9 Tricks to Teach Your Dog

Dogs are one of the best animals to keep as pets. They don’t just make great companions, but they can uplift the entire aura of the house they’re in. They’re playful, intelligent and smart and can learn things if they’re taught right. Apart from basic commands like sit, stop, and down, you can teach your dog some amazing and fun tricks.

While it may seem impossible to teach your dog tricks, you’ll be amazed to see how the right techniques can make the process fun and rewarding. Not to mention, it’s a great way to bond with your pet dog and spend some quality time with them.

Let’s shed light on some of the coolest and fun tricks that you must consider teaching your dog.

1. Kissing

Your dog may already lick and kiss your face, even when you don’t ask for it. Now, you can’t be up for wet dog smooches all the time. The best way to keep untimely licks and kisses at bay is to teach your dog how to kiss on command. Start with sticking a treat or an attraction on your cheek, followed by a soft command to kiss to lure your pet dog into kissing you. With time, your dog will eventually learn to kiss you on command without a treat offering. How adorable!

2. Shake Paws

One of the coolest tricks that you can teach your dog is to shake paws. You can actually teach your dog that and make an impressive impression on your friends. Teaching your dog to shake hands (or paws) is very easy. All it takes is a few training sessions, and your dog will be shaking paws with anyone on command in no time. Dogs love to use their paws, and if they’re given lots of positive attention, they’ll learn this trick quickly.

3. Spin

A happy spinning dog will surely make anyone laugh with joy. While most dogs jump around when they’re happy and excited, you can teach your dog to spin as well. All you’ve got to do is bring a treat close to your dog’s nose and lure it into spinning. With time, your dog will learn to spin when given a cue.

4. Wave

How adorable would it look when your dog waves you goodbye when you’re leaving for work or greet you hello on your return? You may often wish for it, but did you know you can teach your dog to wave? We’re not kidding! Training your dog how to wave is a very simple yet super-fun trick. First, you’ll have to teach your dog to shake paws. For waving, your dog has to move its paw much in the same way they do for a shake. Once your dog gets accustomed to raising its paw, you can then teach them to wave. This trick is an absolute delight to watch!

5. Roll Over

Dogs are the cutest and the most fun pets that you can keep. There’s so much that you can teach them. One of the cutest tricks that you should teach your dog is to roll over. You’ll have to teach your dog to roll over in several parts – like first teaching them to lie down, spread their limbs, and rollover. But once you get around the entire rolling over, you can use it to teach your dog some crazy games like playing dead. Now, that sounds fun!

6. Beg

How cute would your dog look requesting or begging for a treat with its paws up? Teaching your dog how to beg for treats or playtime is a difficult trick to teach, but if you’re patient and consistent, you’ll eventually get it right. You’ll have to start with the basic commands first, such as sit. Once your dog learns to sit, you’ll move on to teaching them to sit on their hind limbs, followed by raising their forelimbs. It sounds like a lot of work, and it is too, but the effort is totally worth it!

7. High-Five

Teaching your dog do a high-five is surprisingly very easy. Hold a treat in your hand and raise it in front of your dog. Raise it enough to keep it a bit out of reach for the dog so that they raise themselves to get it. Tap one of your dog’s feet so that they raise their paw up. When it does, hold its paw and say high-five and give them the treat.

8. Salute

A saluting dog looks adorable. It’s quite easy to teach your dog how to salute. If your dog knows how to respond to the sit command, consider half of your job done. When your dog is sitting, stick a small piece of tape on its forehead. Your dog will raise its paw to remove it. As your dog raises its paw, give it a treat. Teaching a dog to salute might take some time, but with a little bit of patience, they’ll come around to saluting without a treat.

9. Bowing

Another cool trick to teach your dog is to bow down. It may seem like a difficult trick to teach your dog, but if you see closely, bowing is a part of a dog’s natural behavior. It involves making your dog put their chest to the floor with their rear side up in the air. If you observe dogs playing, you’ll see dogs bow to signal other dogs to come and play. You just need to train them to bow on command.

Teaching tricks to your dog is an excellent way of spending quality time with them. Not only is it fun, but teaching your dog to do tricks offers mental stimulation and helps them build onto basic commands. Dogs that know how to do tricks appear to be smarter and more fun to be around in comparison to those who don’t. So, if you’ve got the patience, invest some of your time to teach your dog fun tricks. Trust us – it’ll be worth it in the end!