It is common to see dogs that can do not just tricks but also chores. Some dogs can fetch things in the house, some can open doors, and others can do addition by their barks or even run errands for their owners. It is no wonder there exists a special relationship between humans and dogs.

If you are a dog owner but have no experience in teaching your dog anything at all, you might want to start now while your dog is still young. The older your dog gets, the less likely he or she will want to start listening to you.

For starters, the number one trick is to get them to sit on command. This does take some time, but is a good basic trick. You need to stick at it and ensure that you have some kind of reward to give them when they do well.

A dog learns faster when rewarded for obeying a command, which is actually part of the training. This can be gradually weaned off as the training progresses so that the dog learns to obey your command even without the reward.

As you slowly take out treats from your training process, make sure that you give positive recognition for every command that your dog follows. Dogs associate high-pitched voices, much like baby talk, as a positive reinforcement.

In case your dog does not respond to your command as dogs sometimes do, try to prod him a bit more urgently rather than shouting at him or abuse him physically. Your dog could be distracted or is not feeling comfortable with your command, so you may need to repeat the command in a more authoritative way.

Try to do the trick at least once a day to embed it. Many dogs have a poor short term memory so this will help.

Some might be able to remember the command overnight, while some might need a week. Just be consistent in teaching him tricks by setting aside about twenty minutes every day for your training.

This author has been writing on pets for the past three years. In addition, the author enjoys publishing articles about other subjects, like nail growth and nail enamel.

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Filed under: Dog Training

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