewarding them for the completed action. Once your dog has become familiar and consistent with the bowing action, introduce the command.

This one is the perfect finishing touch when showing off all of your tricks!

Remember to constantly praise your dog after every little win when teaching them new tricks. Patience is key and every dog will learn at their own pace. Offering treats after each success is essential to encourage the repetitive behaviour for each trick. With time and practise, your furry friend will be impressing you with their tricks in no time! Have you tried any of these tricks with your dog? How did it go? Let us know about your experiences in the comments!