Dear Critter Corner: Can you give us a few ideas for some fun, easy tricks that we can work on with our pup and that our kids can help with?
Teaching tricks is always a nice break from your training and a great way to get the kids involved in the training as well. Here are a few that are easy, and some that are a little more challenging.
Some of the easier tricks to teach are ‘shake’ and ‘spin.’ With ‘spin,’ you can start with your dog standing and lure them in a circle with a treat to get a left or right spin. When trying to get a ‘shake,’ you can have them sit and lightly tap the back of one of their paws. Once they pick their paw up, place it in your hand and reinforce the paw in your hand.
If you want a more challenging trick, you could teach a ‘sit pretty’ or ‘take a bow.’ To start the ‘sit pretty,’ you will start with your pup in a ‘sit’ and then hold a treat just above their head to encourage them to get their front feet off the ground. You will reinforce this behavior. For them to ‘take a bow,’ you will start with them standing and take a treat at their nose and bring it straight to the ground, and push between their front legs. You will reinforce them when elbows are on down and their butt is in the air.
Here are a couple that are even more challenging: ‘roll-over’ and ‘possum’ or ‘play dead.’ Both require the dog to be in a down position to start. For the ‘roll-over,’ you will place the lure at their nose and go in a circle motion toward their rear, getting them to go on a side and continue with the motion until they have rolled over. For ‘possum,’ you will take the lure and bring their head straight to the ground, so they are lying on their side. You may want to add the hand for the ‘bang’ portion of the trick by placing it on their shoulder as you lure with the other.
Teaching your pup tricks should be a fun experience for all involved, so enjoy it. Once they have mastered a trick, show it off to family and friends!