Classic Dog Tricks

Teaching another creature, whether human or animal, takes patience, rewards, and most importantly, time. Teaching your dog a trick is not something that can be learned overnight. Don't strain your dog too much or else it will get discouraged. Keep the training sessions short to about 10 times a day for no more than 5 minutes each session. Also, have treats handy to reward your dog when it does something right. The best method is to use positive reinforcement. In addition, it's important to start with the basic tricks before expecting your dog to learn advanced tricks. These classic dog tricks are still fun and exciting for dogs and their audiences. Although there are so many different methods to teaching your dog the basic tricks, below are some suggestions on the classic dog tricks that we all love.

Down: Teaching your dog to respond to the Down position is a basic necessity for many of the other tricks. First, your dog needs to lie down on his stomach. Hold out a treat that he likes in front of him. Then, slowly move it down so that his nose is following your movements. This should make the front part of his body move down. Once his body is flat on the ground, let him have his treat. When he is able to repeat this action over and over again say, "Down," right before his body is on the floor.

Play Dead: Your dog must know the "Down" command for this trick. Start with him in the down position. Then, get him to lie on his side using a treat or a belly rub to intrigue him. As soon as he's on his side and his head is down, let him enjoy his treat. Do this repeatedly until your dog can lie on his side quickly. Next, before your dog repeats your desired action, say, "Play Dead," until he understands that this command means to lie in that position. Repeat this until he learns to "Play Dead" more quickly and from different positions. Also, some people like to use "Bang Bang" as the command for this trick.

Catch: Catch must be the most classic dog trick of all-time. With your dog sitting in front of you, throw a treat or toy for him to catch. You must be close enough to catch the object while it's in the air. Your dog will learn that in order to get his treat he must catch it before it falls down. Once he gets better at catching treats in mid-air, you can command him to catch. However, he will probably learn to do this when he sees a toy or treat thrown up and without you needing to say, "Catch."