Easy Ways To Teach Your Dog Tricks And Games

It's fun to teach your tricks. When you are able to teach your dog to amuse family and friends by performing these tricks, you'll find the dog enjoys it as much as you do.

Here are three simple tricks I taught my dogs to do that never failed to impress. You can adapt the same training principles to teach your dog to perform dozens of other tricks.

Teach the dog to wave goodbye to friends

This is a fairly simple trick to teach your dog. Leave your dog in the sit position and give the command "wave" in a pleasant, encouraging voice. Keep touching one of his paws until he lifts it up you without touching him. Then immediately reward the dog with tasty morsel and praising him extravagantly at the same. "Good boy! That's a good dog"!

You can use any treat he likes. I prefer to use pieces of boiled liver that have been browned in the oven so that they do not become crumbly.

After he does this successfully a few times stop giving the dog the reward but move your hand up and down as if you are waving, You will find that he is eager for his reward and will start doing the same thing as you. He will start reaching out and try to touch your hand. Then immediately praise him and reward him with the liver or whatever food you have used.

Keep practicing using the same word over and over "Wave". After a while it will clear what is required of him and he will respond without any food other reward, only your vocal praise.

Scratch your nose.

I used very much the same method when I was still a schoolboy to teach one of my dogs to scratch his nose. I found that by blowing in his face he would immediately scratch his nose.

So I simply blew gently on his nose while he was sitting in front of me and gave the command "Scratch your nose!".

He would immediately respond by rubbing his nose with his paw. Immediately he did this I would reward him with a tasty treat. He soon learned what was required of him. After a while no food reward was necessary and he would respond immediately to my command.

I was very happy to show off in front for my friends with this little trick. They were intrigued with this demonstration.

Fetch the car keys!

One of my dogs was a very good natural retriever and also had a very good nose. I combined these two natural traits and taught him to find and fetch my car keys wherever they happened to be.

I started by using my car keys, which were in a leather pouch, as a retrieve article and began practicing the exercise in the living room. I would throw the leather pouch with the car keys a short distance. I I would give the dog the command: Fetch the car keys! innstead of the customary "Fetch". The dog would immediately respond and bring the leather pouch back to me.

The dog enjoyed the game so much there was no need for any reward. A simple "That's a good boy!" was quite sufficient.

Afterwards I combined the exercise with the "find" command that is used in the search exercise. While the dog was left in the sitting position and watching me, I would place the keys under a cushion in the couch.

Because he had seen me place the keys in this position, he immediately knew where to find the keys so when I gave the command "Find the car keys" he would obey very enthusiastically, He would burrow under the cushion where he has seen me hide the keys and bring them to me. He regarded as an exciting, enjoyable game and did not require much encouragement.

Most dogs have a very good sense of smell. In the case of this particular dog his sense of smell was exceptional. I would continue to hide this leather pouch with the keys but would do so, unobserved, in other rooms in the house. I would give the dog the command: "Find my car keys".

The fact that I had changed the words of the command slightly was of no consequence. The words "Car keys" were sufficient to set him in a wild search in every room of the house to locate the leather pouch, which he would never fail to find.

I was even able to hide the keys in the jacket or trousers pocket of a pair of trousers hanging in the wardrobe. The dog would eventually locate them and bring them triumphantly to me. Friends were amazed.

Afterwards the dog that loved traveling in the car with me - learnt to associate his action in finding the car keys, wherever they happened to be hidden, with the trip I would immediately take him in the car. This was far greater rewards than any food.

After the mere mention of the words "car keys" would immediately make him run around in a display of tremendous enthusiasm wagging his tail furiously in anticipation of his reward.