TEACH AN OLD (OR YOUNG!) DOG NEW TRICKS
It’s always the perfect time to teach your furry friend some new tricks. Keep your dog entertained with learning new tricks to impress your family and friends, whilst keeping your dog stimulated. Here at Butcher’s, we’ve found you some simple tricks to teach your four-legged friend as demonstrated by our Superfan 1 year old Cocker Spaniel Charlie!
Recall
To start teaching your dog to come when called, we would suggest teaching in a quiet area indoors. Sit with your dog and say their name, and give them a treat, then repeat! Next, try calling their name whilst sat a little further away, and then reward them with a treat again, moving further away each time. Try calling them from different rooms and when they come to you, praise them and spend time playing with them. Make sure that you always reward your dog for coming when you call their name.
Lay down
Teaching your dog to ‘lay down’ is quite similar to teaching your dog to ‘sit’. Whilst inside to avoid distractions, get your dog to sit. Hold a treat to your pup’s nose and slowly bring to the floor, when your dog is laying down, praise them and reward them with the treat. Keep repeating the process and introduce saying ‘lay down’ just before your dog lays down. Eventually, use your empty hand to bring to the floor and then reward with a treat. Make sure to keep praising and rewarding your dog!
Spin
Another impressive trick is to teach your dog how to spin. Start by holding a tasty treat in front of your dog’s nose and then pull the treat towards the side of their head, so they have to turn their head to keep their eyes on the prize! Pull the treat in a circle all the way around your furry friend’s body, so they will have to spin to follow the treat. Once they have followed their treat in a circle, tell them they are a ‘good boy’ or ‘good girl’ and give them a treat. Repeat several times, and then add the word ‘spin’ whilst training them. Remember to keep practising and praising them, soon your dog will be able to spin for you.
Paw
Teach your dog to give you their paw to say hello to you and any visitors. To help your dog master this new trick, start by popping a treat in your closed hand and get your dog to sit. Hold your closed hand close to their noses so they can smell the tasty treat, most dogs will try to open your hand with their paw. Once they have put their paw on your hand, let them have their treat and praise them. Repeat a few times, then start saying ‘paw’ as they give you their paw to get their treat. Keep practising, until you can do this without having a treat in your hand, then reward them afterwards with a treat. Pawsome!
Roll over
Once you have mastered the above tricks, how about having a go at getting your dog to roll over? To learn this new trick, have your furry friend lay down and have a treat ready. Once you have your dog laying down, with a treat guide your dog to lay on one side, praise them and then feed them their treat. Try again and once on their side use another treat and praise to guide them onto their back, this may take some time and several attempts! After your dog has managed to roll onto their back, then try to guide them with another treat to continue so they roll all the way over, we recommend having several treats at hand for this. Once your dog has mastered the trick with the aid of the treat, stop using a treat and start using the command ‘roll over’ and use a circular hand motion if you wish, once they roll over without the aid of a treat, make sure to reward them with plenty of praise and another treat afterwards.
Send us your old dog new tricks mastery!
Make sure to constantly praise and reward your dog whilst they are learning, as well as to repeat teaching their new tricks. Share photos of you teaching your dog a new trick and share your tips on how to teach your dog new tricks on social media.
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