Five fun tricks pet parents can teach their dogs

Teaching your dog tricks is a good way to develop your bond and improve communication. Additionally, tricks are a fantastic method for entertaining your family and friends. When training your dog, remember to be patient and to keep the sessions short and enjoyable; your dog will learn more effectively this way.

High-Five: Make your dog sit and encourage them by giving them a treat. Hold the treat out in front of them, just out of their reach, and high-five. While you’re doing that, don’t forget to tap one of their feet. Most dogs will typically raise their paw in reaction to the reward you are holding. If so, grab their paw with your hand and reward them with a treat.

Hide and Seek: Get your dog to sit and remain quiet. Back up gradually, making sure they don’t move. Say ‘come’ while hiding in a relatively visible, close-by location. Give them a gift when they arrive. Hide in more difficult spots, out of sight, gradually. When they are pacing the house looking for you, it’s difficult not to smile. And it’s wonderful when they display such joy at finding you!

Salute: Begin by instructing your dog to sit. Place a tiny piece of tape now directly above your dog’s eye. Give your dog a treat as soon as it raises its paw to try to remove the tape. Eventually, with a little perseverance, you ought to be able to teach your dog the salute without resorting to formalities.

Shake Hand: One of the cutest things your dog may learn is the Shake Hands move. The trick is that if your dog wants something, they will already paw at you. When you present a closed fistful of treats, your dog will most likely paw at your palm because they can’t obtain the food with their mouth. Your dog will undoubtedly pick up a new trick if you use the word "Shake" after they keep pawing and after multiple repetitions.

Open and close a door: This trick should only be taught if you are absolutely positive that your dog will not be running outside too frequently as a result of her newfound ability. Also bear in mind that larger breeds, if overexcited, may leave significant scratch marks on the door. So, only allow your dog to open doors that have ropes or stuffed toys tied to the door handles. You may select which doors are secure for your dog to open in this way. The door must have a lever handle.

Tie a rope or a toy to the door handle and encourage the dog to tug on the rope or toy. Praise and treat them after they tug. You can hold a treat in such a way that it encourages them to jump on the door to close it once they can open doors.

Published on: Sunday, October 16, 2022, 07:00 AM IST