Teaching Your Dog To Wave:
This is a bit more of a complex trick which is usually easier to teach your dog after he has learned and can comfortably do the shake hands trick. The ‘wave’ trick can be achieved through the following steps:
• Ensure that your dog is focused on the exercise. You can get your dog’s attention by use of a treat (food), finger snap or merely calling out his name. When you finally get his full attention, you can now start the training.
• This trick should assume the same movement as that of the shake. You should start by stretching out your hand to the dog as if you want to shake his paw. Immediately, say ‘shake’ and automatically the dog will extend its paw. When this happens, don’t give him your hand but rather stop short and just leave him to continue trying to shake. He will search around with the paw for your hand thereby creating the foundation for the ‘wave’.
• After all that, you are supposed to have your dog understand the ‘wave’ instruction. When your dog is in the process of searching around for your hand, say “wave” and let him know that this is the gesture you are requesting from him as you praise him for it.
• After praising him with a treat and by word of mouth, you repeat it and each time he begins to wave, reward him with his favorite treat to encourage repetition of the same. You can also involve some play around the gesture if your dog likes to play. The most important thing here is to ensure you associate the instruction ‘wave’ with a lot of encouragement. When you do this activity a number of times during the day, a pattern will be created. It’s therefore crucial that you repeat it to make it easy for the dog to know when to wave upon request. Practice makes perfect so make sure you repeat it in a routine while making sure to be patient.
Teaching Your Dog To Jump :
Through A Hoop If you want one cool trick which is not only fun to teach and show off with your dog, but also a sure way to keep your dog healthy and have great physical abilities, then you should try this trick. The supplies you will need to start include:
• A hula-hoop, which doesn’t make any noise without any beads or things hanging from it.
• A special treat that you will only use for this trick.
Before you begin the training, you have to find an area where your dog is most comfortable. You will also have to get rid of all distractions such as noise. Once the venue is ready, bring your dog there and give him some time to relax.
• Start by holding the hoop still with one hand while making sure the bottom touches the ground. The other hand should hold the treat.
• Try to lead the dog through the hoop to get to the treat on the other side. Make sure you only reward him with the treat when he walks
through the hoop. Repeat the above steps again and again. If the dog responds well, lift the loop about two inches above the ground and try to lead him into the hoop using the treat.
• Just like in the first step, only give the treat after the dog successfully jumps through the hoop. If you realize that your dog isn’t responding to the training, return the hoop back on the ground and repeat the first step again and again until he responds. Go back to lifting the hoop and give it another try. If he does it correctly, give him a treat and praise him.
• Slowly, lift the hoop higher and see how well he does. However, don’t lift the hoop higher than 2.5 inches, save that for an advanced training session. Don’t overwork your dog unless you want him to hate the trick… or even worse, develop leg problems.
Teaching Your Dog to Roll Over :
This trick is best taught to a dog that is able to sit and lie down when instructed to do so. This command is much more complex than many other commands which I have already discussed in this book. Therefore, it would require a lot of patience to manage. The following is how to teach your dog this trick:
First, you will require a soft area for the dog to practice, some treats, and a clicker, which is very important in this training.
• Begin by giving your dog the “down” command. He will lie down and wait.
• Bring a treat straight to his nose, let him sniff it and immediately move it towards his shoulder. The objective is to lure him to turn his head, and follow the treat. If he does this, keep on moving the treat around his shoulder so that he has to roll over to follow it. Once he makes a complete roll, click the clicker and give him the treat. It is common to find many dogs finding it difficult to roll over at the beginning of the training sessions. Therefore, if you find your dog having problems with rolling over but using other means such as jumping, wiggling, or merely moving his head around to get the treat, reduce his training into smaller parts:
• As your dog is lying down, bring a treat up to his nose and slowly move it towards his shoulder. Just when he turns his head, press the clicker and praise him. Also, give him the treat. Make sure you practice this again and again until your dog is consistently turning his head.
• Next, you can try to stop giving him treats for turning his head. Focus on giving him treats only when he turns his head in a way that makes him appear to be lying on his side.
• After that, advance to giving him praises and treats only when he totally lies on his side. This will enable you to detect and choose your dog’s movements which bring him closest to rolling over thereby enabling you to lure him to turn over to his other side.
There are quite a number of dogs which can be very resistant when it comes to lying on their backs and exposing their stomachs. Try to get these kinds of dogs having fun during the training session, so that they loosen up and have a good time. It’s also very important to maintain a calm voice during the session. Finally, make your sessions as brief as possible, so your dog doesn’t become frustrated. A fifteen-minute training session is ideal for teaching your dog this trick.
