Teaching Your Dog to Do Tricks
By Cheryl May
You can have fun teaching your dog simple tricks. And you can amaze your neighbors and friends.
Everything I teach uses a conditioned reinforcer -- a marker that tells
the dog, "You're right!" 
To teach a conditioned reinforcer, select a
marker word (one you don't use in ordinary conversation like "yay" or
"YESS!"), use a clicker, or simply a tongue cluck. A lid from a Snapple
bottle works, as would a ball-point pen clicking on and off. To teach
the dog that the marker means food is coming, sit in a quiet place with
a handful of dog treats. Make the sound and then feed immediately. Do
this about 10 times. Then ask for a behavior the dog knows how to do,
such as sit. Command "sit" and then mark the behavior with your special
sound and feed. To be effective, you must feed every time you use the
mark.
It is important to be patient in teaching any new behavior If your dog
isn't doing what you want it to do, give the dog time to learn. If you
become frustrated, stop training. Make your training sessions fun --
for both you and your dog. Most dogs can be taught most of the tricks
described here. Few dogs will be able to learn all
of the tricks. The easiest tricks to teach are those that take
advantage of a natural behavior of the dog. Dogs that like to bark can
be taught to "speak" easily; dogs that naturally extend their paws can
be easily taught to "shake hands." Some dogs have good balance and can
"sit up." Others lack this balance and can never do this trick no
matter how hard they try.
Know your own dog -- work with it and give it a chance to learn. If the
dog doesn't catch on at first, keep trying. If your dog can't do
something, even though it tries, give up and move on to something else.
Here are some tricks you and your dog might enjoy:
Shake hands
With your dog sitting, reach down and take hold of
its right paw with your right hand and lift the paw gently. Tell your
dog "Shake!" as you do it. Lift the paw until it is on the level of the
dog's chest and then shake it gently just as though you were shaking
hands. Praise. Repeat six times a day for a few days, then just try
reaching out for the paw, but don't take it. If the dog lifts its paw,
take it and shake it gently, praising. Keep up the praise. 
You can encourage this behavior by holding a treat tightly cupped in your
hand. Some dogs will paw at your hand. Mark the behavior and reward. Or
put a piece of tape on the bottom of your dog's foot -- the dog will
probably lift a paw to get rid of the tape. Mark the behavior as dog lifts
a paw.
Wave
This is a variation of "shake hands." Wave at the dog -- be sure to use
a signal that is unlike any that you use in obedience or other
activities. At the same time, tell the dog, "wave." You can encourage
this behavior by gently touching the dog's paw with your right hand as
you wave with your left and say, "wave."
Roll Over
Make learning this trick a game. Get down on the
floor with your dog and wait until it is lying on its side. Put one
hand in the middle of its back, your other hand under its chest and
shoulders. Tell your dog "Roll over!" and turn it gently over as you do
so. When it is over, praise. Do this three or four times a day. Once
the dog gets the idea, cut down on your assistance until the dog is
doing it on its own. Keep up the praise. An alternative method is to
lure the dog over by using food held just about an inch from its nose.
Once the dog is over, give the food reward.
Sit Up
Sitting up is an entirely unnatural position for a dog, so it will
have to be helped at first (a few dogs can never do this). To start, sit
it in a corner, facing out. Tell your dog "Sit up!" and lift it gently
with your hand on dog's chest until dog is in an erect sitting position. Keep it there a few moments, then put one finger
under
dog's chin to help your dog keep its balance. Repeat the command, hold the
dog there for a few seconds, then let it down. Praise. Repeat this six
times a day until the dog will stay without your help once you have got it
up. Then keep working on this trick until the dog goes up by himself.
Caution: Especially at first, do not hold the dog in a sit-up position too
long. It can hurt the dog's back before the muscles become accustomed to
this exercise -- then the dog will become discouraged and will not want to
do this trick. Do not do this with puppies.
Catch
The best time to practice this is just before mealtime when the dog is
hungry. Stand close in front of your dog and toss it small bits of
food, saying "Catch" as you throw them. What the dog catches it will
eat. If the dog doesn't catch it, be quick and take the bits of food
away so the dog isn't rewarded for the ones it misses. Before long your
dog will get the idea that the more it catches, the more it gets to
eat. Make it as easy as possible for the dog to catch the food you
throw. You can increase the distance later. Popcorn, without salt or
butter, is good for teaching this.
Say Your Prayers
Select a chair in the house for your dog to
use, one heavy enough so it will not slide when the dog leans against
it, and just high enough for your dog to rest its forepaws on it
comfortably. Take your dog to the chair and sit the dog in front of the
chair. Give the command, "Say your prayers." As you do this, lift its
front feet and place them on the edge of the chair, and gently lower
its chin until the chin is resting on the dog's paws. Soothe your dog
with kind words as you do this, hold the dog in position a few moments,
then release with much praise. As with all other tricks, it is simply a
matter of repetition until the dog gets the idea and performs the trick
on its own. One difficulty is placement of the head. Holding the head
in a certain position is something quite foreign to dogs, and it may
take many repetitions before the dog understands this particular part.
Keep at it with patience and praise until your dog catches on.
Obedience training in the "stay" is helpful here.
Bring the newspaper
Here tricks come into the area of
usefulness because it is handy to have your dog bring the evening
newspaper, your shoes, or whatever you happen to want but are too lazy
or tired to get up and get yourself. Once your dog has learned the
basics of getting and bringing to you any one thing, it can be taught
to recognize the word for, and bring you, any number of items.
First the dog must learn the simple retrieve. Without going into the
regular obedience retrieve you can get the idea across to your dog by
simply playing ball. Throw a ball and let your dog bring it back to you
in play. Go on from this to throwing a stick, a rolled-up newspaper, a
glove, or any item small enough for your dog to carry but large enough
it won't swallow it.
When the dog is carrying things happily for you, give your dog
a newspaper to carry. Give it the command, "Bring the paper" or "Fetch
the paper" and encourage your dog to bring it to you. At first, you'll
need to go outside with the dog to encourage it to pick up the paper
and bring it in. Take the paper from the dog when it gets inside. Then
give the dog lots of praise and a treat. After about 10 days or so, the
dog will be getting the idea and you can stand at the door and tell it
to get the paper. Whenever the dog does go out and brings back the
paper, be sure to praise a lot. Note: if your dog is likely to run away
when off lead, do not try this trick.
When you want your dog to bring anything other than the paper,
you'll have to work with the dog on each item. It won't take as long to
teach, but you must be patient. At first the dog will be confused so be
sure to praise. If you tell the dog "no" and act angry, it will think
you're upset because it brought you something. The dog won't understand
that it brought the wrong thing.
Crawl
To teach your dog to crawl, you need a chunk of its
favorite food. Tell the dog to lie down. Place your left hand over but
not touching his back. Hold the food in your right hand, out a foot or
two in front of its face. Tell your dog "Crawl" and start moving the
food away. If the dog starts to stand up, gently help it back down with
your left hand and command "Crawl" again. Repeat several times a day.
When the dog actually crawls, even two or three steps, give it the
treat. Eventually it will get the idea that it must crawl a little way
before it gets a treat.
All these tricks are easier to teach if your dog is obedience trained. How's that for a sales pitch for obedience!
Copyright by Cheryl May.
May be reprinted without permission 1) if used in its entirety
without editing; and 2) provided copyright notice remains in
place.
Teaching Your Dog to Stay
From Pets.ca
Once
your dog knows its name and the sit command,
another key thing for it to learn is the "stay" command.
The stay command is used to make your dog stay put. It is extremely
useful in circumstances where the dog might approach
something it's not supposed to. Classic examples are when someone
rings the doorbell and people are being let in, or outdoors when
your dog might want to chase something it is interested in, something
like a skunk perhaps.
The
procedure -- Get a short leather or nylon leash and attach it
to your dog. Tell your dog to sit and praise it with a treat.
Then hold your palm out facing the dog and slowly walk backwards
1 step. As you are walking backwards, say the dog's name followed
by "stay". If the dog doesn't move, immediately praise the dog
lavishly and
give
it
a treat.
If the dog moves don't give it praise or a treat. Just bring
it back to its
original
spot and start again. Gradually move back 2 steps, 3 steps
etc. Say the dog's name, "stay" and reward. Once your
dog seems to be catching on, remove the leash and back up 8 -15
steps.
Again
say the dog's name, give the command and reward. Then using the
same sequence, walk around the dog and reward if the dog doesn't
move.
The
last part of
the
exercise
involves
increasing the time between the command and the reward. First
try a 1 minute delay, then 2 then 3 then 4 then 5. Once you've
mastered this indoors try the same exercise outdoors in a fenced
area. Teach this command until the dog has completely mastered
it.
Extra
tips
-
Don't overload the dog, especially on the first day. On
day one practice this exercise for 5-10 minutes only. It should
be a fun exercise for your dog. The SECOND your dog seems like
it's not having fun, end the exercise.
- ALWAYS end every session on a positive note.
- Even
after the dog has mastered this technique it should be practiced
regularly.
-
Eventually you can try to phase out the food
reward in exchange for lavish praise.
Depending
on the dog and the circumstance, sometimes instinct can take
over and the dog won't stay put when told. It
is therefore
always
safer
to
physically
approach
your dog and hold it by the collar to make SURE that the dog
stays put when the temptation not to stay is unusually high.