How long did it take your dog to learn tricks?

Question

This is just meant as a fun question. How long after you tried to teach your dog "sit" or "shake" etc did he/she learn? How old were they?

Answer 1

It IS a fun question! I train with my dogs a lot, and I'm always watching to see what they might offer as simple, rewardable behaviors when I'm working with them. By now, both of them understand that and understand that they'll get paid for repeating behaviors that have been rewarded before, so now it just takes 2 or 3 reps for my pup to learn something new.
For more difficult tricks (I'm teaching my older dog to put rings onto a pole) I have to break down the trick into the simplest parts of the behavior, which takes longer. Also, putting rings onto a pole is not something that Flop would naturally do, so it takes longer to learn than, say, him hitting me with his paws. For my pup, I try to teach new things all the time, and I keep a mental list of where I've asked her to do them. She knows "sit" in my house and in quiet environments, but she has trouble in busier places with distractions. So, I'm working with her on that by always having great treats with me when I ask her for sits in the more 'difficult' places. Asking a dog for behaviors in new places will help the dog to learn more quickly as long as you're fair about it. If you find yourself chanting "SIT, SIT, SIT!!!" at your dog, chances are very good that your environment is too stimulating, and your rewards not good enough, for the dog to do what he's asked.
Clear as mud? ; )

Answer 2

If you can keep their attention you can teach a simple trick in a day..or less. My husband taught our pug to give HIGH FIVE in about 15 minutes. They love to please you so if you are doing it right and praise them they will catch on quick. My pug for instance is 3 years old. We also brought in a abused neglected boxer last year as a foster untill a suitable home was found and he was 8, and we taught him to sit - down the first day he was here. Some dogs dont care as much and would rather run around the house like loose monkeys and never pay attention, these dogs will take more patients, more time to be interested in pleasing you.

Have fun!

Answer 3

Sit

Spyro - 1 hour
Sky - 30 mins

Sky and I are working on fetching such as "bring me a soda"

Answer 4

i have a 4yr old german shepard and it took me about 3 weeks to train him to laydown and stay at the same time, but he is a very fast learner, my other german shepard is 3, adn it took me forever to teach her how to sit, so it depends on the dog

Answer 5

it took about a couple days to teach my pup to sit but thats when he was really young and i worked with him constantly. now hes a year and 8 months and im trying to teach him not to jump. its harder and i wish i did it sooner.

Answer 6

30min to 1 hr to train my Aussie Terrier to sit, rollover, shake, fetch, and stand up. but you need good small treats to train them, so that they want to learn and remember next time. and he's 3yrs old.

Answer 7

If you want to train them then push there bottom down till they sit then you need to give them treats if they do that.

Answer 8

uhh we taught our dog 'sit'--just kept on using repition--and he learned pretty quick i guess. maybe a few weeks before he would do it immeadiatly

Answer 9

taught mine "sit" within five minutes of bringing her home..she was four months old. she can be smart when she wants something!