5 Cool Tricks to Teach Your Dog
Now that your pup is getting to grips with basic dog training, you can start to think about to teaching them some cool dog tricks! Read our step-by-step article for advanced dog trick training – and some top tips.
We all love the idea of having a well-trained dog who hangs on our every word – and now your puppy is starting to get the basics under their belt, it’s time to move on to more advanced – and more fun - dog training.
Learning new tricks and games with your dog is going to benefit you as much as will benefit them, it's a lot of fun for you both, and it will enhance your relationship as a result. It’s a win-win!
Some of these fun dog tricks are based on mastering basic dog training skills, so if you need a refresher make sure you check our article first.
How do I get my dog’s attention when learning dog tricks?
Having a dog who will give you their attention when you ask means they are ready to listen to you, and this is the first step in every other part of your advanced puppy training. The fun, and sometimes advanced, dog tricks below require your puppy’s attention, focus and concentration.
There’s no point asking your dog anything if his mind is elsewhere! Before doing anything else, brush up on your very first training exercise – teaching your pup to look at you when you say their name. This is something you should have been doing since puppyhood, but this is a good time to have a refresh.
Have treats in your pocket while you’re in the house or garden. At various times when your dog isn’t expecting it, say their name brightly and enthusiastically. If they look at you, drop a treat on the ground between you, so the dog moves towards you to get the treat.
You are teaching the puppy that their name means “give me your attention and good things happen”. Start doing this when there are no distractions and build it up until you can do it everywhere, no matter what is going on. Positive association like this is an important step in dog training – and as you move on to teach tricks or more advanced training, it’s a must!
Top tips for teaching your dog advanced tricks
- Be patient. It can take many repetitions over a few weeks before your dog gets the hang of these tricks and behaviours. Arm yourself with plenty of patience and treats before every session.
- Keep the sessions short. Even when you’re the master of your pup’s attention, dogs will cease to be interested in what you have to say if the training goes on for ages. Limit the sessions to a few minutes each. It’s better to have multiple short successful training sessions a day than a long one lasting for ages.
- Never lose your patience or scold your dog. They’re doing their best to learn – and any failings are yours. So, even if it takes longer to learn something than you expected, be calm and keep the training fun and exciting. This way your dog will be more likely to enjoy it and will be more engaged with you as you work together to perfect the trick.
5 Cool dog tricks to teach your canine friend
Let’s look at some of the fun tricks to teach dogs. We’ve noted all the steps you need to get going. It’s important to remember that these are advanced tricks to teach your dog, so don’t worry if they take a little extra practice.
If you haven’t taught your puppy any tricks, start off with the giving a paw – the trick most people and dogs find easiest.
https://www.purina.co.uk/articles/dogs/behaviour/training/how-to-teach-a-dog-to-give-paw
Once you have this one under your belt, you can start to move onto some more expert level tricks.
If you marvel at the skills you see on Strictly, this is the trick for you!
This dog trick is easy to do indoors, is good fun and all you need is some delicious dog treats. The aim is for your dog to weave in and out of your legs as you walk. This is a real interactive trick as it is as much of a dexterity exercise for you as it is for your dog!
- Stand with your dog on the left-hand side of you facing forwards and have a treat in each hand.
- Step forward with your right leg and put it on the ground.
- Use the treat in your right hand to lure your dog between your legs so they end up on your right-hand side
- Give them the treat as they come through your legs
- Then step forward with your left leg and put that on the ground
- Use the treat in your left hand to lure them back through your legs
- Give them the treat as they come through your legs
That’s the full cycle. Now you need to practise it, building up the steps and also your coordination – until you can do it while you are walking slowly. You will also be working to reduce the lures until you can only reward your dog at the end of the weave – or maybe every six steps.
This is an easy advanced dog trick but it does take a long time to master and get it flowing effortlessly!
Top Tip: This is a coordination exercise for you – so practise the movements without your dog first.
Once you have the movement down to a fine art and your dog is happily following your hands through the weave you can introduce the cue word, which might be ‘weave’, for example.
After you have practised a few times with the treat reward, see if your dog has associated the cue word and ask your dog to ‘weave’ without the initial lure. As soon as they do, reward them.
There are variations on this – and if you don’t have much space, you can stand still with your legs apart and do a figure of eight instead.
Also, it makes a difference if you have a giant breed, a tiny dog – or a very enthusiastic one!
Always reward your dog at the end of each weave. This is a fun dog trick and they should enjoy and be paid for a job well done.
This is another cool dog trick that is based on a natural dog behaviour and so is easy to teach. Long dogs (such as sighthounds) seem to find it easier but it is one that most can learn.
You don’t need any equipment but as always have some tasty treats that your dog loves. You will also need some quick reactions to make sure you are rewarding your dog at precisely the right moment.
- Have them standing in front of you.
- Get them interested in the treat
- Lower the treat down to the ground and as you do so move it slightly back between their legs.
- As their nose and front legs come down into the playbow position, say ‘Good’ (or your reward word – or your clicker if you use one) and give the treat.
- Don’t expect them to hold the position for any longer than a nanosecond and you need to be quick to reward them before their bottom drops down into a ‘down’.
- Repeat this several times. You might find it easier to do it walking a few paces backward between each repetition, as the forward motion can delay their bottom going down and give you a better change to reward the movement you want.
- With practise, your dog should understand that the position is front end down, back end up!
- Be patient – some dogs get this easily while others (especially if you have spent time teaching them a ‘down’) can take longer. The secret is rewarding at the right time (which the bottom is still up).
- Now it’s just practise – and slowly lengthening the time your dog can stay in the play bow position.
- You can then add a cue word like ‘bow’ (but that sounds a bit like ‘down’ – or you can use a body language cue where your dog bows when you do!
Scent games are always a winner as your dog will be using natural skills that they are so often not given an outlet for, and will quickly wow you with their expertise as you watch how they see the world in ‘smellovision’.
- Start with small food treats that your dog loves
- Let your dog sniff the treat so they know it’s there (in a closed hand so they don’t try and eat it).
- Have someone hold them while you walk to the other side of the room
- Put the treat down on the floor.
- Come back to your dog and then get your helper to release them - and encourage them to “find it”.
- Obviously, this will be really easy – as they saw where you put it but you are introducing “find it” as a cue to go and locate something yummy or exciting.
- After a few repetitions, ask whoever is holding your dog to turn them away so they can’t see where you are putting the food (or have them outside the door while you place the treats).
- Repeat as before – but now they have to use their nose to find the food.
- Encourage them and be enthusiastic when they find it
- Once your dog has got the hang of this, you can start to get really inventive with this game – hiding treats under plastic flower pots or small towels.
- This is a game to join in with your dog – so be really excited and upbeat and make it fun.
- Now repeat the same thing out in the garden
- And then out on walks if it is safe (you can do this on a long line)
- If your dog has a favourite toy, you can get them to search for that too
You can develop this fun dog trick by making things harder to find, changing the thing you’d like your dog to find, and doing it in different locations.
NOTE: Don’t go so far away that your dog is worried or stressed by your absence.
When your dog is a real expert, you can do this outside and get your dog to follow a scent you have laid. This is how to carry out advanced dog training:
- Ask someone to hold your dog so they can’t see where you are going (doing this with their hands round their chest so they are not pulling on their collar or harness)
- Walk away (not too far to start with – you can build it up later
- Put the treat or the toy down on the ground and return to your dog taking exactly the same route you took when you walked away (so there is only one scent trail)
- Let your dog go and find the treat. To do this they will have to sniff out the trail your feet left on the ground as well as the thing you want them to find! How amazing is that?!
- Once again, this can be done on a long line if you are not sure of your dog’s recall – or you are not in a totally safe, secure area.
Everyone needs a way to celebrate with their dog, and high-fiving each other has to be the best way. Here is how to teach this cool dog trick:
- You don’t need any equipment for this – just some great tasting treats.
- Ask your dog to sit.
- Show your dog the treat to get their interest.
- Hold the treat in your hand (fingers curled round the treat) above and just in front of your dog’s nose
- Your dog is likely to try and work out how to get the treat – possibly licking or sniffing your hand.
- If they try to nibble or bite your hand, move it slightly higher out of reach before putting it back again
- Wait until they try to get it with their paw and then use your success word (‘good’ etc) and reward them by immediately giving the treat
- Some dogs aren’t that paw-focused and so for them, you should reward as soon as they lift their paw even the slightest bit until they get the idea.
- Continue practising this until your dog will lift their paw to your hand to try and access the treat. Then you can add the cue word (such “high five”) as their paw touches your hand to link the word to the action
- As your dog gets used to this new trick, you can remove the treat completely to encourage your dog to offer their paw just based on your high-five cue alone – and then reward them when they do.
TIP: Give the treat the moment your dog’s paw touches your hand to prevent them scratching at it
Don’t try to grab your dog’s paw – you just want them to touch your hand.
This is an advanced trick that needs your dog to have mastered lots of training skills first – but it’s one to work towards.
Your dog will need to be able to do a retrieve of a static object first (so will go and get you something that is just sitting there – not something that is moving like a ball etc) and bring it back to hand.
Plus, it is important that your dog is used to retrieving and not chewing the item they are bringing back to you or running off with it!
Some dogs see no point in retrieving – while others prefer to chew the things they have in their mouths! Neither are great candidates for this trick and will find other things far more fun but for the dogs who can master this trick, it is seriously impressive!
The aim is to teach your dog that the sound of a sneeze is a cue for them to collect and then bring you a handkerchief.
- First teach your dog that this is going to be a retrieve object. Using an old handkerchief, get your dog interested in it by moving it around, waving it close to them and being really enthusiastic
- Throw the hankie a little way so your dog chases it
- Encourage them to bring it back
- Reward them by swapping for a treat when they do
- Practise this so your dog learns that bringing the handkerchief to you will get them a reward
- Make sure they are giving it to you and not just dropping it
- Then put the handkerchief on the floor – and ask your dog to ‘get it’ without having to throw it.
- Once again, reward them when they bring it back to you
- Now decide where you want them to get the handkerchief from. Putting it in a back pocket is often the best option. You could put it in a tissue box but you are likely to end up with a dog who shreds tissues!
- Show your dog where the hankie is – and ask them to get it. You might have to have it very obvious – and wiggle it about a bit – so your dog works out where it is. You may even have to hold it in your hand near your back pocket to start with
- Once your dog has mastered that step, you can tuck it further into your back pocket
- When your dog has got the hang of this, it’s time to introduce the cue – and that should be you sneezing or saying “atishoo” as they get the hankie
- Repeat, repeat, repeat – until your dog will go round the back of you and get the hankie from your pocket when you sneeze (or say the cue word)
- Always reward them for doing this trick – as it takes a lot of linked doggie skills
TIP: Don’t use tissues. Tissues and dog saliva don’t mix – they are hard to hold, and you either end up with a soggy mess or else something that is far more fun to tear up!
Start off using old trousers/jeans too – in case your dog is overly enthusiastic in their grabbing!
How to teach dog tricks to more than one dog
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If you’re spending your days with more than one dog, you should introduce one-to-one time with each dog while you’re training and especially when you are introducing a new activity.
Not only will it enhance the bond you have with each dog, but you’ll also be able to tailor and adapt the session to suit the way they learn.
Once tricks are learned and perfected, you might find you can practise them with their canine family member present – but even then, it’s important that each dog gets individual time with you.
If any of your dogs is possessive over treats or toys however, keep training as a one-on-one activity.
What to do when dog training doesn't go as planned?
Sometimes teaching your dog tricks and games doesn’t go smoothly and it can be frustrating, but keep in mind that you have the written instructions, your dog doesn’t! The key always is patience and time.
Take a break
If things aren’t going well, if your dog doesn’t seem to understand what you want – or if they aren’t engaged, then leave your training for another day and do something fun instead.
Just like us, dogs have off days and there is no point keeping on trying to teach something if your pupil isn’t in the right frame of mind to learn.
Have you been working for too long?
Training sessions should be short and sweet. Don’t just keep on trying to get perfection – wait for another day.
Make sure you are being clear
When training sessions aren’t going well, or your dog is struggling to understand, it is nearly always our fault and not theirs.
Take a step back, have a break and think about what you were doing during the session. There’s a chance you’re not making the message clear to your dog so think about breaking down the steps further or work on your timing. Don't forget, this is supposed to be fun for you both!
Remember, there's no pressure
We’re sure that if we asked you how much your dog loves playing, your eyes would light up as you told us all about how much fun your dog has with her/his favourite game. Now, be honest, how many different tricks and games have you taught your dog?
Not many, right?!
That’s ok, you have all the time in the world to introduce some new tricks and games, keep the sessions short and remember; there’s no pressure for you or your dog.
Ultimately these advanced dog training techniques are a fun and exciting bonding experience that will set you up for a happy and healthy life together.
If you’ve loved this article on advanced dog training, check out fun sports you can play with your dog, next!
