How to Teach Your Dog New Tricks

Despite your dog’s age, you can teach them to do tricks at any age. If you know anyone who has had a dog, they can tell you that dog’s love learning in the first place. Of course each dog has their own personality, but the desire to learn and gain attention is typically the same. With a little effort and patience, you can teach your dog all sorts of fun tricks. Even if the trick itself isn’t that complicated, their ability to learn, interact with people, and gain approval is heart warming.

Work With Your Dog

A classic and fairly easy trick is teaching your dog to spin in a circle. Get your dog to stand in front of you. Guide them in a circle with a treat in your hands and reward them once they have done a complete circle. This trick shouldn’t take your dog long at all to pick up. Once they understand, use the treats sparingly, but always use a hand signal and verbal command. You can say spin, turn, or whatever word you want. A fun little gesture is using the word spin for one direction and ‘snips’ for the other. ‘Snips’ is spins backwards! With repetition and practice, they will be able to do this on your hand signal alone.

Another trick is teaching your dog to bark on command. The easiest way to start is by incorporating the trick with something your dog already does naturally. For instance, if you know that your dog always barks in succession, then teach him a trick that involves barking a few times in a row. For example, Stan Antonuk tells his dog, “Spot, tell us a story.” In this case, your dog will learn how to bark a couple of times whenever he hears the key word ‘story’. You can teach them this type of trick gradually. When you know your dog is getting ready to bark at something, perhaps the door or a squirrel, try and get their attention while they’re barking. As soon as they bark after you say the word or phrase, praise them and give them a treat. Your dog will eventually begin to associate the ‘command’ word with barking and receiving a treat. Of course it won’t happen right away, but you have to be persistent. Repetition is the way that dogs learn the quickest. Before you know it, your pup will be telling stories or speaking on cue!

Practice Makes Perfect

Teaching your dog to roll over is one of the harder tricks. The easiest way to begin this trick is with your dog lying down. Also, try to use a delicious treat that your dog will be very anxious to devour. Start by sternly saying, “roll over” or “bang” or whatever your command word is, while moving the treat in front of the nose so that they have to roll over onto their back to get it. Once they’re on their back, give them the treat and rub their belly. This trick usually takes practice. Some dogs learn very quickly and others take longer.

Teaching your dog new tricks builds a special bond between you. It also gives your dog a chance to communicate and demonstrate his intelligence, which is something they love to do. Anything that involves getting attention from their beloved owner is a reward in itself to dogs. So stock up on some treats and get to teaching your furry friend some new tricks!

Easy Step By Step Instructions

• Use treats that your dog loves and will be eager to eat
• Remember that repetition and practice are the only ways to ensure learning
• Teach easy tricks like spinning around first
• Incorporate tricks with something your dog already does naturally

Warnings, Advice, and Suggestions

If your dog seems to hesitate or shows signs of anxiety during these tricks, don’t force them. Sometimes if a dog is older or unfit, certain movements and positions can be hard on their bodies. Also, be conscientious of how many treats you give your pup in one session, you wouldn’t want to make them sick.

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How to Bathe Your Dog

Bathing a dog sounds like an easy, low-stress task but really there are some important things that you need to know before you begin. Whether you are bathing a puppy or an adult dog is it essential that you follow a few professional tips.

How to Prepare Your Dog for a Bath

If you are bathing a puppy, you will need to take steps to acclimate your puppy to bath time. It is important that your dog associate bath time with a positive experience. Use a lot of gentle talking and soft pats and even a few treats to build that relationship between bath and happy feelings. The water that you use should be a medium warm temperature. Dog have extremely temperature sensitive skin and toenails so be sure that the water you are using isn’t too hot or too cold to keep your pet comfortable.

Whether you are bathing outside with a hose or indoors in the tub, be sure that your pet is as comfortable as possible. Use a tearless baby shampoo or dog shampoo and be careful around your pet’s eyes and face. Most dogs will lick their faces when they get wet and a mouth full of soap can be dangerous and unpleasant for you and your animal so avoid soap in this area or rinse right away.

How to Get a Dog Really Clean

Aside from the normal dog smell, certain breeds and dogs naturally have more hygiene issues than others. Cocker spaniels and terriers have a tendency to have tears on their faces. These deposits, like sleep in the eyes, occur naturally and can’t be prevented. Buildup of these deposits can become very hard and sores can develop underneath. It is important to clean these off as often as possible to avoid irritation and infection. To remove, use a warm washcloth and very gently rub the area.

There are products available at most pet stores that can be used as well but be very careful not to get these products in the eye. Dogs with longer hair have a tendency to develop mats or thick knots of hair. These mats need to be cut off your dog as soon as possible to again avoid sores and infections underneath. Sores are cause by trapped moisture that begins to putrefy on the skin. These mats and sores are very painful and sometimes may require medical attention.

Easy Step By Step Instructions

• Acclimate your pet to the bath setting you will be using. Whether outside or in a tub, be sure your pet is as comfortable as possible.
• As you get your pet ready, talk to them in calm, soothing tones. Pet them or offer treats as a reward.
• Start at your pet’s head and move towards the tail. Avoid getting water in their ears and eyes. Use a tearless baby shampoo or a puppy shampoo. These are nontoxic and won’t harm your pet if soap gets into their eyes.
• Rinse thoroughly. Be sure to get all the soap off your pet. Leftover soap will be licked off and can cause vomiting, and diarrhea.

Warnings, Advice, and Suggestions

If your pet is overly stressed and fighting with you, it may be in your best interest to let a professional handle the bath. The more your pet is exposed to the process however, the calmer they will become.

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