4 Easy Tricks to Teach Your Dog

Lino wearing our Mystery T-shirt

Want to show your friends and family how smart your dog is? We’ve listed a selection of tricks which will be easy for your dog to learn, no matter their age. While it is recommended to train your dog as young as possible, contrary to the saying, it’s never too late to teach an old dog new tricks!

What you’ll need during these learning sessions will be these two things: treats, and patience. Choose a peaceful area of your house or garden, where your dog won’t get distracted easily.

SIT

Let’s start with the basics. Sitting is a very helpful and easy trick to teach your dog. It’s also one which will allow you to assess your dog’s learning aptitude, which will let you know how fast they can learn a trick.

1. To start, get your dog in a standing position, be sure to be at their level, and hold the treat close to their nose.
2. As you keep the treat near their nose, slowly but surely move your hand up over their head, like shaping an arc. Your dog should raise their head and follow the treat, and their bottom should be touching the floor. As soon as this happens, snap your fingers and reward them with the treat. Every time they are successful, the sound of the finger snap will indicate them they’ve done it right!
3. Repeat this until they are fully confident with it. One trick at a time is enough, so don’t try to teach them more than that in one day!

SHAKE PAWS

Not that your dog knows how to sit, let’s teach them how to shake hands!

1. Get your dog in a sitting position (and don’t forget to reward them).
2. Put a treat in your hand, then slowly move it towards the floor, close to your dog’s paw.
3. As you do this, your dog should raise their paw in anticipation. If so, say the command “Shake” (or however you’d like to call this trick), snap your fingers and give them a treat.
4. Repeat these actions and progressively raise your hand higher every time.

Ovi wearing ourRibbon Pastel Harness

BOW

This one looks difficult, but we assure you it isn’t!

1. Hold the treat with your thumb and index so your dog can see it, near their nose, but don’t let them catch it.
2. Slowly direct the treat down towards the ground, and if your dog follows, snap your fingers and give them the treat to congratulate them. Repeat until your dog queues in smoothly.
3. Now that your dog follows, keep holding the treat like in step 1 and slowly move your hand in front of their nose, then again slowly between their front legs. If they bend their front legs, then it’s time to reward them again! If your dog decides to lie down, however, do not give them the treat.
4. Repeat until your dog is confident with this trick.

HIGH FIVE

If you’ve mastered Shake Paws with your dog, then High Five will be the easiest!

1. Get your dog in a sitting position.
2. Hold your palm out as you usually for Shake Paws, however when your dog hits your palm, say “High Five”, reward them with a treat and don’t forget to snap your fingers.
3. Repeat the step and raise your hand higher and higher until it faces up and not down.