How To Teach Your Dog TricksArticle Source: http://www.howtoteachyourdogtricks.com

Ever wonder how to teach your dog tricks like aprofessional?

Training your dog to do tricks is a great and fun way to build a strong relationship withyour dog. Impress your friends, cultivate a new hobby, teach others, and have fun whilekeeping your dog entertained. Learn how to teach your dog tricks like shaking hands orroll over with this article.

Positive Reinforcement: Using Praise and Rewards to Get the Results

Establishing a method of how to teach your dog tricks requires a partnership of goodlistening and communication skills between both participants. The most successfulmethod you can employ to build good communication skills with your dog is throughpositive reinforcement. Many dog trainers will agree that positive reinforcement is thebest method for how to teach your dog tricks. Positive reinforcement training relies on asystem of praise and rewards to get your dog to obey.

As you get to know your dog, pay close attention to what they like and what gets themmotivated, which will become part of a reward system. When learning how to teach yourdog tricks, a positive reinforcement method encourages desirable behavior. Duringtraining, you should ignore undesirable behaviors and reserve punishment for extremecircumstances. You will be pleasantly surprised at how effective positive reinforcementas a training tool works to condition your dog without the need to scold, spank, orthreaten.

The principle of positive dog training is in the reinforcement of the good behavior.Command the dog, and then reward him when he performs well. In the early days of

training you should reward your dog each time he performs a desired behavior or taskwell. There are several ways to reward your dog while working on how to teach your dogtricks. You may prefer to give him treats, physical affection, or simply verbal praise as areward.

Once you have selected a reward option and established good communication with yourdog, start incorporating the following tips on how to teach your dog tricks. As trainingbegins, be cautious about sending mixed signals of your expectations, and as always, beconsistent and patient.

Top 5 Tips For How to Teach Your Dog Tricks

1. Be the pack leader

Dogs are born pack animals and naturally defer to a pack leader. Therefore, you will haveto establish your role as pack leader in order to gain control over your dog’s behavior.

2. Use positive reinforcement

Positive reinforcement is the best way to get your dog to respond. You can ensure dog-training success by rewarding good behavior and ignoring bad behavior. Be careful withusing punishment during training as you risk alienating your dog, making him regard youas an adversary.

3. Set realistic goals.

How to teach your dog tricks may seem like a long process. Set a goal before beginningtrick training to help you set a pace and know what you want to achieve. You will want tokeep your goals on a realistic timeline.

4. Timing is everything.

Timing during training is essential to “catching” them in the act of good behavior. Praiseyour dog or give him a treat the very moment he exhibits the desirable or trick relatedbehavior. This reinforces the idea that he just did something right and he should do itagain to get the praise and treat.

5. Be consistent and patient.

Stay calm. Getting upset and showing impatience will not help your dog learn faster orbetter. Allow your dog some time to learn each new command. Be consistent whentraining and always use the same words, phrases, or hand signals when giving acommand. Soon, you will be a master at managing how to teach your dog tricks.

Get Started: How to Teach Your Dog Tricks

Shake Hands—Begin by facing the dog toward you in a sitting command. Gently liftone paw and hold it while saying the command: “Shake.” Release the paw and repeat.After each practice command praise your dog and reward with a small, easy to eat treat.

Roll Over—Begin with your dog lying with belly down and then crouch next to him.Hold a small treat in front of the dog’s nose, rotating the treat toward the ground so thatyour dog follows the treat and leans on its side. Continue this, encouraging the dog to rollcompletely over by rotating the treat. As soon as your dog makes any attempt to roll,offer praise and reward with treat. Hard tile or wood surfaces may be uncomfortable foryour dog, so try this training on carpet or grass.

Crawl –Begin with your dog lying down facing toward you. Hold a small treat in front ofthe dog’s nose while saying the command: “Crawl.” As the dog reaches for the treat, holdit slightly further away causing the dog to reach a little more. Offer praise and rewardwith a treat immediately when your dog makes any effort to crawl. It is possible that yourdog will try to stand up and get the treat. If this happens, then give the “lie down”command and continue training.

Spin Around—Begin with your dog standing and facing toward you. Hold a treat in yourhand and allow your dog to see it in your hand. While holding the treat in the dog’s view,walk him in a circle until he has completed a revolution. While guiding your dog in acircle say the following command: “Turn around”. After each circle offer praise andreward.

Remember these simple steps as you begin the process of training your dog with positivereinforcement and soon you will be showered with love and affection from a happy well-behaved dog.

Learning how to teach your dog tricks can be equally rewarding for both owner and pet.