Trick Training: 10 Tricks You Can Teach Your Dog

In previous blog articles, we have discussed the benefits of training your dog. From greater control of your dog’s behavior, to improving the human-canine bond, dog training is one of the best ways you can help to develop your dog’s health, welfare and behavior.

However, dog training can be about much more than just Sit, Down or Stay. While those fundamental obedience commands enable you to keep control of your dog in a variety of situations, there are other activities you can do that fall under the umbrella of dog training. For example, you could start partaking in a dog sport like agility or scent work, or you may even try search and rescue. Whether you do these additional training endeavors competitively, or simply for fun, they are a great way to further your dog’s development.

If you are pressed for time, or simply want to do something new with your dog, trick training can be an option to teach your dog new skills! Trick training often builds on some of the basic behaviors that your dog may have learned in basic obedience training, and often only requires you to invest a few minutes per day with no financial cost. In this article, we’re going to look at the benefits of trick training, before outlining some ideas for tricks you can teach your dog.

What are the benefits of trick training with your dog?

As with many dog training activities, trick training can bring many advantages.

Strengthens the human-canine bond

Trick training will require practice and commitment from both you and your pup. This time spent together will only help to increase the level of trust and confidence you have in one another – strengthening your relationship for your lives together.

Mental stimulation

Mental stimulation and enrichment is vital to reducing the chance of your dog becoming bored and engaging in destructive behaviors. Trick training may not be physically demanding, but it certainly forces your dog to think through the task they are being asked to perform.

Builds confidence

Any type of training that includes positive reinforcement is key to boosting your dog’s confidence. As your dog acquires new skills, it becomes more likely that they will become confident in trying out other activities.

Foundation for additional training

Trick training can often act as a great springboard for other aspects of dog training. For example, it can increase attention and focus, in addition to improving the communication between handler and dog, which is often essential in advanced training and dog sports.

Tricks you can teach your dog

Before we get into this list, we’re assuming that your dog has already mastered the basic obedience commands – if not, ensuring they can Sit, Down and Place on command will undoubtedly help as a stepping stone to these more challenging skills.

Below are ten tricks you can teach your dog to perform.

1) Sit pretty

This skill evolves from a regular Sit command. With your dog in a sitting position, they raise their front legs in the air and balance on their back legs. You can lure your dog into Sit Pretty by holding a treat in front of their nose when they are in the Sit position, and slowly raising it upwards and towards their head.

2) Roll over

Teaching your dog to roll over is easier to catch on a softer surface, so use carpet or a rug as opposed to a wooden floor. With your dog laying on their front, hold a treat near their nose, then slowly move it to the side of their head and shoulder area to encourage them to turn onto their side. Once they are on their side, continue the motion with your hand to encourage them into a full roll.

3) Spin

Spin is one of the most straightforward tricks you can teach your dog, and it is easily teachable irrespective of age, size or breed. With your dog in a standing position, simply hold a treat by their nose and then move your hand in a circle (imagine their tail is halfway around the circle). Your dog should follow your hand around in a circular motion. You can eventually level up by removing the treat from the equation, and simply using a hand signal for this trick.

4) Back up

Back up teaches rear end awareness to your dog, and can be useful in confined spaces or to encourage your dog to back away from a door when you are greeting visitors or about to let them outside. Note that walking backwards doesn’t come naturally to a dog, so this may take some practice. Start in an area with plenty of space to maneuver, and stand a few steps in front of your dog. Walk towards them, as once they take a step backwards, reward them with a treat. From there, you can increase the number of steps they need to walk backwards, and pair it with the ‘back up’ verbal command.

5) Shake paws

This is a relatively easy trick to teach, and is always great to show off to friends and family who are visiting. Start with your dog in a Sit, and hold a treat in front of their face. Tap them on the top of one of their paws; this should instinctively cause your dog to raise their paw into the air. Clasp their paw with your hand, shake their paw, and then give them the treat. Pair this with a command (“shake paws”), and after some practice, your dog will no longer need a treat to perform this trick.

6) High-five

A follow-on from the “shake paws” trick, the only true difference is the position of your hand. Follow the same steps, but instead of shaking your dog’s paw, simply open your palm in the position of a high-five.

7) Speak

While you may initially think that encouraging your dog to bark may be undesirable, it can actually have the opposite effect and teach your dog when it is acceptable to bark. Use a high motivator like a toy (squeaky toy or tennis ball), hold it in front of them, and see how they react. Your dog may test other behaviors or commands to get what they want, but wait to see if they bark; when they do, mark the behavior with the word “Speak”. Continue to practice this until your dog barks to get their toy.

8) Bow

Many dogs like to bow when interacting with other dogs as a form of communication, but you can utilize this as a trick in itself. When your dog is standing in front of you, lower a treat from their nose to the ground, ensuring that their front legs are lowered but their hind legs remain standing. Reward them, and pair this with the word “Bow”.

9) Catch

This helps to improve your dog’s co-ordination and depth perception. Begin by standing a couple of feet in front of your dog, and toss a very small treat towards their mouth. The first couple may bounce off their nose, but after they’ve eaten them off the floor, it’s likely they’ll grasp the concept and try to catch it in their mouth. You can gradually increase the distance for your throws, and also switch up treats for their favorite small toy.

10) Leg weaves

This trick involves your dog weaving in between your legs. Stand just behind your dog with a treat in your hand. Hold the treat in front of your dog’s nose and then weave them in a circular motion around, and then between, your legs. Eventually, they should end up back where they started. Repeat the process, but in the opposite direction around your other leg. To complete the trick, it is simply a case of putting those two components together, so that your dog makes a figure-of-eight around and through your legs. Over time, you can wean your dog off of the treats, so they simply follow your hand commands.