Puppy Advice

Tricks and how to teach them

Tricks are fun for both you and your puppy. Never teach anything that is demeaning or dangerous. It is especially important not to teach puppies to jump until they are 18 months old to avoid damaging their rapidly growing bones and joints.

Puppy giving high five

Some tricks to try:

  • Play dead
    Play dead
  • Roll over
    Roll over
  • Wave
    Wave
  • Weave in an out of your legs
    Weave in an out of your legs
  • Jump through a hoop
    Jump through a hoop
  • Crawl/creep
    Crawl/creep
  • Bow
    Bow
  • Back up
    Back up
  • Fetch
    Fetch
  • Catch
    Catch
  • Carry a basket
    Carry a basket
  • Hide your eyes
    Hide your eyes
  • Put toys away
    Put toys away
  • Find lost keys
    Find lost keys
  • Nodding and shaking head
    Nodding and shaking head

Roll over

Hold a tasty treat next to your puppy’s nose, and move your hand so that they turn their head. Give them time to adjust to this position, then slowly move your hand further round until they begin to roll onto their side. Feed the treat and praise them when they are on their side.

Gradually, you can ask for more until they roll onto their back. Make sure they feel secure and place something soft underneath them before asking them to do this.

Wave

  • Puppy waving

Hold a treat tightly between your fingers and place your hand low so your puppy will find it easy to use their paw to help them get the treat. As soon as they lift their paw, release the treat and praise well. Practice over several sessions until they paw at your hand every time you present it. Then gradually begin to raise your hand higher. Introduce the voice cue by asking them to ‘wave’ as you present your hand.

Gradually, over several sessions, raise the hand with the treat higher, only rewarding when they paw at your hand. Eventually, hold your hand just out of reach and ask for a ‘wave’. Be patient and ignore any other behaviour (help them if you need to by lowering your hand a little). Reward as soon as they ‘wave’ and gradually raise your hand higher until they will ‘wave’ when you ask when your hand is high above them.

Gwen Bailey 2
When we teach our dogs to respond to a signal, they learn a whole set of associations surrounding the training event, rather than just the voice cue or hand signal we were trying to teach. So you will need to teach the same exercise in different places with different associations and, with them in a different position relative to you, until they learn what the signal really means.
Gwen Bailey
Founder and Director of Puppy School

Walk backwards

Position your puppy so that you are standing in front of them in a narrow corridor. Get their attention, show them the hand signal for ‘back’ and say the word, while at the same time stepping slowly towards them. They will have no choice but to step back and you can praise and reward them. Continue, slowly asking for more steps as they learn, and gradually reducing your movement forward. Once they understand, try again in open areas.

Shut the door (Advanced!)

Teach your dog to touch a target (e.g. the end of a ruler) with their nose by holding it out in front of them and rewarding immediately with praise and a titbit when they sniff at it. Continue until they realise what is required and will move to touch the end of the target as soon as they see it.

Then put the target against an open door at your dog’s nose height. Encourage them to touch the target with their nose and reward well when they do. Gradually ask for harder pushes of their nose against the door until they are closing the door, then remove the target and repeat. Make sure you have trained each part of this trick well before moving on to the next stage, and praise them well and reward them with a tasty titbit whenever they do what you have asked. Make it fun and keep them excited and active so they learn quickly.

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