Teaching Your Dog A Dog Trick

If you are a dog owner, you will definitely want to teach your canine friend a dog trick or two. Basic dog tricks such as "heel," "sit," and "come" are handy for keeping your dog safe and firmly in your control. They are also useful ways to teach your dog discipline and good behavior. There is a basic way to teach your dog a new dog trick: 1) Begin training in a quiet place that has no distractions and set aside a few minutes for the exercise. You will need to teach your dog one dog trick at a time, taking at least several days to teach each new dog trick. Make sure your dog has mastered one dog trick before moving on to the next; otherwise, your pet may become confused. 2) Begin by doing or showing your dog what you want them to do. For example, of you want your dog to sit, gently maneuver them into a sitting position, then say "sit" and praise them enthusiastically with attention or treats. Repeat this a few times a day. 3) Try to use a specific hand signal with the command for each dog trick. This will help give your dog verbal as well as visual clues of what you expect him or her to do. 4) When teaching your dog anew trick, make the experience as pleasant as possible. This means not raising your voice. For example, if you are teaching your dog to "heel" always say the word in a clear but neutral way and follow up successful performance with praise and attention and possible doggy treats. If, during training, your dog does something you don't want, avoid saying "heel" aggressively or angrily. You want your dog to associate each command with something positive. Using an angry voice - even if you are justified in using that tone - will confuse your dog or make him or her not want to learn the dog trick.

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